Born To Make History (boyxboy)

One: Gradual Process

'That's one of the best books I've ever read.'
Yuri startled and in his astonishment dropped the copy of Mansfield Park he'd been thumbing through, hardly daring to look behind him; it wasn't exactly a prestigious book to have read as a man. He bent to pick it up, hoping to disguise his bright red face, but the owner of the voice intercepted him, handing it to them. Hang on, wasn't this the most overused trope in every romantic movie ever and wasn't he supposed to look up and meet the adoring gaze of his true love forevermore? Hardly- it had been an older man's voice and he had a meeting to get to anyway.

Victor had been eyeing them from across the room for five minutes before deciding to talk to them. They were a little young for his tastes, but there was something so... for want of a better word, something so alluring about the way they had been absorbed in the books for quite some time, examining one and scrutinising the cover of it closely. 'They' were a dark-haired young man in a business suit that didn't fit hugely well and he was so engrossed he hadn't noticed Victor staring at him. He took a deep breath, flexing his hands and striding forwards to tell what was going to end up being the worst lie he'd ever tell.
'That's my favourite book.'
They jumped and dropped the book, and at once scrambled to pick it up. Victor bent down and picked it up. Mansfield Park? He'd never even heard of it. This was going to be an interesting conversation. He met his target's eyes with some alarm, and was thoroughly pleased now that he could see their face. It was boyish but cute and soft and his hazel eyes had flecks of amber dotted through them.
'Really?' Their eyebrows shot up and their jaw dropped a little. Had he said something wrong? 'I mean, I'm buying it for my sister.'
The look on his face said it all.
'Why are you shy to say you're buying it when-'
'I'm really sorry, I have a meeting to get to. I'm glad you like it though,' he hurriedly slid it back onto the shelf. 'I enjoyed it.'
'Weren't you buying it? And why are you buying it if you've already read it?'
'I, uhh- it's a collector's edition,' he admitted sheepishly, ducking his head to disguise what looked like a hot flush. 'But I already have it.'
'You collect books?'
'Only the good ones.'
'And this is a very good one,' Victor nodded wisely as if he had the slightest clue what the book was about.
'You think?' Their face lit up and they smiled with relief, their expression heavenly.
'I do. Victor Nikiforov,' he extended his hand in a friendly gesture, and the young man shook it firmly.
'Yuri Katsuki,' he introduced himself.
'Yuri. Are you Russian?'
'Japanese, actually. Are you?'
'Yes. Now tell me what you liked about the book!'
Yuri's smile didn't falter, and he went on to explain how he enjoyed the main themes of the book; status, the 'business' of marriage and women's position in Austen's time. It was quite delightful how passionate he clearly was about it, and he spoke so fast that Victor missed a lot of what he said and couldn't translate half of it. He was, however, politely fascinated.
'What about you?' Yuri asked, and Victor realised he was in a little trouble now. 'You didn't really read it, did you?'
He shook his head slowly, biting his lip.
'Look, I thought you were really cute and I just wanted to talk to you, but you wouldn't look up from that book!' He explained, gesturing at the offending bookshelf that had stolen Yuri's attention when he'd wanted it.
'Great. I missed my meeting for nothing.'
'Oh god!' He felt awful. 'I'm so sorry, I feel absolutely terrible. I'll make it up to you. Would a coffee do?'

Yuri stared at Victor, who was ostentatiously flirting with him and trying to take him out for coffee. He couldn't believe he'd missed his meeting, but there was nothing he could do about that now.
'I'm sorry, I should get going,' he shook his head. Why ever would he want to go for coffee with somebody who had just cost him a very important meeting?
'I'll throw in a muffin.'
Yuri shook his head again, his cheeks flaring red as he tried to walk away. A hand brushed against his back and he jumped, spinning round again. Jesus, this guy was persistent... Wasn't this the kind of thing that only ever happened in films? Nobody in their right mind asks a random person to go for coffee.
'Fine,' he conceded, if only to get rid of this guy. Anyway, it might prove to be interesting and it wasn't as if he had anything better to do with his time now that he'd missed his meeting. At least it wasn't hugely important, although his client would be very let down. 'On one condition- you have to promise you aren't a stalker.'
'A stalker?'
'You were staring at me for ages, pretended to have read a book as an excuse to talk to me, and now you're trying to take me on a date.'
'A date!' Victor blinked hard and exhaled heavily with amusement. 'Hardly. It's a gradual process.'
'Ugh,' Yuri was usually quite shy, but this guy was annoying and he couldn't help himself from making an exclamation of disgust. 'I don't do dates.'
'Come on, Yuri 'I don't do dates' Katsuki. Let me buy you a coffee and persuade you I'm not a stalker.'