[for Five] - Set for December 1st at Kagura

[fifthbeatle]

Even though Five won't go skiing with him, Viktor accompanies him to Kagura. Elio is the featured artist. Klaus and Luther are already there. Viktor would already be there himself, but an orchestra friend had a string-related emergency and Viktor bailed her out. The music shops are closed, but Viktor is a regular and kind customer -- and he's helped out nearly every musician in the city at one point or another. They're his community, responsible for a sizeable chunk of Viktor's happiness. 

The rest of it comes from his family and friends, his home, his rockin' bod and Five, now a category of his own. If you ask Viktor, the best part is that very little has changed at all. Things went back to the way they were before Five's last ill-fated jump. The long library talks are back -- a thing Viktor missed more than he knows how to express -- with some great upgrades. Instead of sitting in catty-corner on their respective couch and chair, they sit beside each other. Sometimes, instead of saying goodnight at the end of the day, they retire together.

Not like that. They haven't even kissed.

Viktor is untroubled by their glacial pace. He's grateful for it. It lacks the gnawing mania of his two most significant relationships, one a lying psychopath and the other a pipe dream, a fantasy. He doesn't worry about waking up tomorrow to a changed thing. Most of the time. Five does have a habit of taking off, but the man doesn't use his powers like he used to. Those three years alone in Empty Darrow fucked him up and good.

Obviously, when they arrive, they go straight for the alcohol. It's what they do. Viktor grabs two hot drinks and hands one over to Five. He looks out the mayhem, incredulous.

"Never a dull moment," he murmurs at the rim of his glass.

Comments

[number_five]

"Sure," Five says, and he watches as Viktor walk away. Truthfully, he's had the same thoughts Viktor has, the same impulse on a number of occasions. But age and recent miscalculations on Five's part have led him to be more cautious in nearly all aspects of his life as of late.

This seems too important to screw up, somehow.

But maybe that's exactly what he's doing.

He turns to head back to the bar, both thankful that he looks more convincing for a fake ID these days and resentful that he has to use one in the first place. It doesn't take very long before he's headed back to where Viktor left him standing, a fresh drink for his companion, and a second one for himself.

[fifthbeatle]

Five and Oliver must get along, he thinks. They must have met by now. Maybe that was the previous Oliver. Either way, Viktor makes a note to mention it.

"Thank you," he says. No sooner does he reach for the drink that a handful of krampuses rush from the hallway they're in toward the bar. The crowd strafes them and Viktor and Five get pushed back about five feet. Viktor's drink is a causality, but he moves quickly enough to spare his clothing in the spill.

"Jesus," Viktor murmurs. Maybe he's not meant to drink tonight. He glances at Five to check and make sure he's dodged the spray. It seems so, and Viktor aims himself in the direction of the bar to get a towel and a third attempt at a drink.

Nothing happens when he tries to move. His gaze shifts up to look at Five and he sees it: the Goddamn mistletoe.

[number_five]

"Hey! Watch it, assholes!" Five shouts, and it's purely an impulse that makes him quickly jump away in a flash of blue light. It's ridiculous, but he's been more cautious with his power as of late. He knows there's no correlation between jumping from the library of their home to the kitchen, but he's cut down on it nonetheless.

Five checks his suit, which seems thankfully dry, but Viktor's drink seems to be toast.

"See, I told you we just should have stayed home..." he says, but the last word of his sentence trails off when he follows Viktor's gaze up above to the tiny red and green culprit. Shit.

[fifthbeatle]

Honestly, Viktor is relieved to see Five jump. Past iterations of the man would have done well to be more cautious. This one has a surplus of it. Until now, Viktor was afraid that maybe Five couldn't jump.

Setting the two options side-by-side, he's not actually sure which is worse. Was it Five's confidence that was affected by the last botched temporal shift? Or, are these growing pains of sorts? Courage can live alongside caution -- something Viktor had to learn.

Viktor's face is hot. He's pinned to the spot, drinkless, trapped. Five doesn't move. Viktor doesn't speak.

Suddenly, it seems so juvenile. Regardless of actual age, Five's in his emotional infancy. Viktor is maybe barely in his teens -- and when he loses it, the damage amounts to much more than a broken hinge on a door petulantly slammed.

It's been a long time since he lost control. Or took a risk. Too long. Is it even a risk when it's a kiss to break a spell from a man he spends half of his day sitting far too close to?

Viktor holds a steady hand out in invitation. A corner of his mouth quirks with a question -- a friendly your move in the chess match they've been playing for far longer than adults have any right to.

[number_five]

"I knew I hated this place," Five says under his breath, frowning. He's not sure if Viktor heard him, but figures some clarification is needed either way. Mostly because he look on his face isn't nearly as excited as it ought to be.

"This isn't how I wanted this to happen," he says. Five understands that he's been dragging his ass and that Viktor's been more patient than any person should be. And maybe he should be used to living at the whim of something deciding his fate for him. Outside of Darrow, it was the Timeline. Here, it's enchanted mistletoe.

Maybe he's just gotten used to being able to make his own decisions these days.

[fifthbeatle]

"I wasn't sure you'd thought about it," Viktor admits where he wishes a joke had been.

This conversation was coming, one way or another. Viktor was prepared, he thought, for anything. Not to be invisibly sequestered. In the middle of a crowded room.

Maybe he could call Klaus over. He'd risk chaos, but save himself the embarrassment of being rejected in public.

His outstretched hand retreats and so does Viktor behind crossed arms. A familiar sight for sure, lacking only the convenient curtain of hair. Noplace to hide. Unable to run. This conversation has to happen now, before they can solve Viktor's problem.

Whether by patience or stubborn force of will, Viktor finds courage again.

"You're so careful about this -- u-us." Damn. Perfectly steady until now. "I thought maybe it was too weird for you."

[number_five]

"Viktor, my last boss was a talking goldfish. I don't think weird has the same definition for us as it does for other people," Five says, mildly amused at the thought for a moment, however dead A.J. Carmichael may be now.

Either way, it's only a temporary reprieve from the seriousness of the conversation. Of course he's thought about it. Constantly since either of them first decided to actually acknowledge that they had feelings for one another. He thought about it on days he was alone in an empty Darrow, even if he wasn't quite sure he'd make it back to the present at all.

Five is aware that things have changed slightly since that day he jumped back in time. But in the ways that matter, they haven't changed at all.

His slight smile falls and he takes a breath before he speaks again.

"We're... we're taking a risk here. And if it all goes wrong... I don't think I can handle losing you again."

[fifthbeatle]

There's nothing Viktor can do but shake his head in disbelief. That Five's head is filled with many doubts, regrets is no revelation. The notion that Viktor's rejection is now among those deep-set constellations seems equal parts ridiculous and amazing to the man.

Their whole clan is so bad at this part. Viktor and Klaus lead them in matters of the heart, and Viktor's feels like his only just started beating a handful of years ago.

He has to stretch his arm a little longer than is strictly comfortable to reach him, but Viktor manages to catch Five's fingers with his. He tugs to get enough to hold his hand.

"You won't," Viktor promises, confident in the math leading up to the sum. As far as Viktor knows, the only thing around with more power than the Hargreeves is the city itself -- and even that hasn't succeeded in splitting all of them apart for too long.

"Because I'll still be here. Trapped under magic mistletoe." A smile breaks out, brilliant with an anxious fray. It's unclear for which of them Viktor finds himself squeezing their hands.