Title: Hide and Seek
Author: Alice
Fandom(s): Kyou Kara Maou!
Spoilers: None.
Pairings/Characters: Günter, Günter's parents
Summary: It took Günter twenty minutes to find her.
Part: 1/1
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer: Alice does not own Kyou Kara Maou. And you all should be very, very thankful for that. Alice does, however, own the OCs that appear in this story, in this case, Günter's parents. Or at least, this interpertation of them. XD
Author's Notes: Written for 50scenes on LiveJournal, prompt table 5, #22: hide.
Hide and Seek
It took him twenty minutes to find her. He wandered around the manor, keeping to the shadows of the walls, peeking around corners for any sight of his mother. He heard the music first, the quiet, gentle music drifting down the hall from a small room that he'd passed many times but had never really paid attention to. He crept towards it and peeked around the partially opened door and saw her. She was sitting before their family's grand piano, sheet music laid out in front of her, her face framed by the soft curls of her long, blonde hair. A small smile on his face, he stayed behind the door, and listened to her play, her nimble fingers moving across the keyboard with such grace that he'd swear she was an angel. And she didn't see him and that was how he wanted it to be.
"Come on in and join me instead of peeking around the door. I'd love the company."
Günter bristled and mentally let out a cry of despair. Never mind, he'd been found! And here he was, thinking he was so stealthy and secret, quiet as a mouse, and no one would ever notice him. He should have realized that she would. She always noticed him no matter how well he hid.
Head bowed in slight shame, Günter stepped out from behind the door and approached her. She watched him with a smile. She patted the vacant place on the seat next to her and held out her arms to help him up. He felt a bit embarrassed that he was still too small to climb up on his own and his cheeks were tinted pink as he raised his little arms for her to pick him up. She placed him on her lap so that he could see the keyboard and ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "Now," she said soothingly, "why were you hiding over there?"
Günter shook his head, keeping his mouth shut.
"Did you do something bad?"
He shook his head again, fiercer. He was good child, he didn't do anything bad!
Well, alright, there was the one time he took a cookie from his sister but she hadn't complained about it and his mother didn't know so clearly that didn't count. Clearly.
"Were you… playing a game?"
He shook his head.
"Did you just want to hear me play?"
He nodded, his cheeks going redder.
She laughed, lightly, leaning down to press a small kiss to the top of his head. "There's nothing at all wrong with that! Music is a wonderful thing, do you like it?"
He nodded again, eyes scanning the keyboard and the notes written across the sheets lying on top of it.
"I'm not surprised at all. Music has always been important to this family. Your grandfather and grandmother used to always sing lullabies to your uncle and I. In their younger days, before I was born, they'd entertain other noble men and merchants and the like who came to call on them by singing. Did I ever tell you that?"
Günter shook his, eyes wide as he took this information in. His memory of his grandmother was hazy but it was hard to imagine her and his grandfather having ever had a pleasant singing voice. Now that she mentioned it, though, Günter could vaguely recall his uncle and a few other people having mentioned from time to time that, once upon a time, they had.
"Your brother and sister are both rather gifted in music as well," his mother continued, stroking his hair gently. "Though they like to hide it. That seems to be a common trait amongst you three, hiding. I wonder if this one will like to hide, too." Günter twisted around a bit and reached out tentatively to touch the slight swell of his mother's tummy. He ran his hand over the fabric covering the bulge and tried to imagine what kind of person was growing inside of it and it baffled him, how he'd come from that small bulge, how his big brother and sister had as well, all started out so tiny and how, according to their mother, they'd all grow to be just as big as she and their father. It made no sense to him but it fascinated him.
She chuckled at him, amused by the look of wonder on his young face. "You love things like this, don't you?" He nodded and leaned forward to press his ear to the bulge of her tummy, hoping to hear some sign of life there. "You won't hear the baby yet," she informed him, frowning a bit. "It's still a bit too early for that. But soon, very soon. And you'll be a good big brother, right?"
He grinned up at her, giving yet another nod. She paused for a moment, watching him intently, before she leaned down to whisper in Günter's ear. "You know, I've heard a most strange tale from the maids… they say they can hear you speaking to yourself when you're alone in your room. And yet, you never speak to anyone. I've never heard you utter a single word. If you can talk, why don't you talk to me?"
His eyes widened in shock and she spoke. He'd been heard? Günter pulled away from her, pouting. This was clearly not his day. "So is it true?" she asked him, tilting her head to the side and pouting right back at him. "You can talk but you won't talk to me?" He nodded, sadly, his eyes lowered. "Why is that?" He shrugged, still keeping his gaze down. "No real reason, you just don't want to?" He nodded. "That's very upsetting… I want to hear your voice. I'm sure you have an adorable voice!"
He blushed deeply and shook his head quickly. "Well, promise me something," she said. Günter looked up at her again, blinking. "When you do feel like speaking to people… promise me I'll be the first person you speak to, alright?" He blinked again and then nodded, slowly, a smile spreading across his face. She seemed to glow in joy at his response.
She opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off before a single word could escape her lips.
"ALEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIT!"
She flinched, and Günter covered his ears with his hands, and they both glanced to the door. "Well, someone's excited," she said with a forced smile. Günter nodded solemnly.
They stared at the door for a moment before a man turned the corner to enter the room and as he did, he tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground with a loud thud. Günter flailed and tried to escape his mother's grasp to go to his aid but she set him down on the bench and stood, heading over to the man with her hands on her hips, looking both very concerned and highly annoyed. Günter wrung his hands anxiously as he watched. He'd seen his father take many great tumbles, some worse than this one, but it always worried him just the same.
He watched his mother bend down and grab on to his father's arm and hoist him upright. He blinked rapidly, trying to regain his senses, and once he did, he turned towards his wife, grinning widely. "Aleit, ohohoho, Aleit! You should have seen it, it was fantastic! Years and years, me and that fountain, and it's always come out of our entanglements the victor! BUT NOT TODAY! Oho, no, not today, today, Aleit, I was victorious. Did you hear that, Günter?" He turned to look past his wife and grinned at his son. "You're father is a genius. The villainous fountain has been conquered."
Günter blinked. His mother blinked twice. His father continued to grin broadly as though he was the most amazing thing in the universe. "You… conquered the fountain? How did you… manage to do that, Klaus?"
"Oh, well, it was quite easy!"
"You've been battling that… thing for years."
"Minor technicality."
Günter rolled his eyes and turned away, already having lost interest in his father's crazy antics. His eyes scanned the piano in front of him. Standing up on the bench, he could just reach over to the keys, but he couldn't reach the sheet music. Still, though, the more he looked at the keys, the more he wanted to play. In the back of his mind, he could still hear his parents talking.
"…and so then, when the fountain tried to jump into my path and engage me in battle once more, I saw it coming! So, the fountain was at a disadvantage. It couldn't catch me by surprise. AND THUSLY! When I would have normally tumbled over the side of the fountain into its watery depths of doom, I instead leapt up onto its side and daringly walked along its side, and I laughed at the water in mockery, and it bowed in shame at my splendor! And I made it all the way to the other side and leapt down gracefully and carried on my way, the fountain left behind in despair over its defeat! And that, my dear wife, is how I conquered the fountain."
There was a pause in their conversation as they listened to the shaky music resounding throughout the room, and Aleit von Kleist took in the story that he husband had just recounted, while the man in question continued to grin. "Klaus… it… the fountain is an inanimate object, Klaus. You can't defeat something that isn't alive."
"Why must you burst my bubble, dear?"
She sighed. "I'm sorry, Klaus. You are absolutely right, you are fabulous, and you've done beautifully, I am so proud to be married to a man as brave and courageous and wonderful as you. There, that better?"
"…not really."
"Oh, well. Tough."
"…you still love me, though, right?"
"Unfortunately."
"Good! Oh, and Aleit?"
"Yes?"
"If you're here talking to me, who's playing the piano?"
They both looked, quickly, towards the instrument. Günter was standing on his tip-toes, pressing keys slowly, tentatively, listening to what two notes sounded good together and once he'd found a good combination, he'd go back and play it straight through without hesitation. And it sounded beautiful. Shaky, disjointed, but oddly pretty in its uniqueness.
Günter seemed to notice that the voices of his parents had stopped and he froze, looking slowly over his shoulder to see them staring at him in shock. He blinked at them and they blinked back and Günter moved away from the keyboard. He sat down, eyes wide, on the edge of the bench, swinging his tiny legs over the side. He buried his face in his hands, hoping this would get them to stop looking at him. After a few seconds he peeked out through his fingers to find them still staring at him. He through his arms up and flailed for a moment before leaping down from the chair and attempted to scamper past his parents but was caught all too quickly and lifted up into his father's arms. He buried his small head into his father's shoulder, embarrassed. His father patted his head.
"Now, now, what are you all shy about? That was brilliant!"
Günter shook his head against his father's shoulder and Klaus rolled his eyes. "Really, Günter, that was amazing! Not… really normal… rather alarming, actually, but still fantastic!"
Günter pushed himself away from his father a bit and frowned at him, confused. Klaus's train of thought was not one that was easily followed.
"People don't… generally do that," his father tried to explain to him. "It takes years and years to be able to play anything somewhat decently, unless you're just insanely talented, but you, oh you, you are ridiculously talented. You did it in, what? Twenty minutes. Given, that wasn't an actual song or anything like that, but the fact that you could pull that off at all is fantastic!"
"We have a genius child," Aleit said calmly, stepping forward and stroking Günter's hair tenderly. "Our prodigy." Günter blinked at her, eyes wide. He glanced between the two, taking in their looks of pride at his work and felt a grin spread across his face. They were proud of him! His mother… she was proud of him.
And suddenly, Günter knew what he was going to do. He would learn (he'd already begun to teach himself how to read and he had a great memory, he could recall almost everything he'd read word for word) and soon, once he was a much better reader, he'd read everything, and learn all about history, the world around him, politics, art, music, everything, and he'd keep it all to himself. Hide his voice away from the world. For now.
And in the end he'd show them and relish in the smiles and praise they gave him and it would all be worth the effort, every single second, if it meant he could see his mother smile at him like that again.
FIN
Günter is supposed to be roughly around the equivalent to a human child between two and three years old. So he's tiny and chubby and cute. 8D I have an entire past and family scripted out for Günter (since canon deals with it so little). He has a pretty big family in my version, though in this scene we only see his mother and father, who I sadly wasn't able to develop all that well here since it is just one scene, but I hope to write a few more scenes for this prompt table with Günter and his parents, and his brothers and sisters, and just… deal with his childhood, essentially. This is probably the fluffiest piece of all the ones I plan to do about Günter's past. The rest will most likely be dark. Not all super-insane dark but this scene is, in the grand scheme of things, the calm before the storm of Günter's life, so. Yeaaaaaaaaaaah.
Enjoy. 8D
Comments are loved, constructive criticism appreciated, and flames will be laughed at. If you must flame me, at least put some effort into it. I need a good laugh.