#this is 1184 words oops

[xyloophones]

33 for victuuri please?

so this.... ran away from me....  heres 1k of the “petty rivalry that everyone takes way too seriously” trope 

also this is me projecting bc i love halloween 

(anyway au where theyre all grad students and also au where millennials can afford houses hahahahhsaf ha im crying help me)

33. “Something about you makes me want to commit extreme violence.”

Yuuri loves Halloween season.

Every year, Yuuri works his ass off to put up Halloween decorations and every year, without fail, his asshole neighbors manage to one-up him.

In 2015, when Yuuri and Phichit first moved into the neighborhood, Yuuri adorned their house with a modest sprinkling of orange fairy lights. Minimal, yet festive. The Nikiforovs responded by draping their house in orange fairy lights and light up ghosts the very next day.

Yuuri watched from the living room windows as they put up the lights, his eyes narrowed. The oldest of the two brothers, Viktor, caught Yuuri peaking out through the blinks and winked at him. Winked!

“Who do they think they are? Light up ghosts? What is this, 2007?” Yuuri muttered. Unfortunately, Phichit had already left for class and wasn’t there to appreciate his snarky comment.

The next year, Yuuri went all out. He had fake tombstones dotting the lawn, complete with creepy skeleton hands busting out from the dirt. He hung a ghost from a nearby tree, positioned so that it’s ghostly robes would flutter in the breeze. He even enlisted Phichit’s help in hanging small bats from their gutter.

It was glorious. A shrine to the Halloween spirit.

The next day, Viktor caught Yuuri while he was leaving to go to work. He waved at Yuuri and then jogged across the street, stopping a little too close for comfort.

It’s an intimidation tactic, Yuuri thought. I can’t show weakness.

“Hey, Yuuri!” Viktor grinned at him, bright and adorable. Adorable? No! No, not adorable. “I love your decorations this year! Especially the ghost. Very spooky.”

“I worked very hard on them,” Yuuri says cautiously. He subtly peers over Viktor’s broad, well-muscled shoulder to take a look at his lawn. It looks like Viktor was in the middle of pulling out his own decorations.

Viktor notices. “Oh! Yeah, I’m putting up our stuff right now.”

Yuuri thinks he sees an inflatable zombie leaned up against Viktor’s porch. His eye twitches.

“Have you always been so enthusiastic about Halloween?”

“Oh, uh. . . no,” Viktor laughs nervously. “I, uh... not... really. I mean, it’s just Yura and I, but he’s a little too old for Halloween so we really never decorated until. . . .”

Until he made it his life’s mission to upstage Yuuri’s decorations. Right.

“But you’re really into it, right? That’s cool. You’re cool. I mean, uh, it’s cool that you like Halloween. Um.”

Yuuri blinks. Viktor Nikiforov may be hot. And really nice. And kind of adorable. And, according to Phichit, also getting his doctorate in psychology. But Yuuri wasn’t born yesterday. He knows a good, old fashioned, neighborly rivalry when he sees one.

Viktor says something about grabbing lunch–– probably an attempt to steal Yuuri’s pumpkin carving ideas–– but Yuuri is already late for work, so he bids Viktor goodbye and rushes off.

When Yuuri comes home, later that evening, Viktor’s house is lit up. He has lights, inflatable ghosts, the whole shebang. Yuuri seethes.

“Something about that man makes me want to commit extreme violence,” Yuuri tells Phichit. “I hate him.”

Phichit rolls his eyes. “Sure, Yuuri. You keep telling yourself that.”

“He’s absolutely horrible.”

“He dropped off some cookies earlier.” Phichit gestures to a Tupperware container, sitting on the counter. “Pumpkin spice. They’re delicious. You’re lucky I saved you some.”

Yuuri takes an experimental bite. They’re the best cookies Yuuri has ever had.

“These are awful,” he says, taking another bite. “Truly terrible.” He stuffs an entire cookie into his mouth.

Yuuri spends the rest of that month dodging Viktor and grading papers. When Halloween night rolls around and the trick-or-treaters flock to Viktor’s house, Yuuri resolves that next year will be his year.

This is it. 2017. Yuuri’s year.

The past year has been interesting.

Yuuri’s relationship with his neighbors has blossomed into something that he would tentatively call a friendship. Yuri comes over after school, most days. He started high school this year and he likes to ask Phichit for help with math homework.

Viktor comes over often, too. Usually with Yuri, but sometimes he comes over just to hang out. It’s nice. Viktor is nice. Yuuri no longer considers them mortal enemies, even if sometimes Yuuri wants to punch Viktor.

With his own face. On the lips. Gently.

Not a kiss! Just a… face-punch.

Anyway.

Halloween rolls around again and Yuuri is uncontrollably excited. He has mini glowing ghosts lining the sidewalk and fake spiderwebs strung out across the lawn. Yuuri went the DIY route this year and made his own skeletal dementor to hang by the porch. He’s very proud.

Which is why he’s absolutely furious when he comes home from work one evening to see that Viktor has outdone him. Again. He’s turned his house into a full-blown haunted house, complete with boarded up windows and giant skeletons. It’s magnificent. Yuuri hates him.

Yuuri marches across the street, still in his hospital scrubs, and pounds on the door. Viktor opens it with his dumb, heart-shaped, adorable grin. When he sees Yuuri, he lights up like a carved pumpkin.

“Yuuri! I thought you and Phichit weren’t coming over until later.”

“What’s all this?” Yuuri asks, waving his arms around like a madman.

“My spooky decorations? Do you like them? I tried really hard to––”

“I thought we were friends, Vitya! How could you?!”

“What?”

“You do this every year! You always try to one-up me! I thought it was just, like, a neighborly rivalry thing, but we’re friends, right? And–– just look at this! You’re decorations are fantastic! I’m so mad!”

Yuuri huffs out a breath and glares up at Viktor’s stupidly handsome face.

Viktor looks at him like he’s lost. “Yuuri… I didn’t start decorating because I wanted to one-up you. I was trying to impress you.”

“What.”

“Yuuri, I–– I can’t believe I even have to say this, since I think I’ve been pretty clear with my feelings, but–– Yuuri, I like you.”

Yuuri blinks. “Like…?”

“Romantically. Yeah.”

“Oh.” Yuuri thinks about the past year, full of cozy movie nights and homemade dinner. Suddenly, Phichit’s teasing makes a lot more sense. “Oh.”

Viktor smiles at him sheepishly “Ah, you didn’t know. Yura told me that flirting via inflatable ghosts wasn’t a good strategy. I should have listened to him, he’s a smart kid.”

Yuuri fidgets. Viktor isn’t the asshole neighbor, Yuuri is. “I’m sorry for yelling at you. And accusing you of trying to wage neighborly war with me. And for not noticing that you’ve been… flirting. Can I make it up to you?”

“You’re already forgiven, but I wouldn’t be opposed to dinner? Maybe this time without Phichit and Yura?”

Yuuri grins. “Are you asking me out?”

“No, solnyshko, I think you’re asking me out,” Viktor shoots back, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I am? I am! Vitya, do you want to––”

“Yes.”

Yuuri pulls a face. “I wasn’t done asking.”

“Yuuri, I’ve been pining for two solid years and you were taking forever to ask. I’m sick of waiting!”

“You don’t have to wait much longer,” Yuuri says, before he leans up and kisses him.

// send me two characters or more and a prompt and I’ll write you a short fic //