First fic for this fandom... don't butcher me too much. Also, if you have the time, please check out my profile page? Thanks :)
This drabble takes place during the End of the Land arc, while Conrad is nowhere to be found. It's more of a stream of consciousness than a story, though.
He ponders it once, maybe twice, in the late hours of the night, when Wolfram in his bed has killed any hope of Yuri sleeping soundly. Images taint his inner mind, sounds of sword cutting flesh, inciting thoughts that frighten Yuri with sheer force, almost forbidding him sleep. But more so than this in causing Yuri's insomnia is his worry for Conrad: father figure and protector.
He's not quite sure how to explain Conrad's fascination for him. There's much that hasn't been explained to him, a past that, as Maou, perhaps he should know, but doesn't. He actually doesn't question it as much as he should, only when it seems pertinent - and perhaps it gives validity to Wolfram's numerous "wimps." Still, Conrad the protector comforts him, regardless the reasons the man holds.
Conrad the father figure: Yuri appreciates it, especially in a foreign world so different from his own. In a way, Conrad feels like the father Yuri never had, with his own father always away on business. Sure, Yuri had had his brother, whose wrath had been more suffocating than the least bit father-like. But Conrad is more of the gentle kind of father, always approving, always showing his support, even when Yuri suspects it isn't to Conrad's liking. And it isn't to say that the best kind of father is the man who spoils his children, but rather that the trust Conrad places in his decisions raises Yuri's confidence.
Yuri sighs, sights turned towards the grand window illuminating their room with fresh moonlight. Somewhere, Conrad is out there. It pains him slightly that no one knows his status - in such times, perhaps no news isn't always good news. But Conrad is strong, Yuri knows and has witnessed before. He's quite sure that neither overconfidence nor excessive optimism blinds him when he says that Conrad is alive.
It doesn't really matter what Conrad is to him, let alone what he is to Conrad. Labels do not define emotions, nor do they assign status over others. Father figure, protector - even secret admirer, if it were to apply here - regardless of name, Conrad is more than someone important to him.
"Don't worry," Yuri says, over Wolfram's soft whispers uttered in sleep, to no one in particular, yet at the same time to only one person in particular.
"We'll find you soon. I promise."