yuuri katsuki/victor nikiforov, G, ~600 | for @viktuuri-week: day 6 – happiness
i nearly missed this event but i'm glad i got to dust off this old wip to celebrate anyway (ಥ‿ಥ) thank you to harky for the quick beta<3 any other mistakes are mine
read on ao3
In interviews, and generally in public, Yuuri always says his happiest memory is landing his triple axel for the first time.
It happened back when he was in high school when Yuuri was practicing a bit (a lot) after hours because he was determined to land the thing before he took his skates off for the day. Yuuko had finished closing up everything but the rink itself at Ice Castle, and Takeshi was hanging around waiting for her.
“Yuuri,” he called out, “I will drag you off the ice myself if you don’t stop! It’s way past closing time already!”
Yuuri huffed an annoyed breath before yelling back, “Yes, yes! Just one more! I promise!”
(He’d been so close already. He knew exactly what he had to do—he just hadn’t pushed his body enough yet to do it.)
So Yuuko stood next to Takeshi with a sigh, and Takeshi crossed his arms as they watched Yuuri circle around the rink again.
Yuuri picked up momentum, leg swinging forward to catapult himself into the air and—
Yuuko clapped in celebration. “Yuuri-kun! You did it, you did it, you did it!” she shrieked as Takeshi whooped and hollered next to her.
And Yuuri was breathless, flushed from the exertion and the overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.
He did record himself landing his first triple axel thanks to camera footage from Ice Castle. Unfortunately, the video had gotten lost over the years but, “I’m sure Yuu-chan and Nishigori-kun would be happy to attest to that night!”
However... that’s just his public answer when it comes to his happiest memory.
His honest answer is the first time Victor fell asleep on his shoulder.
They were at home watching TV after dinner at Yu-Topia, resting after a long day of practice and training, and Victor sat next to him on the tatami. Makkachin had long since fallen asleep across his and Victor’s laps, snoring softly as Victor petted the pooch’s head.
By this point, he and Victor had finalized the choreography to his Free Skate, the steps finally approved by Victor’s tremendously high standards. Yuuri’s excitement must have been obvious, because once they packed up to leave Ice Castle, Yuu-chan had teased him about the goofy look on his face.
(He had been relieved that she only mentioned finally finishing the choreography, and not that he was immensely pleased to be the reason for Victor’s satisfied smile. Takeshi had already joked that he was falling knee-deep in his childhood crush on Victor in front of Victor. Yuu-chan at least had enough tact to keep Yuuri’s budding feelings a secret.)
The moment happened when the weatherman ended his report. As Yuuri continued to quietly watch the news, he felt Victor’s head land gently on his shoulder.
He had immediately stilled, blood rushing in his ears, and murmured, “Victor...?”
The only response he received was the sound of Victor’s soft breathing. Yuuri shifted, as delicately as he could, to look at Victor’s face, and was met with the peaceful expression of his coach sound asleep.
Yuuri could swear his heart was beating so loud he could barely hear it over the voices of the news anchors. His cheeks were warm and he had to remember to breathe normally when his breaths came out shallower than usual.
He eventually turned to look back at the TV with a small smile.
And with a body aching from a day’s hard work, a full belly, a dog on his lap, and a man he realized was dangerously close to falling in love with sleeping peacefully by his side, he thought, I think I could live the rest of my life like this.
