Title: Price To Pay
Characters: Yubel, Juudai, OCs||Ship: Yubel x Juudai/Juudai x Yubel
Word Count: 2,378||Chapters: 1/1 Genre: General||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing: GX canon: E3, 1-shot with no dividers; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #48, 2,378; One Ship Boot Camp, #49, positive; Mini-fic Masterclass Challenge, #1, Canon Goodness; Advent 2015-2016, day #6, write about one of your favorite pairings; GX Non-Flash Bingo, #183, past; Include The Word Boot Camp, #31, hang
Summary: There's going to be a difficulty between Yubel and a gift for Juudai. But it's nothing a few good punches can't solve.
Yubel darted through the crowded marketplace, nostrils full of the scent of the ocean and of fish and everything else that the market had to offer. Untold numbers of voices rolled by their ears, some in Kuragari's native tongue, others in languages unknown to them. For the most part they ignored them, seeking out the trader they'd come here to visit.
They wanted to get there and get back before Juudai realized they weren't there in the first place. If Juudai did ask where they were, then it wasn't as if it were forbidden to go to the marketplace. But Yubel didn't want any hint cropping up that might alert Juudai that they'd done something he didn't know about. Not until the time came for him to get his present.
So they hurried and hurried, ducking under people, dodging around them, breath coming faster and faster, until they stumbled to a halt in front of the merchant's building.
Kuragari's capital city boasted many merchants, traders, and craftspeople of all kind, with the vast majority being the very finest of their kind, offering wares unlike any seen in other places. Many of their crafts also involved magic or alchemy of one kind or another, always splendid and tempting to the eye.
This was no different: a weaver's shop, with many examples of their craft hung up. Like so many others, this weaver specialized, creating magnificent tapestries, fit to hang on the walls of the palace itself.
That was, after all, exactly what Yubel came there for, and why they chose this weaver of all of them in the city. What else would be suitable for Juudai, not only the city's prince but the guardian of all life?
No sooner had they crossed the threshold, however, did they realize things weren't going to go entirely as planned. There in the shop stood a couple of other people. Not just any people, either, but one of the higher ranking nobles of the city and his eldest daughter.
By most standards she was attractive enough. Yubel certainly wouldn't have said she was ugly, though they also never really gave people who weren't Juudai that sort of thought. Nor was she even vain or cruel or foolish. All those qualities that fairy tales insisted 'other people' had were lost on this young noblewoman.
But her father, on the other hand, kept his nose in the air and his head in the sand. How he did this at the same time baffled Yubel but he did it regardless.
"I want that tapestry." Those were the first words Yubel heard on entering the shop and their heart sank the moment they saw which one the nobleman gestured to.
Not that one! Yubel wanted to declare. That one's for Juudai!
They hadn't paid for it yet; that was why they were here in the first place. So for all proper purposes, it could be bought by anyone who had the money. But there it hung and there the money rested in Yubel's pouch and they wanted to get it paid for now.
"I don't know if mother would like that one," the nobleman's daughter protested. "She doesn't like that view."
Her father patted her on the shoulder. "It's quite all right, dear. I know your mother. She'll love it. She loves everything that I buy for her."
She shook her head, rolled her eyes, and glanced back as a gust of wind blew from the door before Yubel closed it. A smile touched on her lips at once. "Yubel! I didn't expect to see you out here."
Yubel nodded quickly, eyes flicking over to the nobleman for a moment before turning to the daughter. The merchant was too wrapped up in trying to talk to even bother with at the moment.
"I came to get something for Juudai." Perhaps, if they were very lucky, the woman would be able to persuade her father to leave the tapestry. Pick another or leave altogether; Yubel didn't care which. As long as that one remained for them to take home to Juudai.
The daughter - Yasu - widened her eyes, then quickly tugged at her father's arm. "Father, you can't have that!"
He gestured her away with a quick motion and a few mumbled words that likely were meant only to brush her off. Yubel tensed, biting their lip before they held up their head and spoke.
"I wanted to get that for Juudai."
The nobleman's daughter nodded, her grip still strong on her father's arm. "We should let Yubel have it, father. We can get a different one. Mother would love that one there." She pointed toward one scene of the deep woods, with towering trees and a circular pond in the center. Like all tapestries of that weaver's crafting, the colors glowed deep and rich, shimmering sky blue, trees of emerald green, with tiny gemstones no bigger than one's nail woven into it. It was at least equal to the one Yubel wanted for Juudai. This one could even have been a fraction better.
"This is the one I want. You're going to have to trust me, Yasu." He turned back to attempting to bargain with the weaver once more.
Rage stirred deeper and wilder in Yubel. How dare this person try to take something that they'd intended for Juudai? How dare he not even listen?
Their hand landed on his shoulder. Yubel wasn't all that tall, but years of training gave them strength beyond their years. They spun the nobleman around and stared into his eyes.
"I want that for Juudai."
The nobleman stared at them, confusion in every line of his face for a few moments, before it all smoothed over, replaced by a slender smile.
"Yubel. The prince's … friend."
There were a thousand words that could've been said instead of that. Yubel knew most of them and didn't care about any of them. Yubel cared about the insult to Juudai this person offered.
"I told you. I want that for Juudai. I have the money for it."
The law of Kuragari didn't specify that whatever the royal family wanted, they got. If he'd bought the tapestry and carried it away before Yubel arrived, then so be it. Yubel would've chalked it up to bad luck and tried to find something else to give him.
But here he was, knowing that Yubel wanted it for Juudai, and that smarmy smile, the tilt of his head to the side, all of it saying he had no intentions of stepping aside.
That was sheer rudeness and Yubel wouldn't stand for that.
The nobleman's smile thinned for a heartbeat, then tripled in smug superiority before he began to turn to the weaver once more. The weaver said almost nothing; getting involved in a situation like this wasn't one that anyone wished for.
"If His Highness were here," the nobleman purred, "I would gladly pay for this tapestry with my own funds and make a gift of it to him. But how can you tell me that you would give this to him? How could I trust your word?" He cast a sly glance toward them. "How could anyone?"
He said nothing else. He didn't need to. Yubel snarled wordlessly and launched themselves at him, punching with fists made strong from training and rage born of fury that such an insult, however hidden behind sweet words, would be leveled.
Not at Yubel. He could insult them from dawn to dusk and Yubel would care no more for that than the buzzing of flies. But to imply that Juudai couldn't trust them? Yubel would not let that stand at all.
He stumbled back and struck at Yubel with one hand, as if attempting to dispose of a bothersome insect. Yubel grabbed onto his wrist and slammed his arm down with all of their might, swearing repeatedly, using every scrap of language picked up from the years spent by the docks. Like any port city, the sailors who visited Kuragrai's capital brought their profanity and their trade goods in equal measure, and Yubel learned of both even when spending their time in the palace.
Yasu, normally one of the more soft-spoken, yelled words that Yubel couldn't fully understand, though that was more because Yubel wasn't listening than anything else. All their focus remained on beating this so-called nobleman into the dust. Other hands, hardened like those of a warrior, pulled at Yubel, attempting to get them off of their opponent. Yubel paid no mind to that either, choosing instead to grind one knee in and ensure that Yasu would be an only child for all eternity, unless her parents chose to adopt.
"Yubel!"
That voice cut right into Yubel and they looked up to see Juudai standing there, staring wide-eyed. Slowly the world came back into focus around them. The nobleman bore swiftly flowering bruises all over his face; his fine doublet now torn almost off him, and he would wake up in the morning with two flawless black eyes. They could feel a few injuries of their own, but none of that mattered, not if it meant they could deliver the tapestry.
Even if it wasn't going to be the surprise that they'd wanted.
The nobleman drew himself up and dusted himself off, raising his head high in pride. "My apologies for any offense, Prince Juudai. Do keep a better leash on your toy."
Yubel caught sight of Yasu groaning. There were few more effective ways to get on his bad side.
Juudai didn't twitch for a moment. His gaze rested on Yubel for a moment. "What happened?"
Before Yubel could answer, the nobleman burst out, "I was attempting to buy this for you when your pet attacked me!" He pulled his face into an offended pout. "I'm sure it will attempt some form of a lie to cover itself, though. You know how it's type can't be trusted."
Yubel didn't even wait for him to utter another word. One fist piledrived into his stomach, with every ounce of strength they could measure behind it. His eyes flew wide as the air fled and he buckled over, flailing.
"My lord," Yasu said, stepping forward with a courteous bow. "My father is attempting to lie - badly. He wanted that tapestry for my mother and refused to listen to me, or to Yubel when they said they wanted it for you. Then he insulted both you and them."
Yubel said nothing, only kept their attention on the nobleman as he tried to get back up. He glared at them, trying to get his breath back, a few broken words falling that made only the barest sense, something about seeing them hung, they thought.
Juudai moved forward until he could rest a hand on Yubel's shoulder. "I think I know who I'm going to believe. I've heard what you've said about Yubel before."
"There are kingdoms where insulting the royal family carries a penalty of death," Yasu said. "You're lucky Kuragari isn't one of them, father."
Yubel certainly hadn't imagined the shade of purple that Yasu's father turned at that. Nor how all the color drained away at Juudai's next words.
"Yasu, since you show a great deal more sense than your father, I will speak to my father about having his title stripped from him and given to you."
Yasu turned bright red at that. "Your Highness!"
Juudai waved one hand dismissively as he turned to the weaver and Yubel, Yasu hurrying her still sputtering father out at the same time. "Yubel, if there's something you want to buy, take care of it. Then we're going home."
Yubel took two hurried steps over to the weaver and passed over the money, glad nothing happened to it in the fight. They wouldn't have put it past the nobleman to steal it and claim Yubel took it from him. But now they quickly haggled a price that included delivery by that evening, as well as an extra small piece, to keep the surprise. Juudai deliberately kept his attention elsewhere as Yubel made the arrangements, then together, the two of them started back to the palace.
"How did you know I was down here?" Yubel wanted to know. Juudai shrugged, lips quirked.
"You think I don't know when you need me?"
Yubel shivered from head to toe at the look Juudai sent them, and even more so at the way his hand closed over theirs as they wended their way through the marketplace and to the palace itself. Before they made it there, Yubel stopped Juudai and stared at him for a heartbeat, Then, quick as the wind, they leaned forward and touched their lips to his, enfolding him into a warm embrace.
Juudai leaned in at once, arms slipping around their waist, and together they stood, arm in arm, lip to lip, heart to heart. It could not be forever; they had too much to do. But both stole what time they could, while they could, and Yubel savored it deep within their heart.
The End
Notes: And so I begin 2018 with Soulshipping. Something that makes me very happy. Also, this was anonly requested on tumblr for the prompt 'a fistfight'. It was supposed to be a mini-fic, but…it's not?