Title: The Morning After
Pairing: Conrad/Wolfram, others mentioned.
Rating: R / M for semi-explicit content.
Disclaimer: Kyo Kara Maoh © Tomo Takabayashi, Kadakawa Shoten / NHK, Sogovision / Geneon et al.
Genre: Humor
Warnings: Incest, crack, fluff, some possible OOC-ness. (And I say that only because my perception of the characters may be different than others'.)
Summary: Conrad and Wolfram must face the consequences… Sort of. (Special thanks to Apolloepikourios and The Concept for looking it over.)
Notes: Another really old fic that I never posted on here before. Keep in mind that at the time I hadn't watched the end of the series (in fact, I still haven't - lost interest). But I wanted to have this up for posterity sort of, so... here we go. Also there's some stuff going on with the names. I prefer the "Josak" spelling and change back and forth using "Conrad" and "Conrart". It was all done on purpose but it still looks very weird to the reader (I've been told).
Yuuri woke up that morning from a night of restful sleep. This should have immediately struck him as unusual since he wasn't in his bed on Earth, but the one in his private quarters in Shin Makoku. The Maoh sat up, yawned hugely, and scratched his chest as he looked blearily out of his room, trying to find what was out of place.
Wolfram wasn't there.
"Huh?" This was very unusual. Wolfram never woke up early. If he did, he usually made Yuuri get up too. Glancing over the edge of the bed, Yuuri checked to see if the blond had just fallen onto the floor. "Wolfram? No, not there…"
In fact, now that Yuuri's sleepy brain was starting to wake up a little, he couldn't even remember Wolfram coming to bed at all the night before.
Shrugging mentally, Yuuri decided not to worry about it until after he checked the rest of the castle—or at least after breakfast.
-
Across the castle, the blond in question was having a very different morning. Wolfram opened his eyes and saw Conrad beside him, sitting up and watching him carefully.
The first thing Wolfram noticed was just how gorgeous Conrad's naked body looked against the pristine white sheets. His hair, normally very kept, was fabulously ruffled and sticking up at odd angles. The second thing was that Conrad looked almost calmly worried; the look he got during battle when he was waiting for the enemy to make their first move.
The third was that he was as equally naked as his big-little brother—and then he remembered the previous night's (and early morning's) events.
Wolfram shot up and gathered as much of the blanket around his body as he could, though it was much too late for that. "Oh my god! You—We—!" He pointed between himself and Conrad, unable to say the words. "We weren't even drunk!" That, at least, would have been a slightly plausible excuse.
Slightly.
Conrad, ever the mature one, did not seem at all bothered by his nakedness. His worry did become more noticeable though. "Now, Wolfram, calm down. We should talk about this—"
"Oh my god! I cheated on Yuuri! I cheated on him! The wimp is always flirting with people and getting kidnapped and I'm the one that—!"
"Wolfram!"
"Oh my god! I slept with my BROTHER!" That seemed to be the last straw for the poor blond. He jumped off the bed and scrambled out of the room, the sheet still wrapped around his waist.
Wolfram ran back a second later for his clothes before running back out quickly.
Conrad sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day…
-
Eventually everyone made it to the breakfast table. Even Celi was there, and not running around on her quest for free love. Yuuri was glad to see Wolfram but couldn't understand why the room seemed so tense—or why Wolfram had very purposefully put him between Conrad and himself. Glancing at Gunter and Gwendal, he could see he wasn't the only one who noticed the tension either. If Celi and Greta noticed they were doing a good job of hiding it.
Then Yuuri noticed how Conrad kept glancing at Wolfram, while Wolfram kept his eyes firmly on his plate while a bright blush stained his cheeks.
Yuuri decided that, as the Maoh, he should try to see what was up. Though his plan lacked proper execution, it still had the desired effect.
"Hey, Wolf, where were you? You didn't come to bed last night."
Wolfram started guiltily and Conrad dropped his spoon.
"What?" Yuuri asked, blinking innocently. He had the distinct feeling he was missing something. "What is it?" He looked askance at Gwendal once more, but the older brother just gave him a clueless shrug. He had no idea what was going on with his brothers either.
Suddenly, Wolfram seemed to make up his mind. He stood abruptly, pushed himself away from the table, and walked straight over to Yuuri.
"Wolfram? What are you…?"
Wolfram determinedly cupped Yuuri's face and, before the baseball boy could jerk away, kissed him on the cheek.
Yuuri blushed brightly when his brain registered what had just happened. Gunter and Celi both gasped, while Gwendal and Conrad stared with slack jaws. Greta, much like her dark-haired father, was very confused.
Blushing also, Wolfram glared down at the Maoh. "There. You should be happy now."
"Um… What?"
Wolfram sighed. "Gunter? You really need to get him to read up on the aristocratic traditions."
Yuuri looked imploringly at Gunter. "What's he talking about?!"
Gunter cleared his throat, trying to collect himself. "Commonly, a formal kiss on the left cheek is done when one partner is asking for forgiveness—and a divorce."
Yuuri blinked. "Forgiveness? But what—DIVORCE? We're not even married!" he objected.
"Wolfram, what's going on?" Gwendal demanded.
Wolfram's temper just seemed to boil over at that. "It's not MY fault!" He pointed at Conrad accusingly. "HE STOLE MY INNOCENCE!" With that declaration, he quickly retreated from the dining room.
Gwendal raised an eyebrow at Conrad after a moment. "His innocence?"
Conrad didn't look at all repentant. "I could hardly steal something that was being blatantly offered," he murmured, almost to himself.
Gwendal's other eyebrow joined the first.
"And no, there wasn't alcohol involved," Conrad added, as if he could read his elder brother's thoughts.
Said elder brother's eye began twitching at that.
Conrad sighed and stood from the table as well. He walked over to where their mother was seated and bowed with deep formality.
Cecilie's shocked expression quickly morphed into a soft, sad smile. She touched her second son's head, forcing him to look at her. She surprised him by saying, "Give him some time, Conrart. Wolfram never deals well with changes."
"Ah… Yes, mother." Uncomfortably, Conrad walked out of the room, in a much more sedate fashion than Wolfram had.
Yuuri then decided that it was okay to speak up. "Um, can someone explain to me what's going on? Why were they acting so weird?"
"I believe that Wolfram and Lord Weller have been participating in carnal acts recently," Gwendal responded.
"Huh?"
"They had sex."
Yuuri scratched his head. "Does that mean I don't have to marry Wolfram after all? Wait… Ew!" Suddenly, the Mazoku king was assaulted by images of himself with Shouri, which gave him a funny feeling all over.
-
Once at The Great One's temple, Conrad easily found Murata. He was grateful that the Great Sage was not too surprised about his story. In fact, he seemed a little amused by it.
"So he actually broke off the engagement?" Murata asked, only slightly dubious. Conrad couldn't blame him—his little brother had been awfully stubborn about the whole thing.
Conrad felt guilty about that. He nodded slowly. "Yes, much to everyone's surprise. I think it had more to do with his pride than any desire not to marry His Majesty anymore."
"You think too lowly of yourself, Lord Weller," Murata noted, smiling knowingly at the soldier. "In fact, I think you've had a low opinion of yourself, as far as these matters are concerned, for a very long time. You're probably so used to falling in love with people you can't have that you've never thought to question it."
Conrad stared at him silently, baffled beyond words, because it was all true. He just wasn't used to the truth being pointed out so simply. It made him wonder if he was any good at hiding his feelings after all.
Murata nodded confidently. "Now, if you're worried about von Bielefeld's reaction, I would suggest snogging, then some measured groping once he's gotten used to that. And alcohol, if you think it'll help."
"We weren't drinking last night."
"Even so." Murata's smile turned even more mysterious suddenly. "So the engagement's really off?"
Conrad nodded slowly, confused. "As far as I know."
"Hmm. Good to know."
Conrad left, deciding he really didn't want to know.
-
Wolfram was practicing sword drills, trying to get his mind off of last night's events, when Josak found him. He was terribly surprised when the spy challenged him to an impromptu duel.
"What for?" Wolfram asked suspiciously.
Josak shrugged carelessly. "Oh, no reason, really! I just walked by, saw you training, and realized that we've never sparred before. Conrart," and here his smile turned malicious for a bit, "says you're pretty good, but there's plenty of room for improvement."
Wolfram fumed at the obvious taunt. "Improvement my ass!"
When it was over, and they were both sweating liberally, it was obvious that Josak was indeed the better—but only because he had more experience. Wolfram had great potential and was learning; they also both knew that if Wolfram used his fire he would idefinitely/i have closed the gap between them.
"Well, you're certainly getting better," Josak admitted wryly. "But I have to wonder if that's because you want to impress your brother, or because you idolize him. Is that why you slept with him?"
Wolfram blushed, furious. He wasn't surprised that the spy knew, but he hadn't expected to be accused of something—except he really didn't understand what exactly he was being accused of. "I fight to protect Shin Makoku and the Maoh! Conrart has nothing to do with it!"
Josak shook his head. "He has everything to do with it. You're only now starting to realize it."
Wolfram frowned and turned on his heel, prepared to leave the frustrating man when he paused. Something occurred to him. "… You and Conrart have known each other for a long time, haven't you?"
Josak blinked, startled by the question. "Uh, yeah." He felt he was stating the obvious. Wolfram knew his back story very well.
"You've slept with him, haven't you?"
Josak grinned lecherously. "Yeah, but that's ancient history." He didn't say that that had more to do with Susannah Julia than anything else.
Wolfram thought about that. "So you were testing me."
"… I didn't expect you to catch onto that, honestly."
"Humph!" Wolfram's chin lifted haughtily and he continued walking away.
"Going to find your dear little-big brother?" Josak asked teasingly.
"No. I'm going to find Gisela."
"Eh? Why?"
"I'll need to check for STDs, now that I know some more of Conrart's history."
Josak's stared after the little blond, floored.
He figured he deserved that one.
-
Conrad was surprised when, whilst he was wandering aimlessly about the castle, his older brother stepped out of the shadows suddenly, his sword drawn.
"Are we capable of settling things only through violence now?" Conrad asked archly, hand going to the hilt of his own sword. Gwendal was still far away enough that he could draw quickly.
Gwendal snorted. "His Majesty has changed that."
"But old habits die hard?" Conrad was amused.
Gwendal got straight to the point. "He's a spoiled brat, but he's our brother. I hope you know what you're doing."
Conrad sighed. "Do you want an honest answer to that?"
Gwendal sheathed his sword, feeling he had made his point. "Well, you had better figure it out. Wolfram will be even more confused than you are."
"I know."
The older man hesitated, grimacing. "I know I shouldn't even be asking this, but… How did it happen, anyway? I always thought he had an unhealthy crush on you, but this past year he's been fawning all over the Maoh…"
Conrad's eyebrows rose doubtfully. "You want the details?"
Gwendal actually blushed. "No! Of course not! Just… a brief summary will do."
Amused, Conrad leaned against a nearby wall, arms folded over his chest. He tried to collect his thoughts quickly; his brother was looking impatient. "So much has changed since Yuuri came here. It's not just things between Mazoku and humans either. It's us. We haven't been, well… a family since Wolfram and I were still kids. But Yuuri gave that back to us. He brought us together, stronger than ever.
"I got to thinking about that last night. Yuuri was putting Greta to bed and Wolfram wasn't with him for once—he was accompanying me while I did my rounds. He talked to me, not like he did when we were younger, but not like before Yuuri came either. But that same affection from back then was still there, and I suddenly realized it. Yuuri gave me back Wolfram and Wolfram felt the same."
"And then?" Gwendal prodded.
Conrad shrugged philosophically. "And I felt comfortable enough to ask him for an impromptu sparring session. One thing led to another, and we were suddenly rolling around in mother's flower garden, scrambling to get out of our clothes."
"Ah… The maids have been repairing the damage all day." Conrad had the decency to look abashed at any rate. "And the blue ornate vase that was broken?"
Conrad flushed. "We… didn't quite make it to my bedroom before…" He waved a vague hand.
"And the torn tapestry?"
Conrad nodded, shifting uneasily. "That was us as well."
Gwendal cursed softly, his eye twitching. "You're lucky you're part Mazoku." He wasn't surprised to find out that Wolfram was a wildcat during intercourse though.
The younger man burst out laughing. If Gwendal, of all people, was willing to make a joke of it, then perhaps things weren't quite as bad as he feared. "I'm surprised everyone's taking it so well." Even in Shin Makoku, incest was still a bit of an oddity. Inbreeding, though, was not completely unheard of among the aristocrats.
Gwendal shrugged. "Mother is fine with anything we do, I think, as long as we're happy. His Majesty is partly confused and partly relieved, and the confusion I think he'll get over once you speak to him."
"And you?"
"… I believe I share our mother's opinion."
Conrad's eyes widened. "Oh."
Gwendal took off down the hall, not in the direction he had come from. "Talk to Wolfram as soon as you sort it out," he reminded.
Conrad smiled, knowing that Gwendal was going to go to his office to practice his knitting so that he wouldn't think of his little brothers in various wicked, lewd scenarios.
-
Around noon, Greta very purposefully tracked down Wolfram, who was watching the garden being working on.
Greta glanced at it, a little confused as to how the flowers could have gotten so messed up, before looking back at the blond. "Wolfram, I need to ask you something."
"Greta, what is it?" Wolfram asked, concerned for something other than himself the first time that day. Greta looked very troubled.
"Wolfram… Do you still like me? Even though you and Yuuri aren't getting married anymore…" The girl trailed off and her lip trembled tellingly, no matter how much she tried to hide it.
Wolfram nearly kicked himself as it dawned on him—he had been so stupid breaking the engagement right in front of Greta! Greta was a strong girl, but things kept changing in her life, and now she was worried about things changing once again.
He knelt down in front of her and petted her hair affectionately. "Of course I still like you, Greta. That won't change, no matter what. I didn't treat you kindly just because of how I feel about Yuuri." Well, he had at first, but then he grew to care for the girl on his own while he took care of her in Yuuri's stead.
"Do you still like Yuuri?" Greta asked curiously, though she seemed reassured by Wolfram's words.
Wolfram glanced away. "I do… But… It's difficult, Greta."
Greta nodded, though she couldn't really understand. "Well, the marriage thing always made Yuuri uncomfortable."
"I know." The boy smiled wryly, though a bit of sadness still leaked through. He remembered last night, hushed whispers murmured in between frenzied kisses, and his reassurances to Conrad that he knew what he was doing. Only the next morning did the gravity of his actions fully hit him.
"I still love Yuuri, but…" Flushing, Wolfram hesitated to say these things to Greta, but he knew he owed her an explanation more than anyone else at the moment. "But what I feel for Conrart started long before Yuuri came. I just don't think I ever would have figured it out, or gotten over my prejudices," even though some of those were justified, "if not for Yuuri."
Greta thought about that, digesting what Wolfram had told her. "So, maybe this is what was supposed to happen?"
Wolfram shrugged. "I have no idea."
"But you love Conrart?"
"Well… That's complicated too."
"You do." Greta beamed happily. "I can tell."
Wolfram blushed but didn't bother arguing.
"Will… Will Conrart still like me too?"
"Don't you doubt that." Wolfram pulled the girl into a tight hug. "No matter what happens to us adults, we're still going to care about you as much as we always have. That means all of us, not just Yuuri. We're… all family, I guess. For better or worse."
Greta smiled, taking his word for it. Wolfram wouldn't lie. "Okay."
-
Conrad wasn't too surprised that Yuuri wanted to speak to him, but he iwas/i surprised when the Maoh dragged him into his office where Wolfram was also waiting.
Wolfram stood when he saw Conrad, panicking. "I'm not speaking to him!"
Yuuri frowned, though, putting as much authority as he could into his voice. "Yes, you will, now sit."
"But…"
Yuuri shook his head. "You've been avoiding each other all day. Now you're going to talk it out."
Huffing, Wolfram sat back down. Conrad, after some prodding from Yuuri, took the opposite seat.
Yuuri took up the seat at his desk. "Alright. I don't know what happened—and I don't really want to know the details either. But I don't think Conrad would have taken advantage of you, Wolfram, or that either of you could really talk one another into something you didn't both want to do, so…" He trailed off, flushing. Honestly, he had always thought Conrad's and Wolfram's relationship mirrored the one he had with his own brother. This entire thing had thrown his thinking in for a total rollercoaster ride. "You get what I'm trying to say?"
Conrad smiled kindly. "That anything we did last night was perfectly mutual?"
Yuuri smiled in relief. "Yeah."
Wolfram blushed. "I don't know about mutual. I certainly didn't want to land in the gardens."
"I didn't want to stop in the hallway twice," Conrad pointed out wryly, which didn't help the blond's blush at all.
"Okay, okay! No details!" Yuuri pleaded, then paused. "How many times did you guys… You know…?"
Wolfram did a quick mental count, surprised that he ihad/i to count. "Four."
"Five," Conrad corrected.
Wolfram looked at him strangely.
"You woke me up around three in the morning with your mouth wrapped around my—"
"No details!!" Yuuri reminded.
Wolfram, though, licked his lips at Conrad's words. "Oh. Yeah."
Yuuri sighed as the two began glancing at each other excitedly. "Okay, so you guys don't have a problem then? You're not mad at each other?"
Wolfram huffed. "Well, I don't know if I'm not mad, but…" His eyes darted to Conrad meaningfully. "I think I'm willing to talk things through, at the very least." Talking, with a great deal of love-making thrown in, most likely.
Conrad positively beamed. "As am I."
"Okay then."
"And…" Yuuri looked nervous then. "You're both okay with me, right? I mean… I didn't lead you guys to this because I didn't want to be with Wolfram… Did I?"
Wolfram flushed. "Maybe a little… I mean, I still do… feel the same about you… But with Conrart it's different." He'd sounded far more elegant when he explained it to Greta. "I think that maybe what happened last night was just us coming to terms with something that's been there all along."
Conrad nodded, having been thinking the same. "Which we have you to thank for, Your Majesty. Wolfram might never have forgiven me otherwise."
"Who says I've forgiven you for lying to me?" Wolfram demanded at the same time as Yuuri corrected his godfather for not calling him by his name, again.
"You haven't?" Conrad asked.
The boy folded his arms stubbornly. "It's not like you ever apologized."
"Well, I iam/i sorry. But I honestly thought you knew I was half human."
"Obviously I didn't!" Wolfram sighed, realizing bringing up that old rift wouldn't get them anywhere, especially when it had been a long time since it had even mattered. Not since the time they'd thought Conrad had died… And he should probably apologize to Conrad too sometime. Some of his past behavior hadn't been very fair to his brother. "Come on." He grabbed his lover's wrist to pull him from the room. "We need to go and… talk…"
Conrad grinned. "Yes. Talk. Wonderful idea."
Wolfram flushed.
Yuuri watched them go, heaving a huge sigh of relief once he was alone. He was glad that everything seemed to be working out now.
Murata found him there moments later, still slumped in his chair. "Hey, Shibuya. Want to play catch with me?"
Yuuri perked up instantly, his mind eagerly grasping onto baseball and away from the resurfacing memories of Shouri helping him out of the dresses that his mother used to like to dress him in. "Sure!"
Inwardly, Murata cackled.
-
Slipping the older man's spent member out of his body, Wolfram collapsed on top of Conrad, feeling boneless and pleasantly sated. The tension from the day seemed to have evaporated the moment Conrad had started touching him and now it was but a distant memory. What had he been so upset about, anyway?
Oh yeah. Yuuri. Well, he didn't seem too upset about it, right? So I won't be either, Wolfram thought stubbornly.
Conrad carded his fingers through Wolfram's hair. "You okay?"
"Mm."
"It still bothers you, doesn't it?"
Wolfram didn't see the need to answer that. Instead, he placed soft kisses along the scar on Conrad's arm, the only sign that the arm was not originally his.
Conrad's grip on Wolfram tightened. "It's alright. I'm always here for you."
The blond sat up with a frown. "You know I'm not just here because I can't be with him, right?" he asked sharply. "It's just how it happened. I may still love him, but I love you too. The two feelings are… really different, and I have to come to terms with those differences."
Slowly, Conrad smiled. "Good to know."
Wolfram huffed irritably. "You honestly think I would use you like that?!" He bit down on the man's nearest nipple harder than he really needed to.
Conrad gasped sharply. "Wolfram!"
"I used to think my little-big brother was so smart…" Wolfram licked the abused flesh unapologetically.
"It's been a long time since you called me that."
Wolfram grinned and rubbed his renewed erection against Conrad eagerly. "Would you like me to call you that now?"
Conrad moaned and stilled the boy's hips. "Give me a few more minutes, Wolfram."
The blond pouted. "Why? Slipping into your dotage already?"
"Hardly! My stamina just isn't as quick to recover as yours."
"Oh? We'll have to see what we can do about that…"
"Wolfram, you… ah…"
The end. Since it's so old, there's probably a few things I'd change, but it's being posted as if I'd done it when it was new. So, no changes than what my beta readers did a couple of years ago. Thanks for reading and leave a comment to let me know what you thought! (Other than, you know, "Ew, incest is gross!")
