Yuuri and Victor both are exhausted after the flight, but Yuuri is ready to collapse when he learns not all his luggage made it with them on the plane. Especially when it turns out that means he's got no clothes with him except those he's wearing.
"You can use mine," Victor tells him, his tone too cheerful for Yuuri's current mood, but he knows he's no choice until the last of his stuff makes it over. They're at Victor's apartment building when he finds out, so at least there aren't anyone around to witness them, the lobby empty at the late hour.
Yuuri is too tired to be able to be mad or to tease Victor, knowing what wearing Victor's clothes does to the man; Victor can get stupidly obsessive sometimes, as proven by the lovebite on Yuuri's throat now covered by a scarf.
"We'll bring this up now and then you can put aside what you need and what we'll put in storage later."
Yuuri nods in reply, not in enough control of his emotions to say anything. The elevator ride up is quiet, and the small space is filled to the brim with the two of them and Yuuri's stuff. They work together on removing it from the elevator before Victor leads the way to his apartment.
"So, what do you think?" Victor asks as he opens the door to his apartment in a grand gesture that Yuuri can only imagine coming from Victor.
"It's small," Yuuri replied, blushing and hastily covering his mouth as soon as the last letter passes his lips. "Sorry, I just meant…"
"Just meant you imagined something grander?"
"Well, yes." Yuuri doesn't know quite how to explain it. "I always imagined a penthouse, or something with a large room for gathering and rooms for guests. This is…" He feels a bit lost for words now, doesn't want to risk offending his fiancé.
(Fiancé. Yuuri still can't bring himself to think the word, not really. It feels unreal, like a dream, and Yuuri fears he'll wake up to find the past year's been a fantasy, a wish, just a dream. He fears he'll wake up and find everything to be as it was, and that Victor doesn't see his video, doesn't show up at his family's inn out of the blue, like a whirlwind, turning Yuuri's life upside down.)
"It's cozy," he settles for, the word cozy ringing true.
"I'm glad you think so." Victor smiles at him. "I've lived here for years. It never felt right, moving from the place I lived in when I won all my gold medals; it's almost as if it's a lucky place."
There's a fondness in Victor's voice that makes Yuuri smile up at him.
"But," Victor adds, and Yuuri can sense nervousness from the small word.
"But what?" Yuuri asks, not sure if he wants to know the answer.
He doesn't get an answer; Victor just shakes his head, as if ridding himself of the thought he just had.
"Come on, I'll show you around!"
Straight ahead there's a blue sofa; a two-seater with a matching footstool. A small side table with a stack of book stands next to it, as does a reading lamp, and there's a wall-mounted TV across from it. On the wall to the right there's a coat hook. A chair stands beneath it, a pair of shoes tucked underneath. The sofa faces a wall with windows and a TV, a chair matching the sofa next to it.
Immediately to the left there's a desk with a computer
A small kitchen in behind the sofa. The small kitchen island has a fold-out table attached to it. Not really a place for dinner parties, or parties of any kind, Yuuri far removed from what he'd imagined, but he much prefers this.
The bathroom is behind the kitchen, and next to the door stands a small table with a plant - miraculously real and alive.
"Yakov," replies Victor, seeing Yuuri eyeing the plant. Yuuri is surprised at that, knowing how Victor just up and left with no warning and how annoyed his former (and now once-again) coach was at his sudden decision to coach Yuuri.
Next to the door to the bathroom are sliding doors leading into the bedroom. It's a decent sized room, a four-poster canopy bed. It's even got sheer curtains hanging from it. Yuuri hadn't expected that. There are more books stacked in the deep windowsills.
The small spare bedroom has been converted into a walk-in closet, with a dog bed for Makkachin that Yuuri suspects is rarely used judged by the fact that there's only a small amount of fur in it.
The bathroom is small, with a black and white tiled floor and white walls and interior. There's only a bathtub and no shower, which means it takes longer to get ready in the morning but that it's easier to wash Makkachin. Yuuri briefly wonders if the bathtub will fit both him and Victor and blushes at the thought.
It doesn't really strike Yuuri until they're cuddled up in Victor's bed, Yuuri dressed in his own boxers and an oversized sweatshirt of Victor's and he's barely awake enough to ask the question.
"Victor?"
"Hmmm?"
"How come your apartment is so clean when you haven't been here in months?"
"Oh. Right." Victor's laugh rumbles through him. "Yakov hired a cleaner to come by a couple days ago. 'You're not bringing that boy home to a filthy apartment,' he told me. Leaving to come to you… Making sure this place was clean wasn't what I focused on; you were." Victor smiles at Yuuri, and his eyes are filled with love. "Not that the dust and fur helped either. He left the bill for me of course, so I'm assuming he did it for you and not me. Don't tell him though; he likes to make people think he's a tough guy who doesn't care, but he's really a big softie."
"Mmmkay, rmmmber tht," Yuuri sleepy mumbles into Victor's chest. He's asleep seconds later.
Victor fights to stay awake for just a few more moments so he can revel at the marvel that is Yuuri in his arms, but sleep and exhaustion overcomes him too seconds later.
-
It takes another two days before all of Yuuri's stuff is at Victor's apartment. What it means is that Victor's been looking at him in a certain way almost constantly as Yuuri's basically been forced to wear Victor's clothes until his own arrived.
It also means he's gained a fair bit of new lovebites, thankfully not in places that will show during training, because there is no way either Yurio nor Mila would let them live that down.
Yuuri's boxes covers Victor's second-bedroom-turned-walk-in-closet and part of the living room, and it makes it difficult for him to find most of his stuff, and so he can't help but wonder how on Earth they'll be able to permanently fit it into the small apartment.
-
"We should get a new apartment," Victor says out of the blue on their first day back on the rink. The statement comes so unexpectedly that Yuuri slams right into the low wall.
"What?"
"A new apartment. Mine's too small. We should get a bigger place, together," Victor continues, oblivious to the fact that Yuuri is staring at him as though he just claimed the Earth is flat.
"You don't think it would've been better to broach this subject at another time?" Yuuri asks, and wonders if he will ever get used to Victor's way of just spouting words without thinking them through first. Except… He must have, in this case.
Yuuri thinks back to their first night at Victor's apartment, at the 'but' that became nothing more than that small word. He must have thought about this for a while, he thinks. Not even Victor would suggest something like that out of the blue. Then again, Yuuri had basically proposed to Victor without even being aware of it himself.
"No. I figured, seeing as it was the love of skating that brought us together…" Victor leaves the sentence hanging in the air. as he skates away to practice his jumps.
"I guess you're right. I'm just so used to living in small spaces that I didn't really think about it." Yuuri thinks of the very, very few places he's lived; his room at his family's hot spring and the room he shared with Phichit in Detroit, and now Victor's apartment.
"Which is why we need to broaden your horizon Yuuri! How else will we host a grand party when you win gold at the Grand Prix next year? You can't see all our friends and your family crammed together at our small apartment, can you?"
Our apartment. Yuuri's only lived there for three nights so far. It still feels like he's just visiting, with his boxes stacked everywhere there's even a hint of place. He doesn't know where half his stuff is, and it all makes it rather impossible to feel at home in the apartment. So what Victor says makes sense, Yuuri knows that.
He just hadn't expected to start thinking about moving again, and certainly not this soon.
-
"We'll need at least three bedrooms," Victor says one day at practice.
"Huh?" Yuuri's confused and his rather ineloquent reply shows it.
"Our new apartment. At least three bedrooms. One for us, obviously, and one for Yurio when he needs to get away from Yakov, and one for Pichit when he comes to visit."
Yuuri scates up to Victor and kisses him with such intensity that Victor almost loses his balance. Only an annoyed shout from Yurio stops the kiss from becoming something more.
-
"Chris would never forgive us if we didn't make sure there's room for a stripper pole," Victor adds a couple days later, like an odd continuation from the mention of the number of bedrooms a few days before.
"Don't make me watch any of you on that fucking thing! I'm not old enough for this shit" Yurio shouts out before Yuuri can reply to Victor. Yuuri knows it's futile to argue with Victor when he's got his mind set on something, and also that Chris would just bring his own pole if they didn't get one themselves.
There's also the idea of Victor using it, or maybe even Yuuri himself in the quiet comfort of their new apartment. It's apparent that he's blushing again, based on the sound of disgust he hears just before Yurio's knee hits his back almost hard enough for him to fall over, but just enough to throw him off balance.
"Yurio, be nice to your dad!" Victor says as he skates by them out on the ice. "Or else we won't let Beka stay over with you." Victor's voice turns teasing, knowing full well that only Yurio is allowed to call Otabek by that nickname. Neither Victor nor Yuuri would actually take away the safespace for Yurio and Otabek; that would only be cruel and heartless of them. Yurio knows this too, trusts them despite making it seem he's not fond of them - just like Yakov.
But it's enough to stop him in his tracks. Yurio really cares for Otabek, and they all know Otabek cares for Yurio in the same way. And that they're both above the age of consent, so for Victor and Yuuri to give them a room, a place, a bed, is not illegal. It's just that teasing Yurio is too much fun, because he hisses like a small kitten thinking it's intimidating but is really just cute and adorable and pose no threat at all. (Except Yurio is currently wearing skates and might be inclined to forgetting that particular fact, and having the sharp blade of a skate thrust into his back isn't something Victor wants to experience, so he's relieved when Yakov and Lilia appear. Not that he'd ever admit if, of course.)
-
"Maybe we should actually start looking at apartments?" This time it's Yuuri who brings up the subject. It's been over a week since Victor first mentioned it, but he's yet to bring any to Yuuri's attention.
"Who's saying I didn't?"
"You started looking without me?!"
"I would never!" Victor clutches his hands in front of his heart in a dramatic fashion. "How could you think me so cruel, Yuuri?"
"He's hired a friend of mine to find something," Mila tells Yuuri as she joins them on the ice, quickly followed by Yurio.
"Victor's just too lazy to do it himself," Yurio adds, sticking his tongue out at Victor who acts even more wounded as he sinks down on the ice.
"Yuriooooo, why do you hurt your fathers so?"
"You're not my fathers!" Yurio shouts back at him, just before Mila picks him up and skates around with him over her head until Lilia and Yakov appears.
-
They receive and email with listings from Mila's friend two days later. It's clear she's put care and time into making the list, as they're not far from the rink and within the size-range Victor gave her.
"Aren't some of these a bit, well, expensive?" Yuuri asks as he sees the prizes. All listed in russian ruble, which means he's no idea as to how much it would be in yen or any other, more easily understood, currency.
"Money's no issue, didn't I mention that?"
"Well, yes, but Victor… It's supposed to be our place, remember, so I'm paying for it as well."
"Okay, you can pay one ruble!" Victor grins and his face lights up.
Yuuri knows it's a lost cause, so he just looks back at the list they've been given. There are more than he'd expected, and he doesn't know if he's got energy to look at them all in addition to the daily training, both on and off the ice.
So he closes his eyes, points a finger towards the screen and puts it down at a random link.
"That one," Yuuri says. "We'll start with that one."
-
The apartment building is situated by the water, a forest at the back of it. The view is spectacular, especially when they enter the apartment itself. The water, lake and the trees makes it seems as though they're far from the city, instead of being at the edge of the city center itself.
They enter through a small hallway, a settee to one side and a door and a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe on the other. The door leads into one of the bedrooms with an adjoining bathroom, complete with both a shower and a bathtub that Yuuri knows Yurio will love.
Continuing down to the left is the dining room with the kitchen and laundry room on the other side. Again to the left is another bedroom with a smaller bathroom. The bedroom is currently being used as a meeting room, but it won't take a lot of work to move out the furniture and replace it with a bed and a couple wardrobes.
Walking back to the other side of where they entered, they come upon a large, cozy living room with a spectacular view. The red hardwood floors throughout the entire apartment gives it a warm, cozy feeling that makes Yuuri feel like this truly can be their home. That this is where they'll start a new life together.
There are enough sofas and chairs for their entire group of friends and family. To the right is a combined bar/kitchenette that Yuuri suspects will see a lot more use than the actual kitchen itself.
The wall facing the windows is covered by bookcases with glass doors, and Yuuri feels the need to fill them with well-read and well-worn books belonging to the both of them.
The master bedroom is separated from the living room by a wall of sliding doors. Passing through the bedroom they enter a walk-in closet that he hopes will be big enough to fit all their clothes, especially considering their skating costumes. Well, Victor's skating costumes to be exact. He's probably got more costumes than Yuuri has clothes and it's a daunting idea trying to fit all of that anywhere.
All those thoughts leave Yuuri's mind as they enter the en-suite bathroom. It's the same size as the bedroom, and Yuuri swears the shower alone is the size of his bedroom back at his parent's place.
And that bathtub! It could easily fit both of them at the same time, unlike the one in Victor's - well, their - apartment.
It's a good thing the realtor doesn't follow them around into the apartment beyond the hallway. It means they can discuss their opinions in peace, but right now it's more important that she can't see the look on Victor's face as he realises what the blush on Yuuri's face means; that he's gotten ideas for both the bathtub and the shower.
Before Victor can make a teasing comment however, Yuuri leads them back into the living room and starts talking.
"Can't you imagine Makkachin on the rug in front of the bed? Walking her along the water side and running amongst the trees and playing fetch? Or Yurio filling his bedroom with animal print bedsheets and the bathroom with matching towels? Chris flirting with his own reflection in the wall by the dining table? Minako-sensei slumped on the plush carpet in the living room after too many drinks? Yuuko-san yelling at her daughters for staying up too late and using her account? Or Phichit-kun filling his room with hamster plushies?"
Victor can feel himself fall in love with Yuuri all over again from the tone of his voice. Victor can imagine it all too; all their friends and family gathered in the living room, Yuuri helping his mother make food, maybe even Yurio's grandfather teaching them to make pirozhkis. The triplets passed out, cuddling up to Makkachin.
"I love you," Victor says, making it sound like they've exchanged the words so many times, making it sound so simple. A look of shock crosses Yuuri's face, but it's gone the next instant.
"I love you too," he replies.
It's the first time they've said the words. Yuuri often thinks their relationship evolved a bit backwards. The first time they officially met, the first time Yuuri remembers meeting Victor, Victor was posing naked. Then he started talking about sharing a bed, and at times he brought his body inches away from Yuuri, stroking his bottom lip and nearly kissing him. They barely kissed before they got engaged, and now they're moving in together in a new apartment, in a country Yuuri's barely been to. and only now did they tell one another those three words.
It truly is the surest sign that they don't need to look at another apartment, that this one right here is the perfect one for them.
Victor takes Yuuri's hand, kisses the back of it, and then leads him to the hallway.
"We'll take it," he tells the realtor, a big grin on his face. She seems shocked, and Yuuri can't blame her. He's seen how long the place has been out for sale, knows the price has been lowered several times. Then there's the fact that neither of them asked any question at all about it. Yuuri know he'd be surprised too, had he been in her place, but he knows Victor, know how impulsive he can be, and he also knows that Victor agrees that this place will be perfect for them.
It's large enough to have several guests over, but not so large that it will seem imposing when it's just the two of them and Makkachin. They have rooms for guests, floorspace enough to lay out more mattresses in case they'll have more people than Yurio, Otabek and Phichit staying over at the same time. Adding a permanent stripper pole (for Chris, of course) won't be a problem either.
"Then let's sign the paperwork," Mila's friend says, the professional look upon her face back again as she leads them out of the apartment that will soon be theirs, together.
-
Later that night, after the paperwork been signed, they're both curled up in bed, Makkachin at their feet.
"Yuuri?"
"Hmmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too Victor."
They smile at one another as they drift off into sleep, both dreaming of their new apartment - that Yuuri will pay more than one ruble for - and the life they will start together, in a place of their own that will no doubt often fill with friends and family.