Chapter Text
“You're wearing that on a field trip?” Yuuri asked, shocked. Victor had strolled into the kitchen wearing a white cashmere sweater, pressed khaki slacks, and a pair of sneakers that had likely never seen a drop of mud. In contrast, Yuuri was wearing jeans with a hole in the knee, a black t shirt, and a hoodie that was already smudged with paint.
“Well, yes,” Victor frowned. “You don't think that the kids will like it? Are they going to make fun of me? Is it the white after Labor Day thing?”
“I promise you, the kindergarteners and first graders are not going to care about the fact that you're wearing white after Labor Day. In fact, they are going to be heedless of the fact that you're wearing white at all.” he snorted and slipped Yuri's peanut butter and jelly sandwich into the paper sack.
“That is going to get destroyed.”
“Destroyed? Well, we're just picking apples. We're not going to be building sandcastles or digging mud pits. Are we?”
“Victor, we are with kids between the ages of five and seven. Everything they do is messy. It's how they learn!” Yuuri laughed. “But far be it from me to destroy your fashion choices. You wear whatever you want. What did you want me to bring for lunch for you?”
“Ham and cheese?” he asked hopefully. Yuuri just pulled out the bread that he preferred, a bread with seeds cracked along the top, as opposed to the squishy, spongy white bread that he and Yuri preferred. He pulled out the fancy aioli, the arugula, the ham and the smelly cheese he liked and began to construct Victor's sandwich.
“You really are too good to me.” the platinum haired man sighed happily.
Yuuri finished packing the lunch, tucking in water bottles, frozen tubes of yogurt, and mini muffins. He figured that would hold them over until he could get everyone home and serve them a good dinner. The chili was started in the crock pot, and promised me to be delicious when they arrived home.
Yuri was working on a bowl of oatmeal, happy that there had been bananas sliced in it this morning. He barely flinched when Yuuri came behind him to tie his hair back in a pony tail. He finished his breakfast and stepped into his rain boots, as Yuuri said he probably should, and accepted the jacket.
“Guess what?” he asked Victor, bouncing on his toes as his brother filled a thermos with coffee to bring along with him.
“What?” he smiled, happy to indulge his little brother.
“Mrs. Altin is coming too, so this way we can be in a combined group with Otabek! So there are three other kids that we're in charge of, and Otabek and three others. Isn't that nice? We get to hang out with some of the big kids!”
“Oh, the big kids,” It was amusing to Victor that Yuri thought of kids one grade ahead of him as big kids. He wondered if he found high schoolers ancient, an age that he might never reach. He wondered if he thought he and Yuuri were elderly, nearly withered away to dust. Rode a dinosaur to school and all that. He knew that was the way that he had thought of it when he was a child.
“Let's hit the road!” Yuuri called, jingling keys that he tossed towards Victor. Victor caught them easily and walked them all down to the car. Yuuri was carrying their lunch in a canvas tote, which also seemed to be stuffed with other things.
“What are you bringing?” he asked, interested.
“Extra water, bandaids, latex free, of course, disinfectant spray, a few cooling packs that only activate when we snap them. And a few ACE bandages.” he peeked into the bag. “I also grabbed a few extra snacks in case a kid forgot their lunch or something.”
“Well, that is very kind of you.” Victor smiled as he carefully moved the car into the morning traffic. “But I don't really think we're going to need all of that. Do you?” he was curious. Was this a symptom
of anxiety? Did it make Yuuri feel better if he could be prepared for any situation that might come up?
“I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Kids slip and fall all the time. If we can at least get them cleaned up, maybe they'll feel a little bit better.”
“Would you expect any chaperone that wasn't us to have a whole kit this way? Like, does the school require it or anything?” he was careful not to look at his boyfriend, not wanting to make him feel like he was being accused of anything.
“I guess maybe I'd feel better if they had something like this.” Yuuri frowned. “But it wouldn't be a requirement or anything. The school doesn't demand that we have it, and I know there's a first aid kit on the bus. I just like knowing that we have what we need. That's all, Victor.”
They were quiet the rest of the way to school. Victor parked and they headed in, Yuri waving and calling to various friends of his. A few of the parents even called to Yuuri. Victor was impressed with how many people the pair of them seemed to know. They had a whole life that Victor wasn't part of. Yuri had a whole day, whole interactions with people that had nothing to do with Victor.
It was all very normal and healthy, of course, he mused. It was something that happened to every kid, really. You wanted that for your kid, you wanted them to make relationships without your meddling. Still, though, it made him feel ever so slightly left out. Made him feel like he wasn't needed. He shook his head, banishing those thoughts.
They made it to the room, hovered in the corner with a few other parents who had volunteered. Ms. Sarah lead them in the welcome song and told them about the day.
“Where are we going?” she asked the class.
“The apple orchard!” they all chorused.
“And what are we going to do?” she cupped her hand around her ear, all the better to hear their tiny voices.
“Pick apples!”
“That's right!” she clapped once. “Good job. I'm so glad that you all understand. And I'm going to take this time to talk to you about it now. When we're at the orchard, we need to be on our very best Ms. Sarah's class behavior. Do you know why?” she looked around, pointing to a girl raising her hand.
“Because when we're on a field trip, we're representing ourselves, you and the whole school.” it could have been read from a script. All of the kids were nodding along thoughtfully, so clearly it was something they all knew.
“That's right! And if we behave correctly somewhere, then we might be invited back. But if you misbehave, they might decide they don't want field trips there anymore. So don't ruin it for other kids, right?” everyone nodded again.
“So we're all going to use polite words, polite bodies, and do what our volunteers ask of us.” she glanced at the clock and then clapped three times.
The kids then split into predetermined groups. Yuuri and Victor were responsible for Yuri and three other kids, a set of fraternal twins and another little boy. It wasn't a terrible group, really. They all seemed to be kids Yuri liked and knew. Victor smiled smugly. He had been right all along, this was going to be a cake walk. They'd go to the orchard, pick some apples, learn about how apples are grown, and then be home free.
“Hi everyone,” Yuuri wriggled his fingers. “I'm Yuuri, and I'm here with Yuri. This is Victor, and he's Yuri's big brother. We're the adults hanging out with you guys, today. Okay?” the kids all nodded. Yuuri then helped them all put on the laminated half sheet that had their name, teacher's name, and school on it. These hung around their necks.
“Doesn't that increase the risk of a kid being kidnapped?” one mother said, nervously fussing with her daughter's tag.
“I mean, anyone could call her name and say they knew her and she'd walk over and--.”
“I think stranger danger is something that you're going to have to have to talk to her about!” Ms. Sarah cut in sweetly. “But these tags are mandated by the school, in case anyone gets lost. But no one is going to get lost today, because I have so many great listeners in the class!” she enthused.
The kids all lined up, and they were very shorted marched out to one of the buses waiting for them. The first grade glass climbed on too, and Yuri and Otabek quickly sat together. Victor smiled and sat in one of the seats in front of them.
“Oh, Yuuri, can you sit with Riley? She's sad her Mommy couldn't come.” Sarah said before Yuuri could sit with his partner. He nodded and sat with the sniffling girl, reaching into his pocket for a tissue. Well, Victor reasoned, sometimes that's the way it goes.
“Hello,” he said to the small boy who climbed into the seat next to him. The boy looked at him and then looked away. Oh well, some kids were shy. They had just begun to drive away when Victor felt something touching him.
“What's up?”
The boy had one finger deep inside his nose. Victor gasped, and the boy leaned over and casually wiped it on his white sweater. Victor managed to hold back his gag.
“Oh, please don't do that.” as soon as he said the words, he regretted them. The boy's lower lip wobbled and he burst into tears.
“I'm sorry!” Victor said frantically. “I didn't mean to make you cry!”
“Oh, Georgie, what's wrong?” Ms. Sarah hurried over, making her way by holding onto the backs of the seats.
“He yelllled at me!” he sobbed pointing at Victor. The teacher looked at the lump of snot on his sweater and the boy.
“What happened that Mr. Victor said something to you?” she prompted. The boy stopped crying and sniffled a few times. She caught Victor's eye, rolled her own slightly.
“I think you'd better come sit with me. Mr. Victor can sit with Judy.” the kids were switched around. Victor wondered just how much the dry cleaning was going to cost.
“Hi!” Judy said as she sat down. Victor gave her a faint smile. “I'm Judy, and Ms. Sarah said I'm really good at talking. She said that's one of my special skills. She said that I am super friendly, and that I can make anyone feel comfortable. That's probably why she had me sit next to you!”
“Ah, maybe,” Victor blinked a few times.
“I have a dog named Cece. He's really fat and old. I try and talk him for walks, but he just flops over on his side and doesn't like to walk. He really needs the exercise, though. I didn't even know dogs could be too fat. No one ever gets upset when a cat is too fat. Maybe I should get a cat instead. I think Cece might be fat because I keep giving him food off my plate. My Mommy said not to do that, but he seems so hungry! I don't want him to be hungry. I think I'd be a much worse pet owner if I let him be hungry.” she nodded seriously.
Victor wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer her. Was this a stream of consciousness? Was she making conversation? Did he have anything to say about the obesity epidemic when it came to pets? He really did think that Potya was a good weight. Phichit would likely have more to say about the topic than he did.
“Isn't it funny that we're pet owners? I don't really think that we own pets. That's really weird. We're like special family members. But family members who never take out the trash or do any chores. So they're like really old people. My Grampy is really old, super old, he has to sit in a wheel chair all day. Someday soon you're going to be that old! Are you scared?”
“No?” Victor squeaked. He felt a buzzing in his head, and was afraid that his ears would start bleeding in a few moments. Judy talked so fast, and she was able to buzz from one topic to the next quicker than he was able to think. Was this a gift that existed solely in female children? He wanted to whimper a bit.
“I would be scared if I was as old as you. Sometimes it must be scary to be old. Sometimes it is scary to be small! Because everyone is so big and everyone knows so much more than you do, and you have to do what you're told. Even when you really don't want to.” she peered around him out the window. Victor inhaled, thankful for a moment to try and consider all the things that she had just said. It was enough to leave him dizzy.
“We're here!” Ms. Sarah called. “Single file and find your groups.”