"You know how you can go online and purchase a star?"

Christophe Giacometti looked up from his phone to raise a single brow at Victor, who had sprawled himself on the floor of the small room in which they were staying for the week. He had one arm cushioned under his head in lieu of a pillow, and the other rested on his poodle, who was curled up beside him, fast asleep. One of his legs was straightened and propped against the wall above him while the other was bent on the floor at a bit of an awkward angle. Chris didn't think it looked very comfortable, but Victor just stared at the ceiling, frowning.

"And it's absolutely just the dumbest thing," Victor went on without leaving Chris a second to answer. "You spend a bunch of money on something that you can't even really own, and for what? A certificate?" Victor lifted his hand to pat Makkachin absently. "You can't own a star. They're a million miles away. In space. It's a ridiculous idea."

"Yeah?" Chris asked, curious despite himself. "What about it?" They had been discussing visiting the hot springs only moments before, and while Victor's tangents were sometimes annoying and often confusing, they never failed to be interesting, at least.

Victor moved his hand from underneath his neck and clutched it to his chest, letting his head fall back onto the floor so he was looking directly at Chris. "I want to buy Yuuri a star."

Chris couldn't help it—he laughed. It was just like Victor to think of such extreme ways to shower poor Yuuri with affection. He supposed it made sense, though. The two of them had been in Japan for several hours and Victor had not yet seen nor heard from Yuuri, which meant his pining level was at an all time high.

"Don't make fun of me," Victor pouted, eyes imploring. "I'm suffering."

"Suffering over what?" Chris asked with a smirk. "Being wrapped around Katsuki's little finger?"

Victor sighed dramatically. "If only," he said, picking up his phone and glancing at it before tossing it across the room with a grunt. "He still hasn't answered."

Chris just stared at his friend, shaking his head slightly. Sometimes it was still hard to believe that Victor Nikiforov—five time gold medalist and Russia's hottest piece of ass by far—had fallen so deeply for someone that it was impacting Chris's mood as well. Of course he was happy for Victor—he and Yuuri were so perfect for each other it was almost gross—but Chris could have lived without being smack in the center of Victor's brooding.

"Go find him, then," Chris said with a wave of his hand. "I sure as hell don't need you lying around and whining. You're hardly any fun when you're moping like this."

Victor brought his hand to his chest in mock indignation, looking away from Chris and toward the ceiling. "You wound me," he said, with so much angst in his eyes Chris wanted to smack him. He settled for grabbing a pillow from the top of his luggage pile and throwing it directly at Victor's head.

"Go find your little—what was it? Pork cutlet?" he said, throwing another pillow as Victor laughingly held up his hands to defend himself. "Or I'll carry you outside myself."

Makka awoke with a bark as a third pillow missed its target, hitting her instead. Victor's phone buzzed a text message alert from the other side of the room, and the man scrambled to pick it up.

"It's Yuuri!" Victor squealed with so much dreamy delight it made Chris roll his eyes, even as he smiled at his friend's happiness. Romantic fool.

"Should I expect you back tonight?" Chris said casually, watching Victor rush to pull on socks and shoes.

"Of course," Victor said. "Yuuri lives here, you know."

"I meant back in this room."

Victor paused halfway out the door, shooting a wicked glance back at Chris. "I'll see you for breakfast," he said before shutting the door firmly behind him.

Chris grinned. There was the Victor he knew.

Yuuri wrung his hands together in a nervous sort of way as he paced up and down the sand of Hasetsu's beach. The sun was already beginning to set, casting warm colors into the usual blue of the ocean. The birds had all gone wherever it was birds go at night, leaving Yuuri alone and nervous.

Victor was late.

For possibly the hundredth time, Yuuri knelt next to the blanket he had laid down on the sand and attempted to straighten it out. An impossible task, considering how meticulously straight it already was. Feeling restless, Yuuri opened the lid to his picnic basket, closed it again. The sake he had packed was still in there since the last time he had checked about three minutes ago.

He really had no reason to be so nervous; Victor always made him feel safe and cared for and relaxed. Always.

"Yuuri!" At Victor's voice, Yuuri stood and turned, unable to stop himself from stepping forward to meet him—drawn endlessly towards Victor's gravity. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was getting you something." Victor pulled Yuuri into a crushing hug, then he stepped back and handed him an obscenely large bouquet of roses.

"I've missed you," Victor said.

Yuuri smiled shyly into a facefull of flowers. "I've missed you too."

Placing a hand on Yuuri's shoulder to steady himself, Victor kicked off his shoes to let his toes sink into the sand. "So, stargazing," he said, lowering himself down onto the blanket. "I love it!"

Yuuri sat down next to Victor, inhaling the scent of the roses once more before setting them on the ground beside him and pulling the sake from the basket. "I've always wanted to do this with you," Yuuri admitted, attempting to unscrew the bottle so he could pour them each a drink—he wasn't having much luck, though; the lid was on awfully tight. "It's always seemed like it would be the perfect place to go."

"Really?" Victor squealed and grabbed a startled Yuuri in his arms, pulling him down into a bear hug on the ground then rolling over so Yuuri was laying face-up, back against the sand, and Victor was on top, still making delighted sounds into the crook of Yuuri's neck. The bottle of sake rolled off somewhere, forgotten.

Victor raised himself up onto his elbows, smiling in a way that had Yuuri's breath catching in his throat, had his heart beating faster than a thousand hours on the ice ever could.

"You're beautiful," he managed to say, reaching up to flick a lock of Victor's hair away from his eyes. "It isn't fair."

Victor's laugh was sharp, quick, edged with something like disbelief. "If you think I'mthe one that's beautiful, someone should introduce you to this little thing called a mirror." His eyes caught the light of the setting sun as he grinned, glazing the pale blue of his irises with burning gold. "You're gorgeous, Yuuri. You must know that."

A shiver hummed through Yuuri's body at the way Victor said his name, at the way his head tilted slightly to the side and his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, like he meant what he had said. Like he really, genuinely thought Yuuri was something special.

Leaning down, Victor stole Yuuri's breath with the softest kiss—a tender press of his lips that made Yuuri feel more at home than he ever had in his life.

Victor shuddered as he pulled away, almost like it was physically difficult for him to break contact with Yuuri, to untangle his hands from his hair and put even the smallest bit of distance between them. His mouth lingered inches from Yuuri's , breath warm against his face like he could breathe him in—like even just being close to him was enough.

Yuuri liked that. He liked it a lot.

Victor let himself fall back onto the sand with a groan, covering his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I want to buy you a star, Yuuri," he whined.

Yuuri wasn't sure what that meant, but he smiled all the same and gently lifted Victor's hands from his face, tucking himself into the warm space against Victor's arm and casting his face to the sky.

He didn't get nervous anymore, being this close to Victor. Not like he used to. But sometimes it was hard to believe he could be so lucky. Sometimes, here and there, Victor would destroy him with a look—a knowing wink or the right kind of smile would leave him breathless and choking back his amazement that Victor had ever even looked twice in his direction. He could have had anyone, but he has chosen Yuuri.

"Which one?" Yuuri asked, nestling into the familiar scent of Victor's jacket.

Victor lifted his other arm to wrap it around Yuuri, to hold him tighter. "Which what?"

"Which star?" Yuuri repeated, moving one arm to make a sweeping gesture at the darkening sky. The sun had fallen fully beneath the horizon, and a scattering of the brightest stars were winking into existence above them.

"Choose one," Victor said against Yuuri's hair in a voice so soft it had Yuuri's heart thumping and his chest aching and his skin itching to be closer to Victor's, even though their bodies were already pressed against each other. "But be warned," Victor continued, anchoring Yuuri's fevered mind to the present. "Once you choose one, it's yours forever. No takebacks."

Yuuri tipped his face up to look at Victor, who smiled back warmly. "I think I can live with forever," he said, reaching out a hand to thread a strand of that silver hair in his fingers, marveling at how much the color reminded him of starlight against the darkness of the blanket and the sand.

Victor's expression softened, throat bobbing as he swallowed. He took Yuuri's hand and intertwined their fingers together, raising them to his lips to graze the ghost of a kiss along Yuuri's knuckles.

"That one," Yuuri said, pointing his free hand toward the sky at random, eyes still locked on Victor. "How about you?"

Victor looked surprised. "Me?"

"Of course," Yuuri said. "You think I would let you give me a star and then give you nothing in return?"

Playfulness glinted in Victor's eyes, bright and glowing. If Yuuri was hit by an asteroid in that moment he doubted he would have noticed. "I get you, don't I?" Victor said. "I'd hardly call that nothing."

It was an effort for Yuuri to keep his voice steady as he answered, crossing his arms: "Not good enough." At Victor's protests, he shook his head. "I get you and my own star? You'll have two. At least."

"Then I'll give you five, Yuuri. End of discussion." Victor buried his face in Yuuri's hair and it was all Yuuri could do to keep the laughter from spilling out. Victor's body shook against him with his own repressed mirth.

Not trusting himself to speak, Yuuri grunted and pushed Victor away. In spirited retaliation, Victor shifted so that he was kneeling over Yuuri once again, palms pressing against the sand on either side of his head.

Yuuri reached up to lay a hand on Victor's cheek, to run his thumb over Victor's bottom lip. "I'd give you the whole night sky, Vitya."

Something flashed behind Victor's eyes—a look so heavy and deep Yuuri could have drowned in it.

Locking his fingers behind Victor's neck, Yuuri pulled Victor down to meet him, kissed him fully. A hushed swear slipped from Victor's mouth, an exhale of approval that melted into heated sighs and breathy murmurs of Yuuri's name against his lips.

Yuuri loved that.

The ocean waves crashed against the sand as they lay there, sharing kisses and laughter and life—pressed together like neither of them would ever get enough. Kissing until they were dizzy, surrounded by millions and millions of glittering stars and a night sky that belonged to them both.