To Forsake Tradition

Courting

They scroll through Vicchan pictures for who-knows-how-long. Victor seems genuinely delighted, cooing and fawning over Vicchan's toe beans and fluffy curls. He's constantly asking Yuuri for the next picture. Luckily, Yuuri has a lot of pictures to offer, scrolling through each one at Victor's request.

"He really does look like Makka!" Victor exclaims when they land on a picture of Vicchan carrying a stick twice the length of his body. "He must be full of energy. Why didn't you bring him abroad?"

Yuuri pauses, his finger hovering over the screen. "I thought... well, I didn't want to assume that I could just bring a dog to your palace... I mean, it's your home."

"Yuuri," Victor complains, drawing out the syllables of his name again. The pout on his face makes Yuuri huff an involuntary laugh. "It's your home now, too. You don't need permission."

"I suppose that's true," Yuuri relents, still somewhat hesitant.

"We can send someone to pick up Vicchan and bring him over here if you want," Victor offers. Gesturing to Makka, who's trotting back over with a stick, he says, "Then we can be a happy family of four!"

Yuuri nods, looking at the picture of Vicchan one last time before pocketing his phone. He pets Makka as she arrives, but he doesn't give much focus to his actions. Instead, he finds himself deep in thought over one question in particular: who is Victor's family?

It's relatively well-known that Victor was the only child of the former king and queen, thus the crown was obviously passed down to him. But the previous king and queen only ruled for a short while, as they passed away unexpectedly. Since they passed when Victor was mere months old, a regent ruled over the kingdom until Victor was of age to inherit.

All of that was years before Yuuri was even born. Even though the procession of events is common knowledge, Yuuri still feels like he doesn't know enough. He knows surface-level details of Victor's family—their names, what kind of policies they promoted, and how they got along with Yuuri's parents—but if he's being honest, Yuuri doesn't know all that much about Victor's family. What were they like? Does Victor even remember them?

It seems like too sensitive of a topic to bring up, so Yuuri skirts around it. "Victor... do you have anyone you consider family right now? Other than Makka?"

Perhaps even that was still too personal to ask, as Victor's expression takes on the slightest hint of melancholy. Yuuri immediately feels sympathy and guilt for causing that expression at all.

Just as he's about to backtrack and assure Victor that he doesn't have to answer, Victor speaks. "I wouldn't say I have a conventional family, no. I'm sure you're aware of my parents' passing when I was young. Yakov—the regent that ruled until I was of age—is probably the closest thing I've ever had to a father. I obviously don't have any children or siblings of my own, so I've named Yuri my heir."

Yuuri stares at Victor, uncomprehending. "What?"

Victor blinks back at him, equally confused. "What, what?"

"You said you named me your heir, but I'm the royal consort," Yuuri says. "I can't inherit your kingdom."

Victor's brow furrows in deeper confusion before his eyes suddenly shoot wide with recognition. Then, he throws his head back and laughs, bright and loud.

"No, not you. I'm talking about another Yuri," Victor explains, pulling out his own phone. After tapping the screen a few times, he pulls up a photo from his online profile. "See? Yuri Plisetsky, the angriest little kitten in the world."

Yuuri glances over Victor's shoulder to see a picture of Victor, a balding older man, and a short, frowning teenager. Victor is the only one smiling in the photo, but Yuuri gets the impression that the gruff exteriors on the other two are more of a front than anything else. Even with their stern expressions, they stand close to Victor. He doesn't think anyone would stand that close to anyone they weren't at least somewhat fond of. Not to mention, Victor seems fond of them, too. As flighty as Victor can be, Yuuri can't imagine him being entirely clueless about other's feelings for him. If anyone disliked him, he can't imagine Victor would be interested in posting photos with them on his profile.