A/N (rant - skip if you'd like): This is not your typical type of story. I am not a fan of writing the same general idea for a series that has been done a hundred times over - i.e. how Wolfram and Yuri came to be together. This is likely going to turn out to be more like my Moments of Life series for Gravi - random scenes / snippets of life with little to no back-story to give a solid understanding on why things are the way they are. They just are. I don't feel like writing a 15 chapter story just to be able to give the entire history of how they found their feelings for each other and Yuri stopped being a pansy.

That said - if I do write more 'chapters' they may or may not be sequential or even have the same back story as this one. They are what they are - snippets of life that strike me as needing to be written. Enjoy them for what they are.

The 21st

Yuri scritched his signature onto another document after scanning the contents, hardly paying attention to the conversation between Gunter, Gwendal, Conrad, and Wolfram as he worked. He'd grown used to the never-ending pile of paperwork that grew and diminished by turns and after nearly six years, he accepted the simple fact it would never completely disappear.

"Heika!" Gunter's sharp cry cut through the trance-like state he'd fallen into and he glanced up with a sheepish look he'd never quite grown out of. Six years, a few assassination attempts, treaties, diverted wars, and the merging of his two...personalities and he still managed to keep at least some of his innocence.

"Sorry, Gunter… What were you saying?" He eyed Gunter where he was pacing in front of the desk between where Gwendal sat and Conrad leaned against the wall. He tilted his head to glance at Wolfram where he'd been propped against the desk beside him for the past hour. It was as amusing as it was exasperating. Even after two years of being married, Wolfram still acted like he'd run off with the first pretty woman who came by and caught his attention.

Gunter managed to look like an affronted, kicked puppy and cleared his throat. "I was just saying how magnificent your birthday celebration will be. Everyone will be attending; oh it'll be lovely! A full five days of dancing and drinking and celebrating!"

Yuri stifled a groan. "So long as I don't have to do any mock fighting," he muttered. He may have gotten far better with a sword and could even hold his own against Conrad or Wolfram on a good day, but it wasn't exactly his favorite activity.

"Wimp," Wolfram said under his breath.

Yuri ignored the jab and turned back to his documents, tuning out Gunter's pleas for him to be reasonable. He knew he'd end up having to do something either embarrassing or...fake - it came with the territory when he had the retainers he did - but he'd rather not know about it until it happened.

"What do you want for your birthday anyway, wuss?" Wolfram asked.

Yuri shrugged and pulled another paper from the pile. What did he want? It wasn't like he needed anything. Even if he did, he had more than enough money to buy it. He gave half of his earnings back to the coffers every few months, but he still had more than he knew what to do with. Usually what he wanted, money couldn't buy and it took months if not years to accomplish.

His eyes strayed to the ring on his finger, a simple black band with a silver line in the center. It matched Wolfram's silver band with a black line, a design they'd decided on together. There was one thing he always seemed to want ever since their first night together... "You?" he said without thinking, eyes widening and his pen missing the last few strokes of his signature as he realized he'd said that where the others could hear.

"Heika?!"

Yuri risked a glanced at Gunter in time to see him send a small pile of signed documents flying, a steady stream of blood leaking from his nose. "I… I didn't mean it like that..!" he said weakly, watching with wide eyes as Gunter continued to fly off his handle. Well, he had meant it like that in some way, but he hadn't meant it solely the way Gunter was apparently taking it. He groaned softly and dropped his head into his hand, afraid to even look at Gwendal. He risked a look at Conrad and was glad to see he was at least as unfazed as ever, giving him a pleading look to help.

Conrad laughed softly as he pushed off the wall, gathering the papers Gunter had scattered before escorting the bleeding man out with Gwendal's assistance.

Once the door closed, Yuri breathed a soft sigh of relief and looked up at Wolfram, surprised he hadn't moved or responded to that, and caught the fading touch of a flush on the blond's cheeks. He grinned and raised an eyebrow as green eyes focused on him. "So… Is that an acceptable request?"

Wolfram uncrossed his arms and shifted to face him, leaning over and bracing one hand on the desk and the other on the back of his chair. "Is that what you really want?"

Yuri considered a moment, focus settling on those lips he knew so well before smiling. "Well, I really want a car, but since they don't exist in this world, I guess I can settle for y-Ouch!" He laughed and rubbed his arm when Wolfram hit him. "Geez, and here I thought you were learning to control your temper."

"I can control it just fine when I'm not around idiot wimps," Wolfram said with a huff before a faint smile tugged at his lips. He leaned in even closer until their lips were barely touching. "I suppose I can sacrifice myself for the greater good. Just this once. Since it's your birthday and all, I'll even try and make it memorable."

Yuri grinned and slipped an arm around Wolfram's waist. "Memorable is always good," he murmured, managing to steal a brief, too-chaste kiss before the door flew open and they were forced to flee in the face of Anissina's new search for a test subject.