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The Supernatural community had been out to the human world for almost a century now, and though things weren't perfect, by any means, they were much better than they used to be
Yuri hadn't been alive nearly a century ago, but the history was still fresh, and his parents and grandparents had instilled it carefully in him
Besides, even if things were better for the supernatural community in general, they were still far from perfect, and some species definitely had a much harder time with the human realm than others- hell, some had a harder time with the supernatural community too
Yuri happened to belong to one of those species
Everyone seemed to project their fear and dislike for snakes onto nagas, even though Yuri was as gentle as a butterfly, those who found out what he was had a tendency to hold it against him
So even though he should be able to be out, he still wasn't, not to most people anyway, it just wasn't worth all the harm
He had a very select number of people who knew what he really was, mostly relegated to a few family freinds in Japan and Phichit, and that was it
He was.... well, he wasn't sure if he was happy with that or not, but he could live with it, he didn't need to tell anyone else, that was the point
Things were just fine the way they were
"Hello there,"
Yuri glanced up from his sketchbook, his eyes landing on a pair of beautifully crystalline blue, heart immediately jumping into his throat, face flushing red
The man in front of him was gorgeous, with flawless pale skin and silky silver hair, Yuri's tongue poked out just slightly out of habit as he inhaled the stranger's scent, admittedly a little disappointed that he couldn't tell the stranger's species- he was wearing scent blockers, not something that was totally uncommon, but they had been slowly going out of fashion more and more over the past few decades, as the supernatural community became more welcome and more welcoming in turn
Yuri wore them too, but he had a pretty good reason for it
"Um... h-hi?"
The stranger's smile brightened, eyes crinkling just a little bit with fondness
"The cute phoenix at the counter told me that you're a pumpkin carver, is that right?"
"I-... w-well yeah..."
"Great! Can I hire you to carve some pumpkins for me?"
"Hire me?" Yuri repeated in confusion
"Yes! I'm not very good at carving them myself, I've only tried a few times, but I hear that you've actually won some competitions?"
"O-Oh it's... it's really not a big deal or anything," Yuri dismissed quickly, eyes averted
"I mean it's just been a few local things-"
"That's still great though!" the stranger interrupted brightly, seemingly inviting himself to slide into the booth across from Yuri and setting his coffee down
"Anyway, I've always believed in giving independent artists outlets for their work, and when I realized I'd have to get someone else to carve my pumpkins for me, I thought I'd get a professional!"
"I'd hardly call myself a professional pumpkin carver..."
"But you're a professional artist aren't you? Who just so happens to be very skilled at pumpkin carving too,"
"W-Well... yes..."
"Then that's perfect!"
...Was it though?
"Viktor Nikiforov," the stranger introduced, holding his hand out politely
"Yuri Katsuki," Yuri replied, giving Viktor's hand a shake
"Do you really need someone to carve your pumpkins for you? I mean, no matter how they turn out, isn't the point more about having fun doing it yourself than having them look good?"
"Oh, for my own personal house pumpkins absolutely! But I want some for my office, I work at a fertility clinic, we're decorating for Halloween and thought it'd be nice to have some jack-o-lanterns out, especially in our outdoor area,"
Breifly, Yuri wondered what kind of fertility clinic had an outdoor space, but maybe Viktor was just referring to the entryway...
"Alright," he finally decided
"I'd like to help then, um... how many do you need and when do you need them by?"
"Two dozen by next Sunday would be magnificent, is this enough to cover it?"
Before Yuri could even respond to the rather large number that had just been thrown at him, he had a check with an equally large number in his face
"W-W-Wait a second, this is way too much-"
"Nonsense! You're doing a great service for me on a time crunch, I've seen your work and you're really something! Besides, you still have to get the pumpkins so there's a tip in there for that as well, expenses, you know?"
"H-How much do you think pumpkins cost-?"
"And the time for picking them out," Viktor continued, unabashed
"And carrying them around, getting them in and out of your car or a taxi that has adequate space- oh should I include cab fair?"
"N-No it's fine, I-I... I have a car-"
"Oh good!"
Yuri took a deep breath, glancing at the check again before turning his gaze to Viktor once more
"Mr. Nikiforov-"
"Viktor, please,"
"...Ok, Viktor, this is really-"
"A perfect amount, I thought you'd agree," Viktor declared with a smile, seemingly unwilling to take "no" for an answer as he suddenly stood up and swept his coffee up into his hand
"I'll come by Sunday morning and pick them up so you don't have to deliver them to my office, no need to cost you the extra gas money, and if you need anything, here's my business card with my personal number on the back,"
There was a business card in front of him before Yuri had any hopes of intervening, making it rather clear that Yuri wasn't getting out of this deal
"I'll see you next Sunday then, Yuri," Viktor added with a playfull wink, before dashing off and leaving Yuri alone to pick apart what had just happened
It was alot to take in, and Yuri was.... Yuri was going to need a little time to process it...
~+~
The thing about pumpkins is that they're perishable
In fact, once carved, pumpkins only last three to five days on average, although sometimes that can be stretched to tipping into a week, two weeks is really pushing things, so Yuri- wanting to give Viktor as much time as possible to actually display the rather expensive jack-o-lanterns he was paying for, had decided to wait until Saturday to even buy the pumpkins, hoping that any extra freshness would help Viktor from having to throw out the molded carcasses sooner rather than later
He figured he'd buy them in the morning, then carve them in the evening, with the afternoon being spent on sketching his designs onto them
Still, he couldn't help feeling anxious about the time crunch, he didn't know if he could handle the amount of work, even if he stayed up all night and kept working into the morning- not really a great idea considering he'd be working with sharp objects but.... he just couldn't justify carving them any earlier knowing their short life expectancy, he didn't want Viktor to have to toss them before Halloween, after all...
Sighing, breath white in the cold early autumn air, he bent down in front of one of the clusters of smaller pumpkins in the patch, tongue flicking out as he inhaled the scents of the pumpkins, looking for the freshest ones
Nagas could smell through their noses ofcourse, they weren't entirely snake-like, but... the tongue thing helped when trying to target a specific scent
He knew he probably looked rediculous, but he didn't care, luckily not many people came out to the pumpkin patch so early in the morning, so not many people would see-
"Yuri?"
Well shit
Jolting, Yuri turned around, feeling absolute dread sinking into his belly when a very familiar face appeared before him
"Yuri!! Are you getting my pumpkins?" Viktor asked excitedly, abandoning the gord he had been holding and hurrying closer to Yuri
"Y-Yes... I know it looks like I'm running late, but pumpkins expire really quickly once you carve them so I had to-"
"Wait until today, oh Yuri that's so nice, but are you really going to have enough time...?"
"Yeah, I should be fine,"
Yuri was pretty good at lying, hopefully Viktor wouldn't pick up on the fib...
"Are you sure?" Viktor pouted
"I'm sorry, if I'd known how long you were intending to wait I wouldn't-"
"It's really really ok," Yuri promised quickly, not wanting his extremely generous client to feel bad for even a second
He had nothing to feel bad for after all
"Oh! I know!" Viktor beamed suddenly
"Why don't I come over and help you?"
"H-Huh!?"
"Well an extra set of hands will surely help," Viktor noted with a chuckle
"I'm no artist so I don't expect to do any of the actual carving, but surely it will be helpfull to you to have someone do the gutting for you, and run little errands like getting dinner for you and such,"
"Y-You really don't have-"
"But I want to, and it's the least I can do,"
"You don't owe me anything, and you paid for my work- handsomely," Yuri reminded him
"That's true, but I still don't mind, you're still providing the service I paid you for, just consider this a sort of rush fee,"
"The way you talked about it before, I just assumed the rush fee was already in there," Yuri mumbled, watching as Viktor took the pumpkin out of his arms and carried it to the wagon next to them
"Is this one our's?"
Yuri exhaled, apparently Viktor- once again- wasn't taking "no" for an answer, but.... Yuri couldn't exactly say that he was upset by that fact, he was kind of fond of Viktor, despite the pushiness, he just seemed.... eager and earnest, and Yuri couldn't hold that against him by any means
"Yeah," he agreed after a beat
"That one's our's,"
~+~
"That's so amazing!!! How you get the lines so even is beyond me,"
"It just takes practice," Yuri assured Viktor with a small shrug, wiping his hands on a towel as he carefully set the pumpkin in the "done" pile, the Kryptonian symbol for "hope" standing bright and proud against the pumpkin's flesh
He was trying to make them as kid freindly as possible, leaving all of his creepier, scarier designs for his own personal use instead
"Somehow I believe there's more talent to it than that," Viktor teased playfully, winking at the other man
Yuri just chuckled, his lips curved into a slight smile as he pulled another recently gutted pumpkin towards him
He had to admit, he had been hesitant, but he and Viktor made a pretty great team
Viktor was gutting wile Yuri was carving, and things were going pretty quickly
Maybe he wouldn't have to completely skip sleeping after all...
"How did you get into this anyway?" Viktor asked curiously as they worked
"Oh, well when my family's inn started making a big effort to decorate for Halloween- mostly for the tourists- we started special-ordering pumpkins, I hated that we were spending so much money on something that we were only moderately able to carve and customize, so I started practicing on some other gords year-round and I guess I just got good at it, although being a professional artist doesn't hurt,"
"No, it certainly doesn't," Viktor laughed, smiling sweetly at Yuri as he dipped his hands in the bowl of water next to him to rid them of the pumpkin guts
"It's a shame there's no way to turn this into a career it's self,"
"Ugh, no it isn't, I don't mind doing this from time to time, but I'd get sick of it before too long if I was doing it daily, just too messy," Yuri said with a shake of his head
"Isn't all art messy though?" Viktor pointed out
Well.... that was true he supposed....
He opened his mouth to speak, only for a sharp beeping sound to ring through the kitchen, making Yuri wince as Viktor suddenly sprang up, pulling a-... a pager..?- out of his pocket and checking it, cursing under his breath
"I'm so sorry Yuri, I have to go,"
"Is everything ok?" Yuri asked worriedly
"Yes, it's just a small emergency at work, but I'll be back later ok? I promise,"
Yuri nodded slowly as Viktor hurried to wash his hands and run across the kitchen for his jacket
"Good luck!"
"Thank you!!" Viktor called back, before dashing out of the house, leaving Yuri all alone- well, except for his dog- surrounded by pumpkins
He couldn't help being disappointed by the sudden turn of events, he had really been enjoying his time with Viktor....
Sighing quietly, he reminded himself that he'd see Viktor again later and went back to carving, trying not to think about the fact that he'd been enjoying his time with someone who was still essentially a stranger
~+~
Viktor didn't come back that night
He called Yuri two hours later to let him know that the work emergency was going to run him far later than expected and that it had caused a chain reaction of other, smaller work emergencies, thus- he wouldn't be back any time that night
Yuri had promised it was alright, that he had finished the pumpkins early anyway and that he'd drop them off the next morning as originally planned, wishing Viktor a good night
But he couldn't help letting his mind wander back to Viktor again, and again, and again
He hoped that everything was alright, he hoped nothing was seriously wrong, he tried to think of what kind of emergencies could go on in a fertility clinic and none of them ever came up with positive answers....
He went to bed that night disheartened, and hoping that another opportunity would come for him to spend time with Viktor soon
~+~
"Hi! Do you have an appointment?"
The clinic was as sterile as any other, save for the small amounts of Halloween decorations that were spread out over the waiting room and reception desk, Yuri didn't know how his pumpkins were going to fit in there but he hoped that they would...
"Um, no, sorry, I'm here to see Viktor, he commissioned some art from me and said to drop it off today?"
The receptionist seemed surprised by this, breifly, before smiling just as brightly as ever and turning to her computer
"Let's see... he's with a patient right now but he'll be out in about five minutes if you can wait,"
"Sure, that's not a problem, thank you," Yuri greeted politely, rubbing the back of his neck as he awkwardly moved to sit in one of the waiting room chairs
It felt a little weird being there when he wasn't a patient, he couldn't help feeling like everyone was judging him, even though there were a total of three people in the room, including himself and the receptionist...
And the third person was too busy looking at a magazine to even look at him
Still, he couldn't help but hope that Viktor would come out soon
Sighing quietly, he shifted in discomfort and resisted the urge to grab a magazine, wanting to greet Viktor as soon as he was out
Though, as he fidgeted, he couldn't help picking up on the several different scents that littered the waiting room
Naga noses weren't nearly as strong as, say, a werewolf's, but they were still pretty good, and Yuri could pick up easily on several different species having left an impression on the waiting room
Faeries, dragons, mersharks....
He was considerably surprised by that last one, mersharks, like naga, typically weren't as accepted as other members of the supernatural community, so often wore scent blockers
On top of that, he was surprised that there were no noticeable human scents, he supposed Viktor specialized in supernatural clientele....
Luckily, that thought process was enough to hold him over until he heard the door beside him open, jumping to his feet, relieved, when he spotted Viktor's familiar face
His familiar, smiling, practically glowing face
"Yuri!! You're here!" he greeted enthusiastically, earning a nod in response
"I um, I have the pumpkins," he noted awkwardly
"That's great, thank you so much," Viktor smiled warmly, shutting the door behind him
"Want some help bringing them in?"
"As long as you don't mind,"
"No no not at all, I'm happy to!" Viktor promised, placing a hand gently on Yuri's back
"We'll be back in a few minutes Mila!" he called to the receptionist, who gave him a thumb's up and turned back to her computer
"Um, Viktor? I... can't help but notice that there isn't alot of room in here for decorations..."
"Oh, don't worry, most of the pumpkins will be in my private office,"
Yuri was even more confused now, but he didn't ask, deciding to just trust that Viktor knew what he was doing
"I'm really sorry about last night," Viktor said suddenly as they stepped out into the parkinglot
"What? Why-"
"I just ran off," Viktor noted
"I really did want to spend the evening with you,"
Yuri frowned, giving his hand a light squeeze
"It's ok, trust me, I completely understand... do you... mind though, if I ask what happened? What the emergency was?"
"Not at all," Viktor hummed, letting Yuri guide him to the car
"I had a patient go into labor,"
Yuri paused, blinking in surprise and confusion
"But.... aren't you just a fertility clinic? Sorry if this is rude but... why would that have anything to do with you...?"
"Ah, well technically we're a fertility clinic yes, but I actually do a fair amount of deliveries as well, so many of the supernatural world don't have dedicated medical personnel who know their individual needs, I fill that gap whenever and wherever I can,"
"That.... that's really wonderfull of you," Yuri said softly as he opened the trunk
"Well thank you," Viktor chuckled back, carefully grabbing one of the wagons full of carved jack-o-lanterns
"I'll admit, I'm rather fond of my job, I do take great pleasure in being able to help new life come into the world, especially for those who so deeply wish for children and have such little hope of having them,"
"I can imagine, it must be a really great job to have," Yuri smiled back, pulling the second wagon out and closing the trunk
"That was a really long labor though, wasn't it? It took atleast half the night,"
"Ah... well, that's not necessarily unusual... but I didn't get called in until my patient was almost ready to deliver, that... wasn't really all that kept me,"
Head tilting, Yuri debated between pressing further or not
If Viktor hadn't said everything to begin with then he probably didn't want to share, or atleast felt that he shouldn't, but... he also looked like he was holding something back, like he was just waiting for the opportunity to say something more...
"What else was it?" he finally decided to ask, following Viktor back into the building through a side door
"Well... I probably shouldn't say anything.... but... we had a break in last night, so we were all temporarily quarantined,"
"A break in?" Yuri echoed in surprise and confusion, eyebrows raising
"Why would anyone break into a fertility clinic?"
"Well like I said, we're more than just an average fertility clinic," Viktor explained, leading Yuri down a long hallway, decorated with doors on both sides- average looking doors with the blinds closed and only numbers present on the little golden plaques beside them
Yuri wondered breifly how often people got lost here...
"I mentioned before that we often cater to.... rarer varieties of people, didn't I?"
Yuri gave a nod, watching as Viktor took his card key from his pocket and slid it through the card reader on the door at the end of the hall- the only door that had a card reader at all, as a matter of fact
And as soon as Viktor opened the door, Yuri realized why
The "office"- if one could call it that- was the furthest thing from a standard medical office that Yuri had ever seen
It didn't even look like it belonged in a building at all, rather that it looked like a massive Eden-esque garden, full of soft grass, full and lively trees, butterflies fluttering about and flowers blooming in the ground, there was even a stream off to the side and what appeared to be a sun hanging overhead
"Trust me, there are people out there who have very specific interest in those babies," Viktor noted, drawing Yuri's attention back to him again as he trekked through the room, the door shutting behind them
Yuri suddenly realized why so many pumpkins were needed....
"You mean like... hunters?" Yuri asked quietly, the very word tasting bitter on his tongue, causing him to feel nausiated- even if only breifly- as he bit the word out
Hunters were much rarer than they used to be, now that the supernatural community was openly out, and the more time moved on, the more people accepted those who were not human, and the rarer they became
But they did still exist, and those who were left were the most particularly nasty of them all...
"Yes, as well as traders who believe that our children are.... commodities to be had, like living trophies, and on occassion other members of the species who are very..... particular about the way the babies are raised, or even sometimes an enemy clan who wants to see the end of the mother's clan, it's a bit of a complicated issue honestly, but we do have alot of security and precautions in place to prevent these sorts of things, break-ins are rare, but they do happen from time to time," Viktor explained, coming to a stop at what seemed to be a random spot in the room, taking one of the pumpkins out of the wagon and setting it under one of the massive trees decorating the room
"That.... that all sounds really hectic.... I'm sorry you have to put up with that," Yuri frowned, picking up a pumpkin from his own wagon and handing it to Viktor
"It's alright, I chose this job and I don't regret it for a moment," Viktor promised
"You can put these anywhere by the way, I actually am really glad you ended up delivering, I could use another set of eyes to help me lay these out,"
Yuri smiled, giving a small nod of understanding as he picked up another pumpkin and started looking for a good place to put it
"How many are you leaving out for the lobby?"
"Hm? Ah, only two, the rest are for here,"
"Got it, this is a really amazing room by the way, may I ask how you created it? Did you have a witch come in to design it?"
It looked like the work of witchcraft, there weren't too many other species out there who could create magic at this level, though maybe- given it was nature magic- it had been an elf or some other breed of Fae who had decorated it....
"Oh I made it myself actually,"
Yuri glanced up from where he was placing the pumpkin, eyebrows raised in surprise, although when he thought about it, he supposed he shouldn't have been surprised, he didn't actually know what Viktor was, after all...
"You did all of this yourself? That.... that's amazing,"
"Well thank you," Viktor chuckled, grabbing another pumpkin from his wagon and making his way closer to where Yuri currently was
"It's not really that big of a deal though, I have nature magic, so it just took a little practice,"
"Really?" Yuri asked curiously, accepting the pumpkin Viktor had handed him
"That must be nice, I've always wished I had nature magic,"
"Oh?" Vitkor hummed
"So then what are you? Out of curiosity ofcourse, I'll tell you mine if you tell me your's,"
It was said playfully, with a little wink added for good measure, but before Yuri had the opportunity to say anything, to accept the offer or awkwardly decline or make a decision at all, the sound of an alarm suddenly went off, loud and peircing, startling the two of them away from the conversation at hand
Viktor cursed, hurrying to his feet, eyes narrowed, as he glared at the door
"Viktor? What's going on?" Yuri asked worriedly, rising to his feet as well
"Another break-in.... the assholes from last night must not have been finished..." Viktor hissed in frustration
"What? But... but why-"
"I kept hearing them talking last night about 'the four of them' but we only caught three people," Viktor explained, eyes narrowed as he glared at the door
"Then the fourth is here to rescue their freinds?"
"More like finish the job," Viktor noted in frustration, pursing his lips before turning to Yuri with a slightly worried expression on his face
"Yuri, there's another reason why break-ins happen here, it's not always to do with the patients, I'm-"
Viktor was cut off abruptly, jumping as the door was suddenly dismantled, falling into the entryway of the room as an older, gruff looking man trapsed in, Viktor going slightly pale as the stranger stepped in, reaching for something in his coat
"You're not getting away this time dear boy, now come along quietly and I won't-"
Before the stranger could finish the sentence, Yuri acted
He had already started bracing himself for the possibility of transforming when the alarm sounded, but now that he was actually looking at a threat- a threat that very clearly had Viktor in his line of sight- Yuri had no time to waste
He shifted immediately, his pupils going slender, into tight black slits as his fangs sprouted from his mouth, his lower half instantly shifting into his long, scaled tail, an action that allowed him to pounce forward almost immediately, pinning the stranger against the nearest wall as he plunged his fangs into the stranger's neck, his paralytic venom shooting into the human's veins
It all happened so quickly that the human had had no time to draw his gun, the metal object clattering to the ground, quickly followed by the paralyzed body of the human as Yuri drew back
It had all happened so quickly....
For a moment, Yuri breathed, but the adrenaline seemed to fade just as quickly as it had flooded through his veins, and in seconds, the reality of what he had just done- the secret he had just exposed to someone who was still mostly a stranger- sank in
He slowly moved back, face as pale as a ghost as he turned to look at a completely stunned Viktor over his shoulder
But the shock on Viktor's face was temporary, lasting only a few short seconds before breaking into a warm, almost excited looking smile
"Yuri... that was amazing!!" Viktor laughed enthusiastically, eyes practically glowing as he rushed forward and took Yuri's hand, much to the naga's surprise, and pulled him closer
"You're a naga? That's incredible!"
"Y-You mean.... you're... not scared of me...?"
"What? No ofcourse not, why would I be?" Viktor laughed
"W-Well..."
"Yuri, I don't hold your species against you, I don't do that to anyone," Viktor promised, cupping Yuri's face- his red, blushing face...
"Besides, my species is the reason for this entire thing... I was getting ready to tell you.... I'm a White Stag,"
A White Stag?
So that was why he had nature magic and worked at a fertility clinic
White Stags were incredibly rare, a very selective species known for their powers of fertility and bringing forth life- all kinds, from plants to animals to people, they were fertility experts and deeply connected to nature, and were also considered "lucky" by some
White Stags often kept their species a closely guarded secret because there were so many people out there who sought to kidnap them for their own selfish desires
...Or worse, kill them and keep them as a trophy....
"So when he called you dear boy, he meant deer boy..." Yuri muttered under his breath, quickly shaking his head and looking back up at Viktor
"Why.... are you telling me this? I mean, aren't you supposed to be more secretive...?"
"Well, yes," Viktor confessed
"But I... I feel like it's only right for you to know, especially now that you've saved my life, but I was going to tell you earlier, I... didn't really feel like it was right to keep that from you since we were under attack because of it, you know?"
"I wouldn't have blamed you," Yuri promised, earning a soft smile from Viktor
"And I appreciate that, but I still feel it would have been only right for you to know," he explained, letting one hand drop down to gently slip around Yuri's
"Listen, I know that the pumpkin carving is done, but I wonder... would you ever be interested in seeing eachother again? Maybe-"
"Yes," Yuri blurted out, feeling a blush rise to his cheeks
"I-... yes, I would... I would be very interested in that,"
Viktor grinned, leaning down to give Yuri a light kiss
"Me too,"
The sound of a groan interrupted the little love fest between them, both frowning as they glanced over Yuri's shoulder at the still paralyzed human
"Right, so... what do we do about that?"
"A janitor should be by any moment to collect him, how long does your venom last?"
"About an hour,"
"Ah, excellent! Then would you like to finish setting out the pumpkins?"
Yuri nodded, smiling as he laced his fingers with Viktor's
"It would be my pleasure,"