Chapter Text
“Viktor…” Yuuri froze as he got out of the limo. This was not what he was expecting as a first date. Sure, he knew Viktor was rich, and he knew he had connections (one doesn’t get a personal fitting at Armani without knowing people), but no one told him Viktor Nikiforov the person was Viktor Nikiforov the actor.
He should have known. It would explain the looks the man got when they walked through the streets of Hollywood. It would also explain why Yuuko and Takeshi’s café had become wildly popular the same day Yuuri met Viktor. It also made sense that Yuuri got texts from his friends at the theater congratulating him…
Right, he felt stupid.
Yuuri could admit he was often distracted, though. If they weren’t at the café or walking around the city, they were talking on the phone or Yuuri was dancing.
Didn’t give much time for social media stalking.
Yuuri hardly ever went on social media anyway. The last time he had posted on Instagram was over eight months ago when he had his first show with Hasetsu Theater as a lead. He didn’t even have a twitter, and he only had a Facebook because his advisor in college told him jobs got a good sense of a person from their profile.
Viktor hadn’t mentioned anything, but maybe he thought he didn’t need to. The many ‘mini dates’ they had gone on included getting Yuuri fitted for a suite at Armani and getting him new $500 glasses and $300 contact lenses.
Yuuri didn’t know it was all preparation to walk the Red Carpet.
“You couldn’t have told me you were an actor before you took me as your date to the Oscars?” Sure, dancing with a world-renown theater had boosted his confidence immensely, but being blasted in the face with camera flashes the second he got out of the car could make anyone feel self-conscious.
Viktor beamed at Yuuri, his arm wrapped around the dancer’s waist securely, and leaned down to nuzzle his cheek.
“I wanted to see the look on your face!”
Why did he put up with this man again?
Oh, right – because he was a perfect human being in every aspect.
He was a dork that got excited over pictures of puppies and bought a front-row ticket to one of Yuuri’s performances two days after meeting.
He found the only restaurant in Hollywood that sold Katsudon and waited for Yuuri at his lunch break to give it to him.
He took two dozen pictures of Yuuri when Makkachin met him for the first time and knocked the dancer to the ground.
He looked at Yuuri with the utmost adoration, like he was the only person in the world.
They had only known each other for a month and a half, exclusive almost the same amount of time, but Yuuri couldn’t picture life without Viktor, and that both scared him and sent adrenaline shooting through his body.
Yuuri lifted a hand to Viktor’s face to cup his cheek until Viktor’s icy blue eyes met his own.
“You’re a dork.” The actor’s eyes softened as he reached up to grip Yuuri’s hand to place a kiss to the wrist beside his lips.
A cough came from behind them that broke them from the moment. They had a lot of those moments, Yuuri had realized with the help of Phichit’s many pictures.
“Oh, don’t let me interrupt, but you might want to keep walking, you’re still next to the car.” Yuuri turned to see a stunning redheaded woman in a satin emerald gown with a plunging neckline.
Yuuri felt his face heat in embarrassment and knew no one would mistake it for makeup.
“Mila! Good to see you.” Viktor smiled widely, his eyes dancing in mirth and Yuuri had to shake himself out of staring at the man.
“My, my, Viktor, he’s a catch.” Mila winked at Yuuri, but all the dancer could focus on was how he was eye-to-eye with the redhead wearing heels. He pouted slightly. He knew he was short for a male, but still. He felt Viktor’s arm tighten around his waist slightly.
“So you’re the famous Yuuri. It’s great to finally see you in person and not all over Viktor’s Instagram.” The dancer’s eyes almost popped out of his head. Yuuri whirled around to stare at Viktor in shock. The actor’s cheeks were dusted with pink as he turned away to cough into his fist.
Mila’s sassy demeanor suddenly vanished as she squealed and clasped her hands in front of her chest.
“Yuuri I love you already! I’ve never seen the famous Viktor Nikiforov blush!” She rushed over (Yuuri was impressed by her speed in heels) to engulf the dancer in a hug (death grip).
Yuuri felt Viktor tug him and soon found himself encased in the actor’s arms. One of his arms was still around Yuuri’s waist, but now the other was around the back of his head, holding the shorter dancer to his chest. Yuuri was very glad to be wearing contacts or else he was sure his glasses would have been squished against his face.
“Mine.” Yuuri could hear the petulant pout on his date’s face, making him grin. Yuuri managed to extricate one of his arms to flick Viktor’s forehead. With the loosened grip, Yuuri gracefully escaped the actor’s arms (cage), only to have Mila’s arm thrown over his shoulders.
“I thought Viktor was just exaggerating when he said you moved ‘like a magnificent swan soaring through the clouds’, but I guess I was wrong.” When Viktor’s blush deepened, Yuuri smiled and took the taller man’s hand.
Mila removed her arm from around Yuuri as he gestured somewhere in the growing crowd of people.
“Well, I’ll let you two get hounded by the interviewers. I just saw Sara, see you inside lovebirds!” The woman winked before entering the throng of celebrities.
Viktor smiled at Yuuri and rewrapped his arm around his waist as they began walking towards the interviewer gesturing wildly at them.
“You know, I never really though of Mila as a friend, but when she started commenting on my pictures of you, we started talking more. It worked out very well because I got to rave about you and she got to gush about Sara.” Yuuri played with Viktor’s fingers resting on his hip as he pouted.
“How many pictures of me have you posted?”
“You would know if you checked your Instagram~” Viktor sang lightly.
“But if I checked my Instagram I would have seen that you were actually a famous actor. I can’t believe you hid it from me for over a month.”
“I really must thank Phichit for stealing you phone and letting me follow you, or else I wouldn’t have been able to tag you in all 42 pictures.”
“Viktor! That’s almost one per day since we’ve met!” Yuuri felt the heat rush back to his cheeks. Viktor, being the manipulative little shit that he is, timed his remark perfectly so that they were now in front of a large camera and there were microphones shoved in their faces.
“Here we have four-time Oscar-winning actor, Viktor Nikiforov! He has been nominated for three awards for his work in Stay Close to Me. Now Viktor, can you introduce us to your charming date?” The woman grinned widely as she stared down the slightly nervous dancer.
Viktor looked at his (indeed) very charming date and smiled.
“This is Yuuri Katsuki. He’s a dancer for Hasetsu Theater.” The interviewer’s jaw actually went slack. Yuuri tried not to giggle.
“That is certainly an achievement! How long have you been with the theater, Yuuri?”
“Almost two years. I got the audition right out of college.” The dancer internally congratulated himself on not stuttering. Viktor’s arm around him did wonders for his nerves.
“May I ask how you two met? Was it at one of your performances?” Yuuri tried not to show his surprise that the woman was asking him and not Viktor. However, the question did cause him to flush. Viktor chuckled at Yuuri’s sheepish state.
“We actually met at a café. My childhood friends own one and I help out on the weekends sometimes. Viktor came in one day and we were both stuttering messes.” Viktor gasped dramatically.
“Yuuri! I was not stuttering!” The dancer smirked slyly at his date.
“Who was the one who didn’t even realize he had given me a $50 bill to pay for a small coffee?” Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuri could see the interviewer flashing an excited thumbs-up to the camera crew.
“You’re the one that was too enamored with me to notice your friend taking pictures of us.”
“That was both of us!” The two couldn’t keep the grins off their faces as they bantered. But a squeal (those seemed to be occurring quite often) forced their attention back to the interviewer.
“True Love on the Red Carpet! I call credit when it’s a headline tomorrow! Oh Yuuri, we cannot thank you enough! This is a side of Viktor Nikiforov we’ve never seen before! Thank you!” Yuuri blinked when the woman grabbed his hand to vigorously shake.
“Uh, no problem?” The dancer heard Viktor’s melodious laughter before he was pulled against the actor’s side and a kiss was placed on his gelled-back hair. Yuuri’s face felt like it was on fire.
“We should go get pictures out of the way and find our seats. Thank you for your time, Martha.” The woman had a hand over her heart.
“Oh… oh no problem at all.” Viktor nodded at her and lead Yuuri towards the photographers.
“We forgot she was there.”
“Yup.”
“Oops.” The dancer could feel Viktor’s laughter from where their arms were pressed together.
“You make me forget everything around me.” God dammit, would Yuuri’s blush never go away? The dancer half-heartedly elbowed Viktor’s stomach.
“Sap.” He mumbled in bashfulness. The two stepped in front of the photographers and paused for the photos, keeping their arms around each other.
“What can I say, you bring out the best of me, love.” Yuuri stared up at Viktor with his mouth agape and his heart swelling. The sound and sight of flashes faded to the background as he stared at this man.
Was it too soon?
Screw it.
“Viktor?” His breathtaking blue eyes focused on Yuuri with reverence.
“Yes, zvezda moya?”
“I love you.” The blue eyes widened in complete astonishment. Yuuri didn’t have time to do anything else before hands were cupping his jaw and warm lips were pressed against his own.
It was Yuuri’s turn for his eyes to fly wide open.
They had shared cheek kisses, forehead kisses, hand kisses, hell, even nose kisses. But this was the first kiss. It was gentle and sweet, but there was a passion in it that made Yuuri’s heart stutter.
And Viktor just did in in front of twenty cameras.
He shouldn’t have expected anything else.
Yuuri had to stifle a gasp when Viktor pulled back only to beam at the dancer with the brightness of the sun.
“I love you too, lyubov moya.” Yuuri grinned as he placed his hands over Viktor’s that were still cradling his face.
“Oh my god Viktor, you can stare at each other later! This is disgusting!” The two turned their heads to see a fuming Yuri Plisetsky on the other side of the photographers.
The two men quickly noticed they were holding up the line, however no one really seemed to mind. Yuuri grinned sheepishly and mouthed an apology to the older woman behind them who just waved away his apology with a dazed look on her face.
As Viktor and Yuuri were taking the official pictures to show off their grey and navy suits respectively, the actor leaned down to speak in Yuuri’s ear.
“I’m going to post that kiss picture on Instagram.”
“Then I get to post one if they got any of you blushing.” Viktor burst out laughing as the two finally exited the photography area.
“Phichit will be so proud! Your marvelous return to social media.” In the next second, Yuuri’s hand was taken and tugged, spinning the dancer around in time to see a head of blonde hair dipping down as lips pressed to the back of his hand.
Yuuri stood in shock as the head lifted and mischievous green eyes caught his own.
“The famous Yuuri, it’s an absolute pleasure to finally meet you.” The man practically purred.
Once again, Yuuri was tugged back into Viktor’s arms. Sooner or later his arm was going to come out of the socket.
“Chris.” It was spoken in more of a growl than anything else.
Ah, Christophe Giacometti; Viktor’s best friend. The Swiss actor laughed boisterously before he released Yuuri’s hand. The man’s smile was turned to the dancer.
“Hello, Yuuri, I’m Chris Giacometti.” Yuuri gave a small smile and shook the elder man’s hand.
“I know, it’s nice to meet you, Chris.” The Swiss actor almost brought the hand to his lips once again, but quickly dropped it when Yuuri felt a rumble in his date’s chest.
“Thank you for ensnaring my friend, here. This is a side of Viktor I’ve been trying to see for ages. Jealousy is certainly a good look on him.” Viktor mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “Good-for-nothing piece of flirty shit”, causing Yuuri to giggle.
Chris’s eyes lit up and he leaned in closer to Yuuri.
“Oh, Viktor, now I know why you lost your shit when you met him.” Viktor released what could only be called a whine.
“Is it embarrass Viktor day?” Yuuri tried to repress his grin as he patted one of Viktor’s hands that were still caging him.
“Of course, Beauty here needs to know what he’s getting in to.” The dancer flushed but smiled up at Viktor.
“I have a pretty good idea.” Viktor’s pout disappeared and his eyes softened. They heard retching noises coming from behind them.
“Oh my god, can you two tone it down? There are children here.” Viktor brightened and turned his head.
“Yurio! Come meet my wonderful date!” The short blonde boy scowled and stalked over.
“That’s not my name!” His green eyes looked like there would be hell to pay very shortly. Yuuri quickly intervened and held out a hand.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Yuri. Congratulations on your nomination, you’re very talented.” A barely-there blush tinted the 15-year-old’s cheeks as he frowned and turned his head away. He shook the dancer’s hand once before dropping it like it would burn him.
“Yeah, well, whatever.” The blonde crossed his arms and Yuuri smiled at the boy. He probably felt the need to prove himself, being so young and in such a competitive industry. Yuuri knew the feeling.
The young actor suddenly punched Viktor in the arm.
“Hey, ow! What was that for?” The silver haired man pouted and rubbed his arm. Yuri sniffed and turned his head.
“That was for being disgustingly lovey-dovey. But… he seems good for you. Not that I care!” The fiery Russian sneered and stomped away, leaving three stupefied men behind.
“Oh my lord, he said something nice. He said something nice! Yuuri, you just got his blessing, record the date! This is one for the archives!” Chris immediately descended into laughter and patted the dancer on the shoulder before walking away, still in disbelief.
Yuuri yelped as, once again, he was pulled against Viktor’s chest. Except this time, it was in a tight embrace with the actor’s face buried in Yuuri’s neck.
“Viktor?” The man lifted his head slightly to speak in to his date’s ear.
“You’re perfect. You’re so, so perfect. Thank you.” The dancer flushed deeply at both the words and the feeling of Viktor’s breath on his ear. Yuuri slowly turned in the man’s arms and put a hand on his face.
“Viktor?” The smile the man gave Yuuri could have stopped his heart and the dancer would have died happily.
“Yurio, he’s like a younger brother to me. For him to approve of you… it just makes me very happy.” Yuuri was pulled back into a hug. The shorter man rested his forehead on Viktor’s shoulder and returned it with as much love as he could.
The two released each other only to lace their fingers together, Viktor leading Yuuri into the venue. The place was over half full, being a bit of a maze as they were directed towards their table.
Chris winked as they sat down while Yurio turned his face away. Mila ruffled the blonde’s hair and laughed when the boy tried to swipe at her like a pissed off kitten.
There was a pair of twins, by the look of it, a boy and girl. A happy looking man with a scruffy beard sat next to the male twin. There was a dark-haired Korean male frowning sitting next to the bearded guy. The last person at the table was a stoic looking teen with an undercut who was sitting on the other side of Yuri.
“Viktor! Good to see you again, oh! You’re Yuuri! It’s so nice to meet you!” The female twin stood and grabbed the dancer’s hand and shook it enthusiastically. Yuuri smiled with a light blush.
“Hello. You must be Sara Crispino, yes?” Her purple eyes lit up with excitement.
“Yes! This is my brother, Michele. Next to him is his soon-to-be-boyfriend Emil.” Her twin sputtered with a horrified expression while Emil laughed with his chin in his hand.
“Next to Emil is Seung Gil, and next to Yuri is Otabek.” Yuuri smiled shyly and waved at everyone. He wasn’t used to meeting so many new people at one time. Viktor’s arm, which had somehow wound around is waist again, led him to the last two open seats at the table. Sara leaned forward to talk to Yuuri from across the table.
“You wouldn’t have happened to frequent The Hollywood Men before, have you Yuuri?” Michele did a spit take, Mila dropped her wine glass, and Emil gaped as Yuuri’s face burst into flames. He buried his face in his hands. What a way to start a conversation.
“This cutie went to a male strip club?” Emil’s jaw was to the floor. A sly smirk spread across Sara’s face and Yuuri shook his head at her in desperation.
“Oh, he didn’t just go to a male strip club. He performed.” Yuuri dropped his head on the table with a loud bang. Yurio started choking on his water. Viktor’s eyes took on a faraway, glassy look.
“Explanation, now!” Emil leaned forward and rubbed his hands together. Yuuri lifted his head slightly to see everyone waiting impatiently. He rubbed his forehead and avoided eye contact.
“I-I needed money when I first moved here, okay? I had taken pole dancing in college and really enjoyed it. The theater wouldn’t start paying me until the end of the month and the club paid really well.” Everyone, even the two stoic actors, looked intrigued. Suddenly a thought occurred to Yuuri and he turned to Sara and glared accusingly.
“How did you even know? Or recognize me for that matter?” The Italian tossed her black hair over her shoulder and grinned.
“I worked sound there before being hired by DreamWorks. The only difference between stripper you and this you is the significant lack of clothes and the seductive lip-licking.” Yuuri heard a groan from beside him and squeezed his eyes shut. The arm that had yet to move tightened.
“Viktor, you literally got yourself a man that can do both!” Chris’s head fell back as he laughed. Yuuri groaned and covered his eyes. So Chris was the type of friend to quote memes. Yuuri wasn’t expecting to be the entertainment for the night... fantastic.
“Yuuri!” Viktor threw his other arm around the dancer and hugged him. Yuuri shivered as he felt the actor’s lips against his ear.
“I’m hoping one of these days I’ll get a private performance.” The blood rushed back into his face before he shook himself and smirked and brought his own lips to Viktor’s ear.
“Maybe if you win a fifth Oscar, we can have our own celebration.” Yuuri pulled away and took a sip of champagne, completely ignoring his date’s red face. Chris burst out laughing and clutched his stomach.
“What I wouldn’t give to know what you just said to him, Yuuri!” The dancer saw the wide range of expressions around the table and internally flinched. This was not the first impression he anticipated.
“Can we try to convince the Hasetsu director to make a sexy production?” Sara and Chris immediately dove into brainstorming. Yuri looked disgusted while Michele looked mortified at his sister.
Yuuri felt breath on his ear and a tight arm around his waist.
“You’re going to be the death of me.” Yuuri tried not to fidget at the growled words. He couldn’t believe he had said something remotely suggestive. The dancer searched for a different topic.
“Who is your competition tonight?” Yuuri turned to Viktor and the man’s cerulean eyes narrowed briefly before answering.
“For Best Actor in a Leading Role, it’s JJ Leroy, Leo de la Iglesia, Georgi Popovich, and Otabek. The other two are for the movie overall.” Yuuri hummed in acknowledgement.
“I heard Georgi’s performance in Tales of a Sleeping Prince was really good. I hope he wins.” The dancer tried to stamp down his grin when he heard the distressed yelp from his date.
“Yuuri!” The raven couldn’t hold it anymore. His giggles burst forward at the scandalized screech. Viktor frowned deeply before wrapping his other arm around Yuuri and pulling him until the dancer was practically in the actor’s lap. Viktor buried his face in Yuuri’s neck.
“You’re so mean to me, Yuuri.” The younger man kept laughing before his voice cut off in a strangled gasp. The surrounding guests shot him an odd look to which Yuuri replied with a strained smile. He heard Viktor’s low chuckle, his lips still attached to the skin of Yuuri’s neck.
The raven turned around and smacked the Russian’s arm. Viktor finally pulled back with a pout and rubbed the spot that was hit.
“Yuuri, don’t attack Vitya, he might have to accept an award and he can’t look too beat up.” Mila sing-songed from across the table. Yuuri crossed his arms and pouted.
“It’s Viktor’s fault.” Sara sniggered and before anyone could say anything else, the lights dimmed and the host took the stage.
Viktor and Yuuri didn’t really pay attention to the proceedings. They tried to stifle their chuckles as they played rock-paper-scissors at the awkward angle.
Yurio finally shushed them – loudly – when the nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role were announced. Yuuri quickly slid off of Viktor’s seat so he wouldn’t be seen when the camera landed on his date.
The dancer grabbed Viktor’s hand under the table when the two announcers opened the envelope. The two squeezed each other’s hand when one of the announcer’s took a breath.
“And the winner of Best Actor in a Leading Role goes to Viktor Nikiforov!” Yuuri jumped in his seat and released a cry of delight. He quickly turned around and kissed Viktor’s cheek before he could stop himself.
“Congratulations, Vitya.” Viktor froze and stared at Yuuri with his mouth in a small ‘o’. Then his eyes brightened and he darted forward to place his lips against Yuuri’s. Yurio had to pull the actor away from Yuuri and shove him towards the stage when the silver-haired man refused to let go of his date.
There were traces of chuckles and applause still heard through the hall as Viktor took his place at the microphone with his award.
“Thank you very much for this honor. I want to thank the director, Yakov Feltsman, and the producer, Lilia Baranovskaya. I want to thank my co-stars and the crew. But most of all I want to thank my beloved Yuuri. You’re my other half and I thank the stars every day that I got lost and stumbled upon that café. You’ve brightened my life in a way I didn’t know I needed and I will never not have a smile when I’m with you. I love you, lyubov moya.”
Viktor sent one last smile at the crowd before practically sprinted off stage and back to his seat.
Yuuri watched all this through watery eyes with his hands clasped in front of his mouth. As soon as Viktor was near enough, Yuuri threw his arms around the man’s neck and tucked his head under his chin. Viktor’s arms went around the dancer’s waist immediately.
“I can’t believe you just said that on international television.” Yuuri could feel the vibrations of laughter against his forehead.
“I really wanted to shout it from the empire state building, but this was the second best option.” Viktor took a step back and lifted Yuuri’s hand to kiss his knuckles with tender devotion.
“You know you won’t be able to get rid of me now, right?” Viktor smiled at Yuuri’s breathlessness.
“That was the plan.” The two smiled at each other. The moment was broken by an angry blonde teen.
“Jesus Christ, sit down already!”