DETENTION: 3:00 P.M.
Victor stood outside of room 104 with a cigarette lodged loosely in between his teeth, his feet crossed, and tangled headphones in his ears.
The only thing he could hear was Mick Jagger's raspy vocals through the small speakers as he tuned out the rest of the world, which seemed to be surprisingly quiet at the moment.....
That being evident from how empty and still the hallway stood before him, as an afternoon ray of soft sun shone through the window in front of him.
But this didn't surprise Victor, because instead of going home like every other kid in this damn school, he was having to put up with a few extra hours, since he had gotten his pretty little ass sent to detention.
God knows it was worth it though, to see that brown eyed boy break down in front of him, because it was just so damn satisfying to be the one thing that set him off every time.
And even though Victor's music was turned up to max volume, it still wasn't enough to drown out the sound of running feet echoing off the walls and down the hallway.
He had been expecting the sound of those perfectly shined and polished shoes, followed by disheveled, ebony hair, and the sound of his book bag bouncing off his thigh for the last 10, tedium minutes.
Yuri Katsuki was running towards Victor in all his glory......and god, was the platinum haired troublemaker excited for what was to come.
Because if it was anything like today.........
Then it was gonna be so damn fun.
Victor's smirk spread across his lips as if on cue, shoving his hands into his worn pockets for extra effect.
"Wow, good boy goes bad boy," Victor said as he inhaled and exhaled, his eyes following the smoke as it floated up towards the ceiling, not even needing to look at Yuri since he could practically feel the fumes and fire coming off of that boy.
It was like anything Victor said lit him up, ironically enough, as if he were a fucking cigarette.
A cigarette that you could not extinguish.
"I'm not good or bad you fucking idiot!" Yuri cursed as he snatched the cancer stick out from under Victor's lips and stomped on it with his perfectly polished school boy shoes, the ashes dispersing against the cold, dirty floor. "I just stay out of trouble because it's not worth my fucking time!"
Victor rolled his eyes.
"Nothing's good enough for you, is it Katsuki?"
"Oh shut up. You're the reason I'm here in the first place," and Yuri practically slammed into the locker as he slouched against the one next to Victor with his arms crossed, avidly avoiding any eye contact.
He had already had enough of the blue eyed rebel's insults and games in the last few weeks, or however long it's been.
And Yuri was not one to hide how he felt, especially in situations like these.
"Whatever you say, princess."
And at those words, Victor had lit up the fire, again, that Yuri had so desperately tried to distinguish since that stupid fucking fencing class earlier today.
Yuri reached for Victor's tie with fury in his eyes and nothing but pure hatred (or at least that's what he told himself) as he completely lost control for the second time....
Only to have to press pause at the sound of Mr. Laurent walking down the haunted hallways of this damn school.
Here we go...Victor chanted in his mind as he glared at Yuri, already preparing himself for the guaranteed, shitty lecture.
Of course, if Victor had gotten through all of the other lectures, the ones that usually started out with "you're a disappointment Nikiforov......"
He knew he could handle this one.
Especially if it meant annoying the little devil to his right in the process.
"Alright boys, this is about as painful for you as it is for me so let's not make this difficult," Mr. Laurent said sternly, as he passed in front of them and unlocked the door, leading them inside.
Yuri cut in front of Victor in the doorway and sat down in the middle of the very far row, with a pout on his face......
And the opportunity practically fell into Victor's hands as he purposefully chose to sit right across from Yuri with that same smirk.
Yuri was certain he was gonna have to use the #2 pencil on the floor to stab that son of a bitch to death as he glared sharpened daggers at the boy beside him.
He knew what he was doing and he hated, absolutely hated him for it.
But what was new?
"So, fist fight during fencing? Could one of you just not accept being a sore loser?" Mr. Laurent taunted with as he tapped his ball point pen against his clipboard in anticipation. "Looks like neither of you got a good punch in."
Victor from the beginning hadn't actually intended on punching Yuri's stupidly pretty face in, but he couldn't say the same for Yuri.
Yuri would've swung, and swung hard.
Yuri scoffed and leaned back in his seat, putting his feet up on the desk almost as if Victor and him had switched tendencies in some kind of freaky Friday incident.
"I can accept a loss, thank you very much," Yuri said, surprisingly with pride as he glanced at Victor with a devilish smile, which he returned with a bloody sarcastic one.
"Bullshit."
"Language, Mr. Nikiforov," and Mr. Laurent had put his clipboard down on the desk for this one.
"Sorry, must have slipped."
Mr. Laurent and his receding hairline only sighed in response, and it was exactly the kind of sigh you'd expect from a teacher on the edge of retirement.
He was certain these two boys were gonna be the final push he needed to fall off the cliff and into bliss.
"Alright, there's only two rules to detention, and I believe maybe one of you is more aware of these rules, judging by your....transcripts," he said, his stare burning a hole in Victor as Victor glared back.
Yuri snickered from the corner.
How'd he even get a look at my transcript? was the only question swirling around in Victor's head.
"How about you just state the rules instead of sitting there and judging my character using the little bit of authority you so think you have," Victor replied towards Mr. Laurent, as he sat back in his chair.
And now Yuri found himself speechless instead of satisfied, and he watched with great intent as Victor's frown turned into a smirk, and Mr. Laurent's eyes went livid.
He didn't understand how Victor could walk around with this airy confidence all the time, and not let anyone or anything at all diminish it.
Yuri could easily admit to himself that he was jealous of someone like Victor, which is where some of the hatred stemmed from.
I mean, he was someone who did what they wanted, how they wanted, and when they wanted?
Someone who seemed absolutely free from everything? Consequences rarely given?
It seemed impossible.
Sure, Yuri had only known Victor for a couple of weeks, and couldn't claim he knew him that well, that also being the case because he had shunned the blue eyed asshole since that first day.......
But he could only assume Victor was more on top of his shit than anyone else at this damned school.
And right before Yuri could get himself caught up in envy land, Mr. Laurent had slammed his book down onto the desk and was now shooting daggers at both of them.
"I don't need to EVER hear it from you again Nikiforov, and I suggest you remember that you're just like everyone else here before you go on assuming you're the king of this GOD DAMN SCHOOL," and he walked around to the front of the desk and crossed his arms. "And before either one of you can tell me how to do my job again, I'll be down the hall doing work that doesn't concern your egos. So, stay quiet and out of trouble, got it?"
Victor snickered, "Yes sir," saluting towards the poor man on his way out the door.
And at the shut and lock of the door, it was now only a room full of $2 posters that screamed "think before you speak," enthusiasm screaming right at your face in colorful and obnoxious letters.
And those posters were yet another reason to add to the long list of reasons as to why both boys wanted to be anywhere but here.
But Yuri was prepared, in the likely case that he would soon go insane from Victor's unwanted presence.......
The #2 pencil hiding in his back pocket, ready to poke out one of those, quite unfortunately, pretty blue eyes being a great example of his preparation.
However, Yuri was going to at least try, for once, to have a normal conversation with the boy next to him, since they were basically being held captive.
God, I'm so gonna fucking regret this...he thought to himself as he took a dramatic breath in and finally, for the first time since their first encounter, attempted to start a normal conversation.
"H-How do you do that?" Yuri asked, in a surprisingly shy tone as Victor immediately looked at him, assuming he was trying to talk to him instead of the weird skeleton propped up at the front of the room.
"Do what, Katsuki?"
"Well, I don't really know how to explain it. You just seem so on top of everything all the time, like you don't give a shit about anything or what anyone thinks about you," Yuri explained, as he watched Victor get up from his seat and move to the one right in front of him, his back to the wall.
Yuri felt himself tense at how much closer they were to each other now, Victor clearly not feeling the need for space between them.
"Oh come on, you and I both know no one could manage to be such a person. Not even me," and Victor sighed, his eyes drawn to the blue book lodged in Yuri's book bag as he got distracted.....
But at the realization of what Yuri had said, Victor could feel a genuine smile spread across his face as he looked back at him. "You know, that's the nicest thing you've said to me since we've met."
Yuri sat back with crossed arms and groaned, yet he still couldn't help but blush a little.
"Oh, shut up. I was just making an observation!"
"I took it as a compliment."
"W-Well, you weren't supposed to!"
Victor laughed, and he lost himself in the feeling of what it felt like to really, really laugh.
And as much as he loved teasing Katsuki and absolutely relishing in the fact that this boy thought he was "on top of his shit," in this dusty, worn out jail cell they called a classroom.....
He couldn't mask the desire of wanting to get out of this hell hole and take the brown eyed boy anywhere but here with him.
So of course, he gave in to such a desire.
"Speaking of my possible ability to not care about anything, which definitely includes Mr. Laurent's expectations........wanna get out of here?" Victor asked hesitantly as he got up and waited for Yuri to respond.
He figured he knew exactly how this was gonna go.
What, are you out of your mind? You can't just skip detention! How do you even expect to get out of here, smart ass?
Victor had observed that Yuri seemed to put up a dangerous, sometimes rebellious act at times, but deep down he was someone who probably didn't even want to rebel, not to mention he wouldn't know how to anyways....
But Victor had a feeling that if Yuri were to decide to spend a little more time with someone like him, he'd be more than capable of changing a thing like that.
"What, are you out of your mind? You can't just skip detention! How do you even expect to get out of here, smart ass?" Yuri said, in that cute, defensive tone of his.
Clearly, he had a long way to go still, as Victor had to laugh at the look on his face.
"The window, isn't it obvious?" and he gestured towards the so-called window as Yuri's eyes followed, going wide at the idea.
"WHAT?"
"Oh, don't tell me you're scared of a jump like that. You can barely even call it a jump," Victor taunted as he walked over to it, forcing it open....the breeze flowing in as the sun hit his fair skin.
He looked down at the ground, imagining and estimating how long it'd take before their feet would land on the grass, safely of course.
And although the jump wasn't terrible, it certainly wasn't unnerving.
In fact, Yuri had every right to be terrified.
But Victor was too determined to get out of here and he was willing to take any risk at this point.
However, the same thing couldn't be said for his partner in crime.
Victor turned around to see Yuri hiding behind him, with his book bag securely fastened around his tense shoulders as he observed the god damn stunt. "There's no way this is gonna turn out in our favor."
"Have a little faith. There's tons of instances in which teens have successfully cut class in creative ways," Victor said, matter-of factly.
"Oh yeah? Give me one."
Victor took a deep breath of confidence.
"Uh, Ferris Buehler's Day Off....duh," Victor said, his arms crossed in front of his chest as he sat on the window sill faced towards Yuri, smiling. "Only the greatest teen movie of all time."
"Well, I've never seen it, so I wouldn't know," and Yuri narrowed his eyes. "I prefer reading anyways."
Victor was in awe towards Yuri as he just continued on smiling at him, this being the first time he had met someone who didn't projectile vomit at the thought of a fucking book, much less reading it.
"What's your favorite book then?" Victor asked, maintaining eye contact with Yuri, which seemed to make him uncomfortable.
I know he might not be the most adventurous kid around but I didn't know he was shy....Victor thought to himself as he waited for Yuri's response....I guess I barely know anything about him other than the fact that he's stubborn since he's been so adamant on avoiding me.......
But Victor figured he'd slowly be able to figure out more about the boy standing in front of him, since he'd be stuck inside this failure of a school system for a long enough amount of time......
Of course, the fact that they were stuck right across the hall from each other was an added bonus.
"U-Uh, I mean.....I guess Treasure Island," Yuri responded with hesitation, a thinking expression on his face. "Why does that matter?"
"I know for a fact that Jim Hawkins wouldn't even bat an eye before jumping out a window. Do you really want to let down your literary hero?" Victor taunted with as he smirked at Yuri, who's eyes went wide open in surprise, again.
"W-What? You've read Treasure Island?!"
Yuri could barely even comprehend what he had just heard come out of Victor fucking Nikiforov's lips.
He was sure he was hallucinating, or at the very least, deaf.
He had to be, right?
"Of course I have. It's a classic," and Victor just stood there, dead serious and unaware of how surprised, and somewhat impressed, Yuri was with him.
And for the first time, Victor watched as Yuri slowly gave him a smile, in return to the one that Victor had been giving him since the bell for detention rang.
Not a devilish one, or a teasing one.....
Or a fake one.....
But a real, damn smile.
And it had Victor speechless.
In fact, he felt as if someone had knocked all the air out of his adolescent body.
"Maybe you're not as bad as you seem Nikiforov," Yuri said as he leaned up against the desk, now holding the straps of his book bag loosely.
Victor took a deep breath in.
"Why thank you Katsuki, I'm honored.....and I know I've been a little annoying, and have it in for teasing you," Victor said as he stood up on the window sill and prepared to make the jump. "I just like it when you're mad, I guess."
Yuri rolled his eyes.
"Oh shut it. Don't push your luck by ruining the moment."
And before Yuri could say anything else, Victor had effortlessly jumped out the window, rolled onto the grass, and stuck the landing with a satisfied smile.....
But Yuri, obviously, had missed what happened and panicked, running over to the window and looking down to make sure the blue eyed troublemaker hadn't splattered across the ground like a squashed bug.
And to his surprise, Victor just patiently stood there, with his hands on his hips and his eyes squinted as he saw Yuri come into view.
"Fuck, t-there's no way I'm doing that Victor. I-I'm not Jim Hawkins, I literally have TWIGS for arms," Yuri stuttered as he attempted to take a calming breath, which came out differently as he started hyperventilating.
Victor laughed from down below, although he couldn't help but feel sympathy towards Yuri's fear.
"Good thing you don't need to use your arms then. You just have to land on your feet Yuri, I promise you'll be fine," Victor assured him as he sent another smile his way and watched as Yuri disappeared inside again. "Yuri? Hello?"
And Victor's instant reflexes kicked in as he watched Yuri's book bag fly out the window, his arms reaching out to catch it like it was precious cargo.
It gracefully fell right into his arms as Victor squirmed at how painfully heavy it was, now convinced that there was definitely something valuable hidden inside.
"Jesus Christ, is there a dead body in this thing?" Victor teased as he looked up to see Yuri taking a deep breath of bravery, his arms pushing up against the window sill.
"N-No, but you might have to put one in it in just a second," and he swore he could feel Yuri's shaking nerves from all the way down where he stood.
Victor knew he had to do something to help Yuri, since the boy looked like he was gonna pass out at any given moment.....
And although this thought had crossed his mind way too many times in the last five minutes, along with the fact that he knew Yuri would refuse such a suggestion.....
Victor couldn't help but offer it up.
"Don't worry, I'll catch you Rapunzel," Victor said, dead serious as he tossed the book bag to the side and held his arms up for him instead, watching as Yuri scoffed and ran his hands through his hair nervously.
"As if! I'll do this on my own, so don't you even think about it!"
"You sure about that princess?"
"Y-Yes! And lay off with the stupid fucking nicknames!"
"Whatever you say."
And Victor watched in anticipation as Yuri finally stood up and took a deep breath of bravery, with his brown eyes closed and his fists clenched.....
His perfectly white sneakers pushing off as he practically flew through the air, his legs flailing......
Which meant that if Victor didn't move his feet and at least try to catch this boy....
That he would absolutely be stuffing Yuri Katsuki's dead body in that weight of a book bag.
And so that's exactly what Victor did.
He caught him.
The impact wasn't as heavy as Victor had prepared himself for, but he could feel his heart racing as Yuri's arms snaked their way around his neck and that ebony head gently laid against his chest, those brown eyes still glued shut in fear of what he had just successfully done.
It took a second for Yuri to realize that, instead of comfortably falling on the ground, he had instead, comfortably fallen into Victor Nikiforov's arms.......
Bridal style.
And Yuri, for the life of him, could not figure out whether or not his heart, along with every other nerve in his body, were all racing at the speed of light because of the jump he had just attempted, or because of how safe he felt in Victor's really strong ar-
JESUS, WHAT AM I THINKING?!? Yuri cursed in his head as he shook away the feeling, scared of feeling something that strong again towards Victor fucking Nikiforov.
The thought left his mind as quick as it came.
"Uh.....you can put me down now Prince Charming," Yuri said with a childish laugh as Victor just blankly stared at him for seconds on end, eventually receiving the signal and gently setting him down on the ground, his legs still shaking.
It was hard to let go of the feeling he had just experienced, and Victor immediately regretted doing so.
It was almost like a trance......
A euphoric feeling.............
And Victor knew he hadn't felt something like that in a long time.
"Sorry, but you would have at least dislocated a leg had I not saved your ass," Victor said, now being the one laughing as he handed Yuri his book bag, watching as mr. pretty boy attempted to wipe off the dirt on his school shirt.
"Yeah well, thanks......I guess," Yuri mumbled as he started walking off confidently, and like he hadn't just been carried bridal style by the boy he claimed to be so "disgusted" by.
But he stopped and turned around to give Victor a raised eyebrow kind of look, gesturing for him.
"All the power to you if you just want to continue standing there like an idiot Nikiforov," Yuri asked as he turned around and waited for Victor to grab his own bag and catch up, that being hard for him considering his head was still very much up in the fucking clouds.
But he could easily come back down.
"O-Oh yeah. Sorry."
Yuri just rolled his brown eyes and smiled as he watched Victor practically waltz up to him, both of them now side by side as they made their way up a hill and onto a path in the main quad.
They made it all the way up the hill in comfortable silence it seemed, but both of them could only handle such a thing for so long.......
Not that Yuri's attempt at lame small talk was any better, much less hostile.
"So uh, Nashville huh?" Yuri asked, the awkwardness settling in as he glanced over at Victor and then away again. "What was that like?"
"Wow, you're gonna have to give me a second to prepare my answer for that question, you're starting out pretty deep," Victor teased as he skipped in front of Yuri and watched as the boy's familiar anger started sifting back in. "Are you gonna ask me what my favorite scarring memory as a young child was next?"
"See, why do you have to be such a cheeky asshole all the fucking time!? God forbid I try to ask you a simple question and at least make a little effort to get to know you, not that I should even waste my time," and instead of saying this with total resentment, Yuri could feel a smile come up since he meant it as more of a joke.
Victor picked up on the change in their dialogue, and he couldn't help but enjoy it, since this was what they were used to.
"Touché. And to answer your question, it's way more fun to be a cheeky asshole than a grumpy, little toddler like you," Victor said, having pride in his comeback.
Yuri rolled his eyes, again, and for what felt like the fifteenth time that day.
"I'm not a toddler, in case you haven't noticed, I certainly don't look like one."
"Trust me, I've noticed that."
And as quick as Victor was to say something like that, he was just as quick to nervously panic at a comment that blatantly stated he had most definitely noticed the obvious appeal Yuri had.
"U-Uh, I meant that I uh, you know, obviously you're not, a...um...toddler."
Jesus Christ, next time you open your mouth, maybe just don't say anything at all you fucking moron Victor cursed up in his head as he realized how genuinely mortifying that cover up was, hoping Yuri was already working on wiping that memory from his head.
Victor at least was.
"Gee, thanks Nikiforov. You're just the sweetest," Yuri said, dripping in sarcasm as his brown eyes rolled to the very back of his head.
And Victor was able to shake the embarrassment off from his earlier comment as he laughed, glancing over at Yuri.
"Thank you, I really try you know.
So, do you still want me to answer your question?"
Yuri smirked to himself, although it was quite visible to more than just him.
"Please, continue."
Victor was never excited to reminisce or go into detail about the life he had led before having to pack everything up and move all the way over here, a place so genuinely foreign to him.....
And not just because it was a, in all sense of the phrase....a foreign country.
But, he figured he could at least tolerate reminiscing for a little, if that's how Yuri was choosing to get to know him, a choice that he made two weeks after their first meeting.
Better now than never.
"Well, I can't really say that moving to Nottingham, England was exactly the way I planned escaping from the hellhole that is Nashville, but it's not like I really had a choice," Victor said, kind of bitter as he playfully kicked a pebble from the sidewalk onto the perfectly manicured grass fields.
"Why didn't you have a choice?" Yuri asked, trying his best to sound interested, since sometimes he came off as indifferent.
But Yuri, for a change, didn't have a hard time with this......
Because he was kind of......actually interested.
"Well, in the wise words of my beloved parents, I'm "too damn reckless" and "well on my way to sabotaging my already pathetic future,"" and to Yuri's surprise, Victor let out a bitter laugh at his comment, which he assumed was how he masked the pain. "So, in an effort to suppress my so-called recklessness, my 18th birthday present was a one way ticket here and paid tuition by my rich grandparents that I've only seen probably once or twice since birth."
Yuri couldn't help but laugh at how Victor was out of breath at his rant, a rant that he had phrased in the best way possible.
It seemed the platinum haired, blue eyed rebel had a way with words.
"Jesus Christ," Yuri responded with. "Guess I'm not the only one who has it rough on the parental front then."
Victor looked over at him, with sympathy in his eyes.
"Yeah? What's it like over at the Katsuki household then?" and Victor took this as a great opportunity to light up his second cigarette of the day, grabbing an extra one out of his back pocket for the boy next to him. "If you don't mind me asking."
Victor offered Yuri the cigarette, and with only a little bit of hesitation, Yuri took it with a small smile.
"Thanks, and I don't mind."
Yuri took a deep breath, and a long puff of the borrowed cigarette to prepare himself for the one thing he hated talking about the most, that being one thing him and Victor had in common so far.
He knew it was good, to talk to someone else, or as his stupid fucking therapist Émelie would put it, he needed to "open up to others in order to open up to himself."
I mean, for fuck's sake, that doesn't even make sense!
But regardless, he could at least try to abide by the delusional statement.
"I'll spare as much of this sob story for you as I can, but basically......
My dad left when I was 5, my mom lost her sanity, and figured out the only way, or at least the easiest way she could cure it all was by drowning in alcohol," Yuri said, talking fast in an effort to get the story out as fast as he could, and with as little emotion as possible. "Thus, I gained a sense of independence and maturity at way too young of an age, and my only relationship I had was, and still is, with my cat."
Victor listened closely, watching Yuri even closer as those brown eyes stayed glued to the pavement below him.
Victor could tell he was doing everything in his power to show no sort of emotion, something he could also sympathize with....
He recognized the emptiness in his eyes as one he'd seen in the mirror, for a long, long time.
So, Victor knew it was better to not pry into the deeper, more damaged parts of Yuri until he felt it was the right time.
Hell, they were only on introductions at the moment.....
Plus, he didn't want to put Yuri in a state of mind like that, so he distracted him with the better questions instead.
"What's it's name?" Victor asked, watching Yuri inhale off his cigarette as he did the same, his face twisting into confusion.
"It's name?"
"The cat."
Victor could feel Yuri's eyes on him as he looked ahead, tapping against the cigarette and letting the ashes fall delicately to the pavement.
Yuri observed him quietly for a second before responding.
"His name's Maverick," Yuri said, happiness spreading through him like wildfire as he sort of blushed once again, although this time he wasn't really sure why.
"Ha, Top Gun...." Victor laughed in remembering what was probably Tom Cruise's peak. "Great name choice Katsuki, but I thought you were more into reading."
Yuri was sure he'd stopped breathing.
He had never been caught this off guard by a human being in under five minutes.
"So you've not only read all of Treasure Island, a totally classic novel, but you've now also seen and enjoyed Top fucking Gun?!" Yuri was beside himself, not being able to believe this kid. "You're supposed to be giving me more reasons to hate you, not reasons for me to redeem you."
Victor raised an eyebrow at him, finding his lack of tolerance still just as amusing as it was on their first day of meeting.
"Is this how you form all your relationships? On pure, grade A hatred?"
Yuri contemplated what his next witty comment would be, as Victor watched him bite down on his lip, something he noticed he did quite often.
"Call me a fucking loner but I've always rarely ever been the kind of person to invest my small amount of energy into forming relationships," Yuri sighed out, as he thanked god their conversation was flowing a lot smoother than he perceived it would. "I'm pretty content with just Phicit, Luca, and I guess Chris, although he certainly isn't my cup of tea. Of course, most people aren't."
Victor had to laugh at that, but not in a teasing way, since.........
He related, almost a bit too closely, to Yuri's views on relationships.
Maybe even way too closely.
And without either of them noticing how time had gone by or how they had made it to the front of their dorm building, Victor opened the door to the lobby and let Yuri pass, which he more than willingly did......giving the platinum-haired boy a cheeky side glance on the way in.
All they needed was just a pinch more of small talk to get them up to the 3rd floor, and to the end of the hallway..........
With the "added bonus" of being right across the hallway from each other.
Usually Yuri would slam the door and disappear into his own world as quickly as humanly possible, but he felt he at least owed Victor some kind of politeness, or at least a closing, sarcastic statement.
The second option was a lot more appealing......
Yuri was not Mother fucking Teresa.
"Listen, just because I'm conveniently across the hall from you doesn't mean 24/7 teasing Nikiforov, and JUST BECAUSE we had a decent conversation doesn't mean we're best friends now.
Got it?"
Yuri tried to say this in a serious tone, but it was hard to keep the smile he had at bay as Victor snickered, leaning against the door of his room like a true debonair.
"Awe, you're too cute," Victor teased, obviously not taking Yuri's request into consideration. "You can pretend all you want but I know you enjoyed that conversation AND my presence for once."
"Ah fuck off, I did not!"
"Did too."
"Did. NOT!"
"You're too easy Katsuki, you know that?" and Yuri watched as Victor unlocked his own door, stopping and turning to look into those brown eyes again before he disappeared into the nauseatingly stenched room....courtesy of Chris.
It was times like these in which Victor prided himself on his "slightly better than the bare minimum" hygiene.
"And you're an asshole Nikiforov," Yuri following in suit as he twisted the key into the doorknob, praying that it wouldn't get stuck like it always did and he'd look like a complete idiot....
But thankfully, it didn't.
Yuri made a quicker effort of disappearing into his room as he passed through the doorway, taking off his shoes and socks so he could feel the soft rug against his worn feet....
But he stopped at the sound of Victor's voice cutting through as he caught Yuri's door, holding it open.
"For the record Katsuki....I don't actually think you're a trust fund, annoyingly stubborn, insecure asshole," Victor said, gently as ever but with enough voice to still catch Yuri's attention. "Well, maybe the stubborn part still stands."
Yuri, with a cheerful laugh threw one of his shoes towards the door, the sole hitting Victor square on the shoulder as he had intended it to, but his next door neighbor took it like a champ.
"I'll take that as a compliment. I'm still deciding on whether or not I totally hate you, but I should have a final verdict for you by the end of next week," and Yuri smiled for the god knows what time today at him.
A smile felt so unnatural to him, like it wasn't a shape in which his lips were supposed to be able to shape themselves, because it seemed it had been that damn long since he had let himself show an emotion like that.
Maybe he was getting too soft, or maybe he just liked the way he felt around Victor.......
But he'd figure that out soon enough.
"Fair enough, I'm keeping the pen either way though," Victor taunted as he slowly pulled Yuri's stolen pen from out of his pocket, twirling it in between his fingers.
Yuri found it quite amusing at this point that Nikiforov had actively chosen to keep that damn pen in the pocket of his uniform for weeks now.....
A pen that he, no doubt, used as a mindless distraction rather than for taking meaningless notes.
That's at least what Yuri had used it for.
"It's all yours, consider it a souvenir."
And Yuri gave one last smile before he shut the door gently, going into "do not disturb" mode until further notice.
So Victor attempted to do the same (for a second time), not trying to hide how happy he was at successfully breaking into a little bit of Yuri's hard, stubborn exterior......
He was only more and more intrigued by the boy across the hall, and he didn't know it yet, but Yuri was just as intrigued.
Victor gently opened the door of his room to find his passed out roommate curled up in tangled bedsheets, his uniform scattered all over the depressingly small square footage they were allowed to occupy.
He really didn't understand how Chris had managed to leave his button down by the mini fridge, whereas one of his shoes were on top of his dresser and the other was in the farthest corner of the room.......
The chaos was concerning, to say the least........even to Victor.
The blue eyed boy tensed as he watched Chris turn around in bed, his own eyes slowly waking up and opening along with a smile for his roommate.
"Buddy, what's up?" he said, his voice groggy and tired as he attempted to sit up, failing miserably and only being able to prop himself up on his elbow. "Fill me in on the detention experience," muttering through a yawn.
Victor gave him a sort of "raised eyebrow look" with a caring gaze as he slowly walked over to his own bed, practically falling into his sheets he had cleaned just this morning with a huge sense of relief........
And he, unlike a certain someone, had delicately taken off both of his shoes and placed them conveniently at the foot of his bed like a normal person.
Now he was more than happy to pass on information about the, quite unlikely, day he'd had so far.
"Well, it's nothing like The Breakfast Club, but I expected just as much....."
Chris scrunched his nose up in confusion.
"The what?"
"Nevermind."
He'd probably think John Hughes was the name of some hot "bachelor of a fourth year" for crying out loud.....and Victor laughed at his own thought......not the Messiah of cinema.
"Actually, I could give less of a shit as to what the "detention process" looks like," Chris said, very matter-of factly as he suddenly sat up, seeming a little too awake a little too soon. "I wanna know what hanging with Katsuki was like!"
Victor rolled his eyes, eyes that lit up at the sound of his name......
"You've known him longer than me, I really ought to spare you the details," and it was too easy for Victor to switch into "I could care less mode" as he reached for the half-empty can of red dog beer on his bedside table.
He really wasn't a big fan of beer, but he hadn't had anytime to run to the nearby supermarket (wherever that supposedly was) since the term had started.....
But Chris swore by it, and had it in for beer breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
And as Victor took a sip, he knew for sure that, when it came down to it, he really was more of a sucker for nicotine anyways.
"Okay Mr. nonchalant," Chris practically spat as he got out of bed and went to the mini fridge for a new beer, both boys clearly having the same idea as to what they would fuel themselves with until later tonight.
Speaking of which.........
"Did you at least get Yuri to agree to go to the club with us? Phicit's been blowing up our line all afternoon asking me if you're back and if the God's had been on your side," and as soon as Chris asked the question........
Victor realized he had completely forgotten to even ask it in the first place.
Hell, he hadn't even tried to ask considering he was too busy actually enjoying the conversation between him and Yuri, one that was built on more than just a constant loathing.
"Shit," Victor cursed, his naturally cold hand (the one not holding the can of beer) pressing to his forehead in frustration. "That may or may not have slipped my mind."
And even without looking at Chris, he could feel the disappoint coming from his very eager roommate....
Eager to go to the club and get absolutely shit-faced that is.
Victor glanced to the side to see Chris take a deep sigh before stomping over to his bed, one that he hadn't spent enough time in yet as he threw his arms up in protest.....
But obviously, that was far from enough to stop the green-eyed, 6'2, soccer star from yanking his roommate off the bed and shoving him towards the door.
"Oh come on, he's on do not disturb mode! Why can't you just ask him, he hates me enough already!" Victor groaned out in protest as he came face to face with the hallway again, Yuri's bedroom door in pursuit and Chris's urgent hands pushing him towards it.
"You were the one who said "trust me, I've got this all under control" and talking all smooth this morning!" Chris mocked as he turned Victor to face him again, hands on his roommate's shoulders in encouragement.
"That was this morning, moron!"
"Doesn't matter, you basically signed an invisible contract man!" and Victor nervously shushed him, realizing that Yuri could easily be hearing them from inside.
"No, you're fucking asking him, end of discussion! Besides, I'M the one who's gonna get us into this club in the first place dickwad!" Victor shot back with as he poked Chris's chest.
But Chris had many reasons (more like excuses) as to why he would not be the one to ask Yuri.
"First of all, not only am I a dickwad, but I've been dicking down Phicit, who is Yuri's best friend might I add, for the last few or so months," Chris said, laying it all out on the table for his platinum-haired roomie. "So, if I were to so much as mess up, even in the slightest.....guess what that means?"
Victor chose not to answer, and instead looked Chris dead in the eyes, unamused and disinterested.....
Leaving the boy to answer his own damn question.
"It means that Yuri could easily twist me into being a shitty person the next time he talks to Phicit, therefore resulting in me losing my dignity and the best sex life I've ever had and so that is why YOU HAVE NO CHOICE but to ASK."
Victor was, in all sense of the word, speechless.
"So you're essentially saying that I'm asking him in order to preserve you and his best friend's sex life?" and Victor crossed his arms, not liking the role of messenger so far.
"Essentially......yes."
"You horny son of a bitch."
And although Victor hadn't fully agreed, once Chris had taken himself out of the equation, he then proceeded to take himself out of the hallway and back into their room.
"Best of luck," and the door shut itself in his defeated face.
And here Victor was, out in the hallway again.
Alone.....
Again.
But all it took was a deep sigh and a confident approach to the door as he knocked lightly, knowing damn well that he was already breaking Yuri's boundary rules.
Oh well.....I tried, his mind swirling as he put the "suave, bad boy" sort of persona back on and leaned against the doorway, looking like the fucking poster boy for confidence.....
And as the door slowly opened, he had found himself face to face with his next door neighbor.........
Again.
All Victor could do to lessen the blow of the intense glare from Yuri was flash an apologetic smile at those brown eyes.
"I just couldn't resist you for too long," Victor teased, while internally panicking as him and Yuri settled into the old routine.
"What's it gonna take, huh? A restraining order?!" Yuri fired back, deciding to lean against the other side of the doorway with crossed arms, Victor towering over him.
"God, I love it when you talk lawsuit to me."
"You're fucking ridiculous."
"And I also have a question to ask you."
Yuri furrowed his eyebrows, his face looking as if it were saying "what now?"
"You know the night club on Broadway?" Victor asked, straight to the point, which is what he needed to be.
"Of course I know. Don't forget I've been in Nottingham a lot longer than you have Nikiforov."
"Let's keep the know-it-all comments to ourselves, please."
"Easy for you to s-"
"Shhh, silence, along with patience, are both golden virtues," Victor said, holding a finger up to Yuri's argumental lips to keep them quiet for at least just a second.....
Which quickly earned him a hard slap on the arm.
"GOD OKAY FINE! What's the rest of the damn question then?!" and Yuri planned on slamming the door in Victor's smug, unflawed face if the next words out of his mouth weren't the ones he wanted to hear.
"Do you want to go? Tonight, I mean."
Yuri started spiraling.
"W-With you?"
At the sound of Yuri's suddenly shy tone, Victor realized he probably should have elaborated just a tad bit more.
Just a tad.
"Oh n-no! Not like that, I uh......
Chris, Luca, and Phicit would come too, I'm just the chosen messenger," and Victor lost his hold on the "suave" persona. "I know the manager, so I could get us in easy."
He watched Yuri closely, being able to tell that he was thinking over all the pros and cons in saying either yes or no........
Fuck, the last thing I wanna do is go out tonight Yuri struggled with up in his worn out mind, since it had been stretched thin this week......
But for some odd reason, Victor looked extremely desperate, on behalf of himself and the three other boys determined to get Yuri off campus.
So, out of the kindness of his heart, Yuri chose to make the hopefully right decision......
Just with an added bonus.
"I'll go.......
But only if you buy me a drink, or two."
And all Victor could do was smile at him, a little too widely since he had been planning to do so in the first place.
Not only was Victor an asshole (according to Yuri), but he was an asshole with a good dose of chivalry......
Something you rarely ever came across.
"You didn't even have to ask."
And so the five boys, who were desperate to forget about whatever it was they needed to with the help of a sweet mix of nicotine and alcohol.....
Had a perfect, Friday night plan......
And Victor was their free ticket in.
✣
HOLY SHIT GUYS, HI!!!
I don't even know how long it's been since I've posted on here, I missed this.
AND I MISSED YOU MORE!
I really haven't had time or inspiration to put towards my writing (which sucks) but I finally just sat down and let myself enjoy creatively writing again.
I wanna mention beasty_reesey really quick because I saw a message you had posted on my board about missing my writing and that put the BIGGEST smile on my face! That meant so much to me!
And for anyone else who's missed my writing, it's really cool of you to take the time to read my stuff, even though the YOI fandom is dead and so is wattpad in general....but whatever.
That's all I've got to say, I love you, I missed you, and I hope you enjoyed this 7,500 word chapter haha😬
xoxoxo ~ audrey