Author's note: I need more creative titles, ha!
So warm…
When did the maids change his pillows? It was just the right hardness and seemed to radiate warmth but damn the bed is rather uncomfortable. It felt like straws of hay poking at his body.
Wait… Hay?
Waking up nestled comfortably on Lord Wolfram von Bielefeld's chest was something he never expected to happen. That fair face and bright blond hair unmistakably belonged the former Prince himself. The spy blinked several times, his sleep addled brain registering the fact that he and the Little Lord Brat had just spent the night in the barn and cozied up with each other.
Damn...
His head hurt though. Perhaps drinking too much was a terrible idea. Alcohol never really did much help. Memories of the night before came flooding in. The whiskey, the tears and the gentle hands stroking his hair till he fell asleep. Never in a thousand years would he have expected the snobby Bielefeld heir to ever so much lend him a shoulder to lean on or even patiently listen to his drunken ramblings.
He could only hope that he did not somehow offend the young noble. They may not be the closest of siblings but deep down the blond valued his bond with his brother. No matter how much he had berated and insulted the brunet for being human, the youngest of Lady Celi's sons definitely loved his Little Big Brother. They were undeniably close before the whole heritage drama. There was saying, after all, that hate can be born out of love that had been betrayed.
More recently, he could see with his very own eyes how that begrudging attitude the blond seemed to display before is being replaced with awkward half praises and tiny helpful gestures on the youngest part whenever the two sparred in the name of training. All with the second brother accepting it with a small grin and gentle pats on his little brother's back.
Conrart…
And that was the reason why he was down here in the first place. Drinking himself to a drunken mess and being discovered by the Little Lord Brat of all people.
Not so much of a Brat are you now?
His lips quirked up in a slight smile as he watched the slow rising and falling of the figure next to him. The fire demon looked so peaceful and at ease and with the way his lips were parted slightly, the spy could only think of the word 'adorable' to describe the sight before him. Yozak knew that once the blond opened his mouth to speak, the illusion of a gentle Prince would be broken, replaced by snarky remarks and a haughty attitude to match.
He was not sure how the next few minutes would play out. Should he wake the slumbering demon or just quietly slip out, you know, being a spy and all. In the end, he decided against the latter. The former Prince probably would not appreciate being discovered by the castle servants sleeping in such an undignified manner.
Yozak gently shook Wolfram's shoulder, "Psst, Your Excellency, wake up!"
The blond let out a few grunts of displeasure.
"Oh, Wolfie~ Wakey, wakey!" He tried again in a mock imitation of Lady Celi's voice.
That did the trick! Wolfram startled awake rising up so suddenly he accidently knocked his head against the spy's, "Ouch! What the- Gurrier?!"
Yozak winced.
"And a very good morning to you too, Lord von Bielefeld," Gosh, he did not need to look so scandalised. It was not as if the spy was a leper or anything.
Blinking a few times, "G-good morning…" Wolfram greeted him back.
They fell into an awkward silence, fiddling with stray pieces of hay. That was when Yozak realised that it was not morning anymore. Judging by how bright it was, it was probably past noon already.
Crap!
If it was this late, they must have been seen by anyone who had come to feed the horses! Shinou knows how many people had chanced upon them. Yozak could only hope that Lord von Voltaire would not bury him alive for being caught in a compromising position with his youngest brother who also happened to be the Demon King's fiancé.
"Your Excellency, there might be rumours about us floating around by now and they ain't pretty so try your best to not stir up suspicion alright?"
Wolfram huffed and crossed his arms, "Why should I worry about other people? In any case, they are the ones that should not be sticking their noses into other people's business."
"Sheesh, I'm just trying to tell you to be careful. Now do you want to return first or should I leave first?" If they were lucky enough, they could make it back to the castle without bumping into anybody. It would be better to head out separately rather than together.
"I'll leave first. I need a bath and a good rest," he sniffed the air, "I suggest you take a bath as well. You reek of alcohol."
"Yeah, yeah, now off you go," Yozak made a shooing motion. Wolfram rolled his eyes and the spy cheekily smiled at him.
Just as the blond was about to leave, Yozak called out to him, "Hey uh, thanks for last night. I appreciate it."
Wolfram nodded and gave a slight smile. It was warm, gentle and for a moment, it reminded Yozak of a certain brunet. Without a word, the blond exited the barn.
Ahh, that was a good shower, now to fill my stomach.
The spy hummed a cheery little tune while he made his way down the hall. He was toweling his hair when he spotted a familiar looking figure leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"Oh, what is this? Hello, Captain! Fancy seeing you here~" Just his luck to come across the one person he wanted to avoid. He hoped this would be a casual encounter. He really did not want to speak to Conrart right now.
This time round, there was not a hint of a smile on the soldier's face. He stood up and motioned with his hand, "Come with me."
There was no room for an argument as the soldier spun on his heel and briskly walked down the hall. He stopped just before a simple brown door and if Yozak was not mistaken it was the storage room for miscellaneous things. Conrart ushered the spy inside and closed the door.
Really…?
Yozak raised an eyebrow at the brunet, "This better be important because I'm actually pretty hungry."
"I saw you and Wolfram. At first, I dismissed it as the maids talking but when I went to the barn, I saw the both of you."
"Hah?! Couldn't you have woken us up then?"
"I would have but Wolfram was sleeping so soundly…"
Just Wolfram?
"I'll get right to it then. Did you two do anything?"
"Do anything?"
"Look, I know Yuuri does not really show it but I can tell that he may possibly care a lot more for Wolfram than he realises. And if you two are in any way involved then-
Oh.
"Stop right there, Captain," Yozak interjected. He mentally winced at how harsh his voice sounded.
Sure just casually ask me if I screwed your little brother as if you don't know I've been fucking in love with you for the past 70 years.
"Well, he's really pretty and all but just not my type. Besides, what kind of a subject would I be if I make a move on the Demon King's Fiance of all people," He switched back to his regular flippant tone hoping that the other soldier would not notice.
Conrart seemed to be silently contemplating his answer and the spy was beginning to feel rather awkward being under the brunet's scrutinizing gaze.
Alright, now's my chance to escape.
"So now that we've established that your younger brother's virtue is intact, I should really get going I think the cute maids have saved some lunch for me~ See ya!" Giving a wink and a two-finger salute, Yozak started towards the door only to be questioned by the brunet again.
"So what did you two do in the barn?"
"Nothing happened, Captain! You're too suspicious!"
Give it a rest, will you?
"I saw you two. Wolfram hugged you to sleep."
"Ah, yes! I was also pretty surprised myself. Man, who knew His Excellency is a cuddler. I mean I have heard of his interesting sleeping habits so thank Shinou I was fortunate enough to get a relatively peaceful sleep."
"Wolfram only does that when he feels sad."
"Ah~ I know why. He might have felt bad cause you see we had this intense round of cards and then-
"Yozak."
Uh oh, his eyebrow did that thing.
"What?" The spy decided to play dumb till the other soldier ultimately gave up.
"Did something happen to Wolfram?"
Okay now that was not fair.
"Is he okay?"
Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe that I have some troubles of my own too?
"I know we're not as close as we used to be but I think I can help him if he would just-"
Yozak grew increasingly irritated with every word that Conrart said.
"Me."
"What?"
"I was the one that felt sad."
"Oh.. Sorry… I didn't.. Would you like to talk about it?"
"Nope. Goodbye."
"Wait, Yozak."
"Look it's nothing okay," Why did he even open his damn mouth?
"How can it be nothing? Now that I look at you closely, I can see how bad your eyes have puffed up. By any chance did you cry-"
"Probably an allergic reaction to one of the new eyeshadows I started using. Nothing to it."
"Come on, Yozak, if you would just tell me-"
"Tell you what, huh? Do you tell me everything? No! You just keep it to yourself and when I try to help you, you push me away!"
"Is this what it's about?"
The nerve of him!
"Well, excuse me for worrying about you. How do you think I felt when I had to hear from one of your soldiers that they saw you passed out pissed drunk?"
"Look, Yozak, we've talked about this. I-"
"Are you even aware of how self destructing your behaviour is? And here I am trying to help you out and you just push me away. How do you think I feel, huh? It's like our friendship does not even matter to you. Do you even trust me?" Oh, he was definitely on a roll now.
"I do but-"
"Ha! There's always a but"
"Your friendship is very important to me, Yozak."
"Really now," Yozak rolled his eyes, "It seems ever since the war 20 years ago the only person that ever matters to you is the late Lady Julia. Even now you're doing the same damn thing with the Young Master. As it ever occurred to you that you that His Majesty is not Lady Julia?"
Yozak was aware of the big risk he was taking by even bringing the late Lady Suzanna Julia up. However, he was never one to beat about the bush and this thick headed man in front of him needed to hear it direct and as it is.
"Throwing your life to the enemy is not the way to atone for whatever regrets you might have. Did you know how devastated His Majesty was? Yes, I understand the whole 'loyal to the crown' thing but I know that the Young Master will never want anyone to risk their lives for him. He wants all of us to live and laugh by his side. By his side, Conrart. Whatever threats that may come to this kingdom, he would want to us to face it together."
Once again, the spy knew that all that he has said will fall upon deaf ears. He just needed to blow some steam and preferably not see the man's face for the next few months. It has always been like this. They would argue, he leaves for a mission and then the matter does not get settled. He was getting tired of it and had this urge to request for a year long mission just to avoid coming back but he knew that would be out of the question. Lord von Voltaire would never allow such a valuable asset to be away for too long. Although it was not such a bad idea. Who knows, maybe me might find someone else along the way but who was he kidding. It was a curse. No matter who he was with he could never fully devote himself to the person. Conrart had always been lurking in his mind for as long as he could remember.
"Damn it, Conrart! You never cared and you never will! Just leave me the fuck alone. Fuck you, and you can jolly well fuck off- mmph!"
It was painful clash of teeth and nose as the brunet grabbed a fistful of the spy's shirt to crash their lips together. The orange haired man tried to push the soldier away and he thought he succeeded only to be pulled back in for a bone crushing hug. Nuh uh, that bastard does not get to do this to him. He struggled against Conrart's hold and when he eventually broke free, he landed a solid punch to the other's face
Conrart had backed up a few steps from the blow and he immediately brought a hand to his cheek to nurse his wound, "Ow-Shit!,"
Good for you. It must hurt like a bitch.
His own hand was stinging in pain but he did not care, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Weller?" He bit out, glaring at the soldier before him.
"I'm sorry. I just heard you say those things and I lost my composure."
Yozak crossed his arms across his chest and huffed in annoyance, "Tch, I am not sorry for hitting you. Try that again and the next blow will be further down south."
"Yes, I deserved that. If you would give me the chance, I would like to explain myself."
Should he or should he not? It might just be the same old story of how the Young Master is important to him and how he carries on Julia's will.
"I know you are always worried about me. Sometimes Mother and Big Brother call me out on it as well. I am not a strong person emotionally. I think somewhere in my heart I am just not ready to move on but I know I should.
"All these years you would scold me, lecture me and leave only to come back and we go back to normal. But today, something was different. You sounded like you were giving up. You were giving up on me and I could not let that happen."
Yozak did not dare to say anything. He wanted to point out that mind over matter is they key but he knew firsthand that the affairs of the heart cannot be easily overcome. This was definitely different from the other times. Conrart was speaking honestly and addressed the matter more than he usually would have.
"I am not as selfless as people believe me to be sometimes. I am not always kind and gentle and you are the only one I can show my ugly side to. Even at those times, you have stuck by my side. You have always been with me and I honestly would not wish for it otherwise. I am sorry for being difficult and thank you for always looking out for me. Will you give me another chance?"
Conrart slowly approached the spy and reached out to tug at his firmly folded hands. Yozak lifted a questioning eyebrow but complied anyway. The brunet tenderly took the hand that punched his face just moments ago and brought it up to his lips to place a light kiss on the bruised knuckle. Yozak watched incredulously as the brunet now held his hand with both hands and rubbed his knuckles as if to soothe the ache.
"What in the world are you doing?" the spy wanted to pull his hand away but was admittedly too distracted by the odd behaviour of the soldier. And no, the area where Conrart kissed was definitely not tingling.
Conrart smiled, "You punched really hard so your hand must hurt."
"That also means I punched you really hard. Let go of my hand will you? I may like to dress in women's clothing but I am definitely not one so stop treating me like a damsel in distress."
Or maybe he was one. He now understood those descriptions of feeling 'butterflies in your stomach' whenever the main heroine meets her lover in romance novels.
The brunet chuckled and stopped rubbing the Yozak's knuckle but still did not release the spy's hand. Conrart looked up and Yozak gazed into those warm, gentle eyes he had known ever since he was a young lad. Crap, his feelings were starting to stir up again. Blue eyes turned away from brown to stare at the ugly bruise blooming across the soldier's cheek.
He brought his free hand up to gingerly touch the bruise, "You should ice this. Tell Gisela you ran into a wall or something. I'll get an earful if she knew it was me."
Conrart leaned into Yozak's touch and smiled contentedly. Yozak, however, was stunned by the brunet's actions and dropped his hand.
"I know," Conrart gave him a knowing look, grinning slightly.
"Good, now go. I think she should be free now," He needed to get away right now because his stomach was doing weird things and he could not tell if it was from hunger or other things.
"Yozak, you never answered my question," It seemed like the soldier was determined to make him stay.
What question?
"Hah? What?"
In all seriousness, Conrart looked right into Yozak's eyes and asked, "Will you give me another chance?"
Oh, that.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Let go of my hand will you. This is embarrassing!" Yozak tried yanking his hand but the brown eyed man would not release his hold.
"You have to help me though."
"And how do you expect me to help you…?" The spy was all up for it. Perhaps this time round Conrart would come to him and actually talk to him and ask him for advice.
"I want to free my heart from all these burdens. And I think only you can do that."
Only me, huh?
"Why?"
"You're important to me. Yes, His Majesty Yuuri will be my priority but that is different. I really do care for you and what I feel is probably the same way you feel for me."
It's not the same, Conrart. To you, I'll always be your close childhood friend. To me, you're someone that I can never have.
"Of course. I always got your back, Captain! Enough with this sentimental chit chat. Let's hug it out like real men and then we can move with our lives," Yozak swung his free arm around Conrart in a half hug and pat the soldiers back for good measure. Conrart let go of his bruised hand to reciprocate but instead of a brief hug, he wound both his arms around the spy's waist and rested his head on the other's shoulder.
Oh, for the love of Shinou!
What was supposed to be an awkward manly hug now became a full on embrace.
"Don't deviate, Yozak. I know."
What does he know?
"Captain, you really should go see Gisela. I think your head took some damage from the blow," Anything to put some distance between him and the brunet. There was no way he was enjoying this, "Go on," he started probing the soldier.
"No, nothing is wrong with my head. I quite like this," he looked up from Yozak's shoulder, "And you like me."
"Please don't punch me again," Conrart leaned in to place a chaste kiss on Yozak's cheek. By the time Yozak could register what was happening, the brunet pulled back and his eyes were twinkling.
Cheh, two can play at this game.
"You call that a kiss, Weller? Real men kiss like this," the spy hooked the soldier back in for a kiss, the kind that have made young lasses go weak in the knees. Their words, not his. He smiled into it when he felt the brunet respond. Unlike before, the kiss was slow and deep.
Eventually, they had to part for air and when they did, both were grinning at each other. Neither of them said a word
Yozak was the one to finally break the silence, "So this… Is a thing?"
"It's more than a thing. It's you and me for a long, long time."
"Sure thing, Captain. But I'll have you know I'm quite popular though," the spy wiggled his eyebrows.
"What a coincidence. Me too."
"Yeah, yeah. Don't get so cocky now. You have a lot of things to make up for."
"Why make up when we can make out?" Conrart cupped the spy's cheek and dived right in to claim the spy's lips. Yozak would have called him out on the horrible pun but this time, Conrart took the lead and demanded more. Soon enough, they were both lost in a mesh of tongues and lips.
Finally, he had the one person he had longed for in his arms and Yozak would not have wanted it any other way.
Author's note: Hi, guys~ I am back! Conrart and Yozak's story was a bit more challenging to write but I hope they are not too OOC. I know the pun is bad but it's Conrart and his puns are bad so… Yeah… Teehee =D Thank you for following the series!