huggingcompetition | phichitchu Love has no comfort zone, Love is the sweetest strange

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phichitchu Love has no comfort zone, Love is the sweetest strange

He'd been planning it since he'd realized he'd be able to have Phichit for his birthday. Now, finally, they had the time, in the off-season before they had to start training again.

"Ok, now you can look," he said quietly, after having led Phichit into what was obviously an empty rink, holding the typical chill and echo of footsteps muffled by the padding around the rink proper. He'd trusted Phichit not to look and spoil it, but...well. It was a pretty predictable surprise anyway after a point. But it still stood that he'd rented one of the rinks in Prague and invited his lover along with him, just so that they could share it all by themselves. He had his duffel with him, carrying their skates and training clothes with him, packed in secret.

They'd discussed it once, as a possibility they hadn't really had the time for when it had first come up: a pair skating routine, something they could do together as an exhibition, or purely for fun. Now they could spend the day making one up, tossing music back and forth until something really felt right. They'd find their rhythm, just as they had through the rocky parts of their relationship so far.

He had something else stashed away, tucked down deep in his belongings to be brought out when they'd exhausted themselves and were ready to retire for the night to the hotel in the city he'd blocked not too far away. He wouldn't listen to any argument about it being his birthday, either. After all, he enjoyed doing things for Phichit, and this was, more or less, his gift to himself. The other's presence was really all he needed for his day to be perfect.

So he stood back, cheesy grin on his face, arms open wide to indicate the whole of the open rink that they would be able to carve up as much as they saw fit.

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If Emil wasn't stealing him away for sex, then Phichit had no idea what was going on; it wasn't completely out of Emil's character to pull surprises out of the blue, but usually when Phichit was physically with him he could tell when his boyfriend had something on his mind.

Although, come to think of it, Emil is acting really antsy. Things on the ice were different, probably because Emil was in his element during their jumps challenge, but now he was kind of shaking. He asks Phichit to sit and he does so readily, looking up at Emil with concern, confusion, and curiosity.

He brings up the word manžel again, then lapses into talking about marriage, and Phichit's heart feels like it's becoming lodged in his throat because there is no way he's understanding this correctly?

But then Emil pulls out a jewelry box and he's down on his knee and he's flustered as fuck as he displays the gleaming silver ring to Phichit -- Phichit should interrupt him and his nerves, but he's entirely's speechless, eyes wide as dinner plates.

When Emil is done talking, Phichit carefully reaches out with both hands, and cups the ring box as though it were a small baby bird requiring the utmost delicacy; he looks up at Emil, eyes watering.

"Do... do you mean it? Are you proposing to me?!"

He could steal Phichit away for sex at any time, really. But he's impatient for this, and it shows in the way he rambles and fidgets, and especially when he tenses as the other's expression changes and grows a little watery. His hands cup around Phichit's as he holds onto the little ring box, curling loose around his wrists. He shrugs a little with a quiet laugh, the pink in his face making it clear that really, he's not far behind on the waterworks.

"I...mean...I already did, a couple months ago. But yeah. That's basically what I'm doing."

Phichit can't say he had any idea how he would react to being proposed to; some part of him always thought he'd be the one doing the proposing, being older. But he should have anticipated that Emil loved to be the one to take risks and put himself out there, that he would have wanted the honor of getting them to this point, first.

He sniffles and leans forward to bump his forehead to Emil's affectionately, then leans back again and laughs.

"What are you waiting for? Put the ring on my finger, Em." He says, holding out his left hand with a stupidly broad grin on his face.

Emil sags with relief, nudging his forehead up against Phichit's with a rough exhale, hands curling back around the other's tightly.

"Ok then let me say it right." He clears his throat, shifting on his knee as it starts to ache there on the tile floor.

"Phichit Chulanont. You've been nothing but wonderful to me since we met, even when we were just kids taking silly photos. You encourage me to talk about the things I really care about, even when it's scary stuff. And and...and I really want to show you're mine, and how much you mean to me, no matter how far apart we have to be for a while yet. So. So! I want you to wear this and know one day you're going to be my manžel.

"Vezmeš si mě?"

He'll just congratulate himself that he managed not to cry until the very end of the impromptu speech, a couple of fat, happy tears sliding down to drip off the end of his nose.

His heart swells in his chest as Emil squeezes his hand and starts over, complimenting him and recalling the times they've spent together in the past. It hasn't been much, Phichit knows it's not nearly as much as most couples get to have, but he also knows there is going to be so much more time spent together, and that they are just getting started.

He laughs and kisses a tears away from Emil's face, before it falls into his beard, even though his own eyes are burning.

"Krab! Ano! Yes, Emil, yes!"

Impatiently, he takes the ring into his hand and slides it on his finger, then lurches forward and kisses Emil fervently.

Emil settles back on the ground as Phichit wraps around him, pressing his nose against the crook of the other's neck and drawing him in close and tight. He lets out a wet laugh as he takes the hand the ring is on, thumbing it and turning the band around so that the etching catches the light.

"I love you," he murmurs, holding onto that hand as he sinks further into his lean against Phichit, playing idly with his fingers. You are...more special to me than anyone else I've ever met. Sorry if that's sort of corny, I just don't have any other words for it."

"It's not corny," he laughed. "Not at all. And if it is, well, it's our fucking engagement!!" Phichit sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Please be your absolute corniest, Emil. I love you so much, /tîi rák."

He ended up in Emil's lap, watching his boyfriend's soft, beautiful eyes as he gazed at the ring on his hand. "I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Did you get a ring for yourself? Or can I?"

"I thought that maybe you should. Like a reciprocal thing." He shrugs, looking back at Phichit and kissing his cheek before moving to try and pick both of them up off the floor. He keeps his hold on Phichit's hand as he nods back out to the rink. "Do you want to be public with this or keep it between us for now? I know basically everyone knows we're dating but this is way bigger, you know?"

"I want to," Phichit assured him. "I'm going to buy you the best ring," he promised, rubbing the space between two of Emil's fingers where soon he's absolutely going to be sure a ring is sitting.

As they went back out to skate, Phichit hesitated thoughtfully. "A huge part of me wants to Instagram this. Like, really huge part of me. But... I don't know. There's no rush, right? We should talk to our families first. I should get you your ring first. Then we can tell friends, then fans?"

Emil swings their hands some as they head back out, nodding as he listens.

"That makes sense. Make sure it's ok, get our families' blessings. There doesn't have to be like...any drama or trouble or anything. No public spectacle until it's safe for one. My family hates when the press come around, like it's an invasion of privacy. I mean my brothers eat it up, but that's how kids are. Oh, we need to see if your family can meet mine soon!"

He was still quiet for a moment, before a little grin spread on his face. "I think I know a way we can solve all of our problems at once. We should announce our engagement via pair skate! A huge exhibition skate, even gayer and better than the one Viktor and Yuuri did a year ago."

Phichit laughed and brushed his nose against Emil's beard. "You in a black tuxedo costume, and me in a white one, skating to the wedding march or something else equally as overt. Leo loves music and Otabek moonlights as a DJ, I bet between them they can find a way to mix it so it sounds cool and skateable. Then we'd field all the press and totally hog the spotlight at the banquet, and our families would be spared."

Emil can't help laughing at the mental image that provides. He considers, then hums quietly as he comes to his own idea.

"Maybe not quite to that extent, but I like the costume idea. What about something like your Terra Incognita costume? That was really nice, and it would be easy to match in style. And a song that means something to us, more than the wedding march would. ...do we actually have any songs like that? Besides club songs, anyway."

"The Terra Incognita costume? That was a nice csotume, but it's definitely not fancy enough. Although, maybe with white pants instead..."

Phichit hummed thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "I guess we could do it, but it wouldn't really be fair if only one of us had a new costume. Besides, I still think it would be more fun to start from scratch on both instead of matching one to the other! But I am willing to compromise on the music... maybe that song that played on our first date? Sunlight?"

"I like that costume a lot, that's all." Emil shrugs some, looking a little sheepish as they head back out. He turns a little pink around the ears, but is distracted by the song suggestion. "D'you think you can skate to it? I'd um. I was making up a routine to go with it for my free skate, but I'd definitely do it as an exhibition piece if you did it with me."

Phichit blushes too, covering his face with one hand. Emil was definitely free with the compliments, as Phichit was, but there was still something so soft and sweet about it whenever Emil indicated a preference for anything to do with Phichit that made him flustered. Maybe it was the fact that it was coming from his fiancé now, and not just his beloved boyfriend.

"You like that costume? I didn't know that. I might have to start wearing it every day now if you like it so much," he laughed. "But no, no! If you already started planning a free skate for it, then we'll do something else! I'm not stealing a song you've wanted to skate to from before we even started dating."

"I like both your costumes, but that one's really nice and the white matches your first idea. So...I thought maybe it would work. But we can certainly work out completely new ones that'll compliment eachother out there too." Emil bends briefly to nose against Phichit's hair, his hand running up Phichit's side and pulling him in close under his arm. "Besides, I can come up with a new free skate for this year if it means I can skate Sunlight with you."

He yields, tucking himself under Emil's arm and then arching up to kiss his cheek. "We'll work on it, okay? We'll come up with the best ever announcement, something that's perfect for us and that makes us happy. We're both performers, after all."

He giggles and rests his head on Emil's shoulder, relaxing against him. "Maybe this is taboo to ask, but is there anything particular you want for your ring? Any specific gemstones maybe, or a certain design?"

"I think we can come up with something really great, between the two of us." Emil grins and presses a kiss to Phichit's temple then offers a a hand to help him back out onto the ice. It's completely unnecessary, but he still likes to do this sort of thing.

Once back out in the rink, he seriously considers the question of his ring. "I think...maybe something without a stone. Small, so I can keep it on all the time. When I got yours, I thought about the sorts of things you like doing and what might work around that most easily. So ours is elegant and eyecatching but simple enough that you don't have to take it off if you don't want to."

Phichit shakes his head thoughtfully and laughs. "I don't think they make rings you can wear while performing extreme sports. Especially not extreme winter sports, since it'll probably freeze on your finger. I really don't want you to become an amputee..."

He takes the guards off his skates once more and idly skates around Emil. "Unless you get a ring tattooed on, I've seen people do that on social media! But I dunno... I want to get you a real ring. And if we decide to get tattoos, I think a finger is kind of a lame placement for one. Agreed?"

"I thought about the tattoo ring, but I'd rather have the use of my fingers and getting it tattooed means recovery time. But that's a good point. I can't exactly wear much jewelry at all while I'm doing and of it. And I would be a bit paranoid about losing a ring going diving. Hm..."

He spins slowly on the spot, watching Phichit as he circles him. "How about when we've got the time, we'll go and find a good one. That way we can get it fitted properly too."

"But you got mine the right size on your first try," Phichit hums. "Now that you mention it, how did you do that?"

He skates up to Emil and takes hold of his hand, stroking the spot where his ring will soon sit. "Maybe if someone had given me a hint, I would have been more prepared. I feel kind of bad that you went to all this trouble for me, and you don't get to have a ring to show for it."

"I got lucky," he admits, laughing a little and taking Phichit's hand, looking down at his fingers in kind. "I had intended to get it adjusted if it didn't quite fit. At least we don't have to worry about that now!"

"No, that's one thing not to worry about. Although come to think of it, when we get back to your house is your sister going to kill me? Because it's entirely possible she might kill me. Did you tell anyone about your plan to propose?"

"Oh no you're safe, she likes you well enough, but I know what she's gonna say to me." He sighs and puts on a close approximation to his sister's voice, his hands going up in frustrated gestures. "I told you that you've been moving too fast, bratříček. You should be focusing on your career or at least waiting until you've found a place of your own, what are you going to do when he goes home? Well I can tell you what I'm not going to do, I'm not going to spend all my time grousing just because it isn't ideal. Because I want this." He turns on the spot with a small frown, stopping himself before he can drift too far away from Phichit. "You're lucky, I think. Your family likes me. What are they going to say about this?"

Phichit laughs into his hand in spite of the seriousness of the conversation. "Your voice is too deep for you to convincingly play a woman, for the record. And the beard really doesn't help."

He bridges the space between them and fondly rubs the fuzz on Emil's cheek. "My mom is probably going to hang her head and sigh, because she's used to me rushing into things and she doesn't want me to get hurt, but she also can't say anything, because even though I rush I've never regretted anything. Least of all you." He grins. "Besides, I flew out to another country to stay with you in the hospital for a week in the middle of training season. She knows I'm serious about you. I think it'll be nice for her to see you're serious about me, too."

phichitchu Love has no comfort zone, Love is the sweetest strange

i died

<3

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