Changes

It's funny how with time, things will always change…

Eventually Yuri stopped complaining. His cheeks stopped burning whenever the engagement was mentioned and he stopped trying to look for ways to get out of it, or excuse it away.

The bed stopped being his bed, though he wasn't exactly sure when it morphed into theirs. Probably a little after Greta stopped being his daughter. Or when simple green eyes turned into emerald pools that he wanted to drown himself in.

It was Murata who noticed it first. The Great Wiseman was sitting next to his fellow double black one sunny afternoon. For once there was no crisis. No children in danger, no ancient artifacts to hunt down. The wise one was talking about the baseball team that he and Conrad were putting together in Yuri's honor. The spark that lit the king's eyes whenever his favorite sport was mentioned was there, but Murata could tell that it was from something else this time.

The Demon King was sitting with his chin in his hand, eyes unfocused. Murata followed his friend's line of vision and saw…Wolfram training with his squad. The blonde was shirtless in the heat and was wielding a sword with precision. A smile crossed Ken's face as he realized the implications. You knew this would happen, didn't you, my friend? He thought at the Great One. Honestly, the original king was the only one who could have foreseen this.

"Uh…Shibuya?" Murata tried, just to see how deep in reverie his sovereign actually was. "Shibuya!"

"Hmm?" Yuri answered without looking away.

"I was just asking what color you thought the team uniforms should be. I was personally thinking about letting Lord von Bielefeld design them. Maybe something in a violent shade of pink?"

"Sure. Yeah, sounds good." Yuri muttered absently. That's when Ken knew he was gone.

Conrad noticed second. His king had always been passionate about many things. It was one of the things that made him such a good ruler, and so hard to protect. Still, the half Mazoku would do whatever it took to make sure that Yuri and his ideals were kept safe.

He had taken the young man out to one of the neighboring towns to meet the people and just get a break from studying. As they walked along, Conrad noticed that the boy seemed distracted.

"Is there anything wrong, Your Majesty?" he asked gently.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Nothing's wrong, Conrad. I was just thinking."

"I see." The soldier allowed his hand to stray towards his sword when a young woman rushed over to them.

"Oh, Your Highness!" she exclaimed. "It is an honor to have you in our village. My name is Melina and I would be honored to assist you in any way. If there is anything, anything, that you need help with, just let me know."

"Thank you." Yuri replied in his kind manner. "What is it you do here, Melina?"

The girl blushed. "I run a humble jewelry stand. Perhaps your Majesty would like to see it?"

Yuri agreed, as Conrad knew he would, and they walked over to the stand. Gems glinted in the afternoon sun, dazzling the young king. He was going to suggest moving on when something caught his eye. It was an emerald drop hanging from a bright gold chain. A flash of something else in those colors went through his mind, and before he really knew what had happened, Yuri was buying the necklace.

The significance of it was not lost on the boy's protector. He knew what those colors meant, and now he knew what they meant to his king.

Wolfram noticed it last. Well…that wasn't exactly true. In all honesty, he was the first person to notice the changes in his wimp king, because he had looked for them for so long. The blonde prince had waited and waited for Yuri to show some sign that he felt the same way.

The first thing was so small a gesture, that Wolfram didn't know if he imagined it or not. He had snuck into Yuri's bed as usual, a feat he was less and less proud of as it got easier. The wimp was sound asleep muttering something about home runs and pop flies. Wolfram heaved a sigh and got comfortable next to him. Was it too much to ask for…huh?

The blonde shot back up in bed. If he didn't know any better, he would have sworn the wimp had rolled towards him and murmured his name.

Little things like that kept happening over the course of a couple of months. Yuri would go out of his way to sit next to Wolfram when they were together. He watched him train with his troops. Then there was the memorable event when the king presented him with a necklace from the market. It was a beautiful thing, and Wolfram didn't quite know what to make of it.

His pride demanded that he say something to the boy. Ask him what was going on, if maybe…maybe something had changed? But he he was afraid that that would make Yuri run away from it. So he had to wait.

Luckily he didn't have to wait long.

Truthfully, Yuri realized it last. It hit him like a bolt of lightning in one of the strangest places. He was sitting in the bathtub at his house on Earth enjoying a soak after baseball practice. Almost lazily his mind drifted to Wolfram, imagining what it would be like if he was here with him in this moment.

I said I'm going to scrub your back, you pathetic wimp!

Yuri sat up quickly. When did it happen that the idea seemed…nice, and not unwanted? When did he….? Did he…? Love? As if on cue, the water in the tub began to swirl and for once, it did not catch him off guard. It was welcome and he went with the flow. Ken Murata smirked a flight below, in the kitchen, his glasses flashing.

After getting over the embarrassment of arriving naked in the fountain at the Temple of the Great One (and receiving a change of clothes), he made his way to the castle quickly. He muttered a hasty greeting to Conrad then back tracked, realizing he didn't know where the blond was.

"Conrad, have you seen Wolfram?" he gasped.

"He was in the library with Greta last I checked, Highness. Shall I get him for you?" Conrad was a little worried, but convinced that he knew what was about to happen.

"No, I'll go. Thanks, Conrad. And stop calling me Highness!" the king was off and headed to the library.

Wolfram was there with Greta in his lap, reading her a story. He looked up when he saw the cause of the commotion. "Yuri, what….?"

He got no farther. The double black moved his daughter out of the way and yanked the blond to him. Clumsy lips crashed down on soft surprised ones and a first kiss began. Wolfram was so shocked that he didn't realize what was going on for a minute. When his brain caught up with his mouth, the kiss intensified.

When they broke for air, Yuri looked nervous. "Um…Wolf?" he asked timidly.

A smile broke over the other boy's gorgeous face. "I never knew you had it in you, wimp."

Yuri rolled his eyes. "At least I have a way to shut you up now." he said and pulled him back to his chest.