Flowers Fall (viktuuri AU)

Chapter 9- Me, My Screen and I

Intermittent clicking echoed throughout Victor's empty office. He slouched over his computer, his fingers dancing over his keyboard, occasionally trading his stylus for his mouse. His sketchbook was propped against a stand, kept close for references. The curtains were barely open, as the bright sunlight directly hit his screen, which prevented him from seeing it well. Makkachin was curled up at his feet, fast asleep. He has been sitting at his desk for over two hours now.

He softly bopped his head to the music playing in his headphones and began laying down the base for his newest commission. He was to design yet another skating suit, this time for one of his long-forgotten acquaintances. What a joy it has been when the latter finally reached out to him after years of not seeing each other! He was extremely happy with doing something nice for his friend, and he was dedicated to making it look as good as possible.

Victor took a sip of his third cup of coffee and began gently tracing the curves that would later become the mannequin itself. He made sure to choose a position that would appear dynamic, yet would still portray the costume well. Letting out a large sigh, he scribbled down a few bullet points on a stray piece of paper and stood up to stretch. As he did, he accidentally awoke the sleeping mass of fluff under his desk, who joyfully began jumping around his owner.

"I know you want to go outside, buddy," Victor chuckled, giving his pet deserved belly rubs. "But I have work to do right now,"

He decided to tidy up his workspace a bit, as he was slowly growing more and more distracted as minutes ticked by. He carefully carried his numerous dirty mugs to the kitchen and set them in the sink.

"Could you help me?" Katherine asked, cleaning in the living room.

"Later, I'm a little busy now," he shrugged and headed to his office. Katherine only sighed and shook her head in response.

Victor felt somewhat bad for acting like this, but he had to work before anything else. He plopped himself down in his chair and began sketching the suit.

Every skating costume had to fit a certain theme, and this one wasn't an exception. He glanced at his friend's email and let out a light chuckle. It seemed that he and his routines haven't changed at all.

As Victor was coloring in the suit, he got interrupted by his phone ringing. He looked at the caller ID and bridged his eyebrows. Well, here's someone he hasn't heard from in a while.

"Hello?" he said, switching to Russian. "Why did you call?"

"Why do you think I called you?" an annoyed voice exclaimed. "I need a new suit."

"Ah, there you go," Victor replied. "And I thought you were interested in my life."

The voice suddenly became quiet, though not for long.

"Ugh, Yakov told me to call you, alright?" it muttered. "I insisted on writing an email like a normal person, but nooo, he just had to get his damn way ."

"I feel like Yakov is holding you at gunpoint," he laughed.

"Well, shit, he might as well be!" the voice yelled. "I'm in a shitty situation here, can't you see?"

"I thought you already had your suits for the upcoming season," Victor said, carrying on with his work.

"I did," it sighed. "But the designer was hospitalized and couldn't do it."

"Ouch," he replied. "So, you came to me, then?"

"I didn't wanna'," the other grumbled. "But as I said, Yakov freaking forced me to, so here I am."

"Well, I'd be glad to help you as soon as I finish my work in progress," Victor assured. "Which, frankly, shouldn't take too long."

"Huh? The hell do you mean?" the voice asked. "I need the damn thing!"

"And so does my client, Yura," he simply replied. "Just have a little patience, okay?"

"Urgh, fine !" Yuri muttered. "But it better be perfect, understand?"

"Sure, just make sure to tell me what it is that you want," Victor reminded. "I can't read your mind."

"Yeah, yeah," the other mocked. "I'll send you an email since this call is over." he decided and hung up.

"Ah, what a child..." Victor muttered and put his phone down. The child in question hadn't lied because a few minutes later, there was a new email in his inbox

He skimmed through it and scribbled something on his agenda.

Maybe if he'd finish early today, he'd be able to visit Yuuri? They haven't talked in a few days now, and for some reason, the florist never wrote nor called. Was he annoyed with Victor?

He shook his head. He shouldn't speculate. Better to just ask directly.

Disregarding his job, he picked up his phone and opened his messages. His heart fell when he had noticed that he never replied to Yuuri's last text. What a dumbass he was.

Victor Nikiforov: Hey, I am so sorry! I forgot to hit send :(

He got a reply almost immediately.

Yuuri Katsuki: Mhm..it's okay, don't worry about it.

Victor Nikiforov: Are you sure? Are you okay?

Yuuri Katsuki: Yeah, yeah, I'm ok. You?

Victor Nikiforov: I'm okay, just a bit busy.

Yuuri Katsuki: Then I believe I should leave you to your endeavors. See you later.

Victor was shaken, to say the least. He had never seen so much passive aggressivity from Yuuri before, and he sure didn't want to see it again. Was he still mad about Victor not answering? It may very well be so.

He was still clutching the phone in his hands when Katherine suddenly came in.

"Is 'this' your idea of working?" she called out, crossing her arms.

"Uh, I was just..." Victor began but got swiftly interrupted by the woman.

"You were just what ?" she exclaimed. "Sitting on your phone while I'm busting my ass cleaning?"

"Oh, my God, I just texted someone for a minute !" he argued. "I was already done!"

"I don't care!" Katherine yelled. "You've been here for hours! You could've spared a few minutes to help me!"

"Okay, fine! " he firmly replied. "What is it that you need?"

"Nothing, thanks!" she snapped and slammed the door shut.

Victor let out a large sigh and cupped his face in his hands. What was it with people and passive aggression today?

He ran a hand through his hair and got back to work. 

~~~

Hello, beautiful people!

I hope you enjoyed this bite-sized chapter. If you did, don't forget to vote and leave comments~

'till next time,

-Alex <3

Published: 2020-06-02

Words: 1080