"Quit slacking off, Yuuri! You have to concentrate. You have to want this!"
Yuuri clenched his teeth and tried to focus, but Wolfram shouting at him wasn't helping. He wasn't sure he even wanted to learn to control fire magic anymore. Even after a full morning out in the courtyard with Wolfram yelling instructions at him, Yuuri hadn't produced so much as a single spark. By now he was tired and sweaty and starting to get irritated with Wolfram's demands.
The area around them was swept bare except for a few bales of hay that were supposed to serve as targets for Yuuri to burn, assuming he ever produced real flames. Everyone had been warned out of the area except for the two of them, even Gunter. Yuuri was actually a little impressed at that. He didn't know how, but when Gunter lobbied to reserve a day to tutor Yuuri in magic skills, Wolfram had demanded, and somehow gotten, charge of teaching Yuuri fire magic. Obviously it was his personal forte, but Yuuri could hardly believe the idea of Gunter giving up his lessons to anyone else.
Yuuri had been hoping for a leisurely day, pitching a few fireballs in the morning with Wolfram, and maybe taking off in the afternoon to play catch with Greta and Conrad. He hadn't expected to spend the day getting shouted at while trying to bring up powers that danced right out of his mental grasp every time. He felt he should be able to breathe fire by now, out of pure frustration.
"Can't we take a break?" Yuuri knew that stubborn look on Wolfram's face, but he tried anyway. "Come on, Wolf. It's lunchtime."
"We are not leaving until I see at least a spark out of you. I don't care if I have to stand out here with you all night!"
"That's cruel," Yuuri complained. He still tried again with renewed motivation. He was hungry, and he didn't want Wolfram to hound him if he tried to take off for lunch.
Yuuri put out one hand, then the other, trying to collect magical energy in his hands that would burst into the desired flame. He frowned in concentration, sure he could feel the air around his fingers become warm, but nothing came of it. When concentrating didn't work, Yuuri flicked his fingers vigorously at one of the hay bales, hoping the movement would be enough to send out a few real sparks.
"Stop that!" Wolfram grabbed him by the wrist, halting Yuuri's flailing attempts. "Is that what you think I do? Shake off fire like it's water?"
"I don't know what you do." Yuuri tried to tug his arm away, but Wolfram's grip was too firm. "Maybe I'm just no good at fire magic. And anyway, I'm hungry. Can't we finish this after lunch?"
"Do you care that little about learning to do this right? Don't take such a wimpy attitude, Yuuri!"
"I am not being a wimp! You need to have energy to use energy!"
"Fine! We'll do this the easy way if you're going to be such a wimp about it." Wolfram yanked on his arm and maneuvered him so that they were pressed together, back-to-chest, Wolfram behind Yuuri with one arm firmly around Yuuri's waist to keep him from leaping forward and escaping.
"Don't touch His Majesty so casually!" Yuuri looked up at the sound of Gunter's panicked voice to find him just about to leap over the railing of the second floor balcony to get to them. Luckily, Gwendal's reflexes were good enough that he grabbed the overemotional man before he fell. Yuuri hadn't even noticed when the two of them watching his lesson with Wolfram until the shout.
Since Gunter had beat him to protesting the sudden contact, Yuuri focused on a different grievance. "Why didn't you start with the easy way? And is grabbing me really necessary!?"
"Of course it is." Wolfram tugged him back, until they were definitely closer than Yuuri thought could possibly be necessary. "Anyway, I wanted to give you a chance to succeed spectacularly. You always learn best when you're under pressure, so I thought you could just master it in one strike."
"Really?" Yuuri couldn't tell if that was a compliment or not, especially because he couldn't see Wolfram's face. "What were you doing, trying to make me mad enough to attack you?"
"Stop changing the subject and concentrate on me." Wolfram let go of Yuuri's waist and held his hands out in front of Yuuri. As Yuuri watched, a small ball of fire burst to life between Wolfram's palms. Yuuri yelped and tried to jump back in surprise, but with Wolfram behind him there was nowhere to go.
"It's not going to burn you. Just take it."
"What?" Yuuri eyed the flame, leaning back against Wolfram to keep from getting too close.
"Relax." Wolfram's voice was surprisingly soothing, considering he had been yelling at Yuuri all morning. "Don't be afraid of it. Just put your hands between mine and the flame and take control of it." Yuuri couldn't help feeling that this advice was a little like being stared down by a bear and then told not to worry because of course it was harmless.
The ball of flame contracted, making room for Yuuri's hands, and Yuuri cautiously did as he was told. He was surprised to find that it wasn't particularly hot. In fact, the fireball didn't seem to be radiating any more heat than Wolfram's palms against the backs of his hands.
"Can you feel what I'm doing?"
"No," he insisted, but even as he said it, Yuuri realized that he could feel Wolfram feeding the flames somehow. He was maintaining it with an energy that felt warm and familiar. "Wait, there's something there. . . Are you doing that?"
"You see? It just needs a little something to feed on. I'm going to let go now, so you take it."
Yuuri nodded, trying to mimic what he had felt from Wolfram, letting loose a bit of energy into the ball of flame. It flared encouragingly in his hands for half a second, then flickered. Yuuri tried to mentally grab onto the flame, but it snuffed out completely the instant he tried.
"What did you do?"
"I don't know what I did wrong!" Yuuri protested. It wasn't fair. He had been so close!
"Tell me what you did and I'll tell you what you did wrong!" Yuuri rolled his eyes in annoyance. Wolfram was all too good at that.
"I 'fed' it like you told me to, and when I tried to take it, it went out."
"Don't clamp down on it." Wolfram tugged Yuuri's hands away from where they were still extended out in front of him. Then he put his hands out and gathered a second fireball between them. "And keep feeding it. You have to do it continually, not just cut it off."
Yuuri glared wearily at the fireball, but didn't hesitate to put his hands between Wolfram's this time. Obviously Wolfram wasn't going to let up until he got the result he wanted.
"You're going to get it this time!" Wolfram told him, in a tone that made Yuuri suspect that if he didn't he would have Wolfram chasing him across the yard with more fireballs, and that this time they really would be hot. Yuuri had to scramble to catch the fireball as Wolfram cut it off. It started to die again, and Yuuri instinctively shoved energy into it to sustain it.
He did a lot more than sustain it. That little fireball sucked up the offered energy and erupted into a vertical column of flame, engulfing both of them.
Wolfram made a far better teacher when he wasn't trying to goad his student into succeeding by pure fury. Gwendal was sure that either Yuuri would keep his temper, nothing would happen, and it would be a whole day of work wasted, or Yuuri would succeed explosively just to spite Wolfram and something would end up on fire that was not meant to be on fire. The whole ordeal was giving him a headache.
The way he was trying to teach Yuuri now didn't look too promising, either, but at least it didn't look like a portent for disaster. It was a big assumption that Yuuri would be able to just feel what was happening without having it explained, or be in sync with Wolfram to the point where he could 'catch' such a fickle ball of energy at just the right moment.
Gunter kept trying to turn and pace next to him, but Gwendal hadn't completely let go of him since he had been forced to pull the other man back from leaping over the railing and down into the yard below. Not that he thought the short fall would hurt Gunter, but he didn't want to have to witness the row Wolfram would start for having his lesson interrupted.
Gwendal was used to Gunter's restless pacing and sighs and proclamations of how he wanted to see Yuuri bloom under his tutelage, but they were still distracting enough that he almost missed what happened next. Yuuri almost managed to hold the flame Wolfram had given him for a second, and Gwendal felt subtly impressed that they had come so close. Their king was obviously a fast learner. He might actually get what Wolfram was trying to show him within a few hours.
The last thing he expected was for Yuuri to succeed spectacularly on his second try. The resulting wall of flame engulfed both his king and his little brother, faster than Gwendal could blink.
Gunter was out of his grip in a heartbeat, leaping directly over the railing and down into the yard to reach the two boys. Gwendal followed, only just managing to grab the other man before he charged headlong into the column of fire. The raw heat was like a tangible thing beating against his face. It was all he could do to hold his screaming, flailing companion back from the fire, as he heard Wolfram shouting above the roar of the flames.
"Yuuri, calm down! Clamp it down! Extinguish it!" Yuuri could barely hear Wolfram's voice over the roaring in his ears. The determination in that voice registered in the midst of Yuuri's panic. It was too hot to think, too hot to breathe, and he couldn't remember what he had done to kill the dancing flames before.
Then, to his horror, Yuuri felt as if the fire around him was being yanked out of his control. He instinctively knew the fact that it was feeding on something other than his magic would mean he couldn't simply cut it off its energy supply to snuff it out. Coupled with that fear he got a sudden impulse through what was left of his shaky hold on the fire. An idea, clear as if someone had whispered it into his ear, that the flames liked Wolfram. Yuuri could actually feel their desire to dance over Wolfram's skin, along with that constant fiery undertone of wanting to burn and burn and burn forever.
"No! You can't have him!" Yuuri wasn't sure if he had shouted it out loud or just in his mind. He was simply aware of yanking as hard as he could, trying to tear the fire away from Wolfram before it could consume him.
"Stop that! Yuuri, stop it!" There was a note of panic in Wolfram's voice now, and that was enough to make Yuuri forget all reason. He forgot trying to ruthlessly smother the fire around his friend, and instead reached out for something else, something infinitely more familiar.
Water. From fountains and pipes, from wells and washbasins, Yuuri summoned every drop he could possibly reach in the span of a second. He called down a veritable waterfall and aimed all of it at Wolfram.
Yuuri found himself blinded by water and steam as the fire let out a pained hiss and died around him. At least Wolfram was still there when the fire went, staring at him with wide-eyed surprise. Yuuri hadn't been aware of turning to face Wolfram in the fiery chaos, but he used his position now to check Wolfram for burns, for any injury the fire might have inflicted on him.
"Watch where you're putting your hands!" Wolfram shouted, startling him. At the same moment Gunter took him by surprise, jumping on him from behind.
"Your Majesty! You had me so worried!"
"Why did you have to burn off my clothes!?"
"Huh? I. . ." Yuuri felt he had missed something. He had Gunter clinging to him from behind, while Wolfram hung on to him from the front. It seemed to take him a long time to process the fact that Wolfram was naked, and trying to use him as a shield. (For that matter, Yuuri realized he had lost his own shirt completely to the flames, and he doubted what was left of his pants would ever be usable again) His expression was pained, and Yuuri couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment alone, or if Wolfram had been badly burned. He wasn't about to take chances. "Wolfram, let me see you!"
"No!"
Gwendal chose that moment to intervene in the chaos. He stepped up, calm as ever, taking off his overcoat as he walked. Before Yuuri could push Wolfram to arm's length to check him for burns, Gwendal was draping the coat over his little brother to protect his modesty.
Holding the coat closed over him, Wolfram turned and stalked away from Yuuri, back into the castle. Instead of feeling relieved that Wolfram was obviously well enough to maintain his temper, Yuuri's fear only heightened. If Wolfram was that mad, he must have hurt him. Badly.
"Excuse me!" Yuuri squirmed out of Gunter's grip and took off after Wolfram, jogging to catch up. "Wolfram, are you okay? Hey, talk to me! Did I hurt you? Wolfram!"
He could hear Gunter behind him, calling out to him to wait and let them make sure he was unhurt, as he chased Wolfram through the halls. People scattered out of Wolfram's way and stood aside to watch their strange procession in surprise, but Yuuri didn't even care. Just when he had almost caught up with Wolfram, the blond swept into his private room and slammed the door behind him.
"Wolfram, I know you're mad, but listen to me! You need to go see Gisela if you're burned, not hide in your room!" Yuuri pounded on the door to emphasize the point that he was not budging until Wolfram came out.
"Go away!"
Yuuri was not going to put up with that. He shoved the door open and followed Wolfram in.
"What are you doing? Close the door!" Wolfram was clutching Gwendal's coat in front of him, and Yuuri realized with an embarrassed start that he was still naked. He closed the door quickly, hardly noticing Gunter pounding on it a moment later as he crossed the room to where Wolfram was standing.
"Wolfram, are you burned anywhere?" Now that Wolfram wasn't running away from him any more, Yuuri was aware that Wolfram's face and chest, at least, didn't have the slightest mark on them.
"Of course not!" Wolfram paused and looked Yuuri over quickly. "Why, are you?"
"No. I don't think so." Nothing hurt, anyway. Yuuri hadn't even thought about the possibility that he might have been burned, he had been too terrified by the fire settling on Wolfram. "But I lost control, and then when I tried to take it back you started screaming. I thought it was hurting you." More than that, he had been terrified that Wolfram would burn in those flames until there was nothing left.
"Yuuri, that was me. When you didn't put the fire out I was trying to do it for you." Wolfram only sounded mildly annoyed now. He sighed, then reached up to cup Yuuri's face in one hand, his other still clutching at the coat protecting his modesty. He turned Yuuri's face from side to side, studying him. "I think you're okay."
"How can you tell?" Wolfram was only looking at his face so far. Yuuri would have started with the places where his clothes had been burned off to look for injury.
"Because it's usually the hair that goes first when a fire like that starts to burn its creator." Wolfram let go of Yuuri's chin and crossed his arms, as if finalizing something. "You're fine."
Wolfram seemed to be fine too. Now that he was looking and not panicking, Yuuri was aware that Wolfram's golden hair hadn't even been singed. He smiled in relief, the last of his fears melting away.
"Well, I guess you earned your lunch," Wolfram finally admitted, his mouth twitching as if he was about to laugh. He quickly turned away from Yuuri to get out fresh clothes, presenting Yuuri with an unexpected view of his backside. That was something Yuuri tried not to get more than a glimpse of, staring fixedly at the ceiling instead. "But you had better take a bath first. You're all sooty."
"So are you." That came from having his clothes burned right off, and then having a sudden waterfall wet the last, smoky remnants so that they stuck right to the skin. Yuuri couldn't help himself. He leaned against the door and laughed helplessly, because he had forgotten all about lunch. Because Wolfram was more concerned with being naked and dirty than their close encounter with fiery death. Because after all of that, neither one of them was burned or dead.
"Are you sure you didn't cook your brain?" Wolfram was looking at him like he had lost his mind, but Yuuri could only grin at him.
"I'm just glad you're okay."