Yuuri wasn't the type of person who'd go out of his way to avoid someone he had a problem with. He was the type of person who'd face that person head on and fix whatever problem he had with that person through a meaningful no-weapons-needed conversation. That was the type of person he was.
Usually.
Most of the time.
But this case was different. This wasn't just some person. This wasn't just some problem.
Besides, even if he would end up facing the said problem, he couldn't do it now with that dream fresh on his mind. He had to let it pass for a bit so that he won't be caught up in it when he finally—
How does one even deal with being in—?
The young king gave a shudder, his cheeks flushing a dark red as a small frown appeared on his lips.
"Is there a problem, Your Majesty?" Conrad, the ever present protector, asked him gently, brown eyes alight with concern.
Yuuri shook his head, a bright red. "No— no. It's j— nothing. Really." he said, trying to reassure the brunette, wincing a bit.
"Well," Conrad smiled warmly. "If there's anything you need to talk about, Your Majesty—"
"If there was, it'd be about how you still insist on calling me 'Your Majesty' instead of the name you gave." he cut him off, frowning mock severely at the soldier.
Fondness sparkled in the deep chocolate orbs of the other man, making Yuuri's lips twitch at the sight.
"Of course,"
There was a pause, in which Yuuri was waiting expectantly.
"Yuuri," Conrad tacked on helpfully after a few moments, smile never disappearing.
There was another pause.
Yuuri's cheeks hurt at the effort of frowning, and the venture only lasted a few more seconds before he burst out laughing, closely followed by his protector. It was funny. Even if Conrad didn't know he was doing it-- he always made him feel better.
XXXXXXXXXX
The whole "avoidance" thing was going off splendidly so far.
Probably because it wasn't breakfast time yet and he just got off from the morning jogging with Conrad.
The day was just beginning— he already had a bad feeling about it.
He was pathetic. This was pathetic.
He should have just told Conrad. He had been tempted to, knowing that the man would be calm and understanding and helpful and they'd find the answer he was looking for despite how awkward the situation may be.
He chickened out in the end.
Yuuri groaned in misery as he sat down on one of the stone benches in the garden.
Avoiding was never the answer, he knew that.
It's just— he didn't have the courage right now.
Besides, he was just getting over the fact that he had that sort of dream about that Mazoku. It wasn't something he expected. He'd been engaged to Wolfram for two years for Shinou's sake! He'd never gotten that sort of dream— and the blonde had already been sleeping next to him!
And, it was also what the dream implied. It implied that he was attracted to— to—
Yuuri shook his head. It wasn't that he wasn't handsome. He was! He was one of the most beautiful men he'd ever come across. And it wasn't just his looks that were great. He was also really nice (although sometimes dramatic), intelligent, passionate, a great swordsman—
So, the question would be: why now?
If he were to end up attracted to him— why not before?
Nothing had changed between them. They weren't that close to begin with. They only interacted during lessons and meals. He had never been stuck in a desert with him and consequently captured because they'd been mistaken as a runaway couple like Gwendel, nor had he bonded with him over dangerous escapades like Conrad and Wolfram.
They hadn't even talked that much during Conrad's… mission (he refused to call it betrayal) where Gunter had been the one assigned to protect him. He had been too distracted.
They were friends, but even using that word was a stretch. What kind of friends barely knew anything about the other?
Guilt assailed him for the moment. Had he really overlooked the man that much?
Maybe that was it? This was karma?
Maybe it was his brain's way of telling him that he should bond with Gunter or something?
But still, why that kind of dream?
"Gah! This is so confusing!" he screamed inwardly, shaking his head wildly. He wished someone would just appear and—
"Hekai!"
Yuuri stopped in surprise, wide eyed as he recognized the owner of the voice. "Yozak?" the dark haired teen looked around quickly, a grin appearing on his lips as he saw the orange haired spy. Well, that was unexpected. But Yozak would be the next best person to ask other than Conrad!
"Yo," Yozak grinned at him cheekily, "Haven't seen you in a while, Your Highness."
"Yozak," Yuuri grabbed at the spy's hands, eyes sparkling with determination, "Can I ask you something?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I'm not sure things would work out between us—" the spy said with all seriousness, though his eyes glittered with mischief.
The king blushed darkly, "Not that!!!"
"Oh?" the orange haired man shrugged.
Yuuri frowned, looking at anywhere but at the man. "How do you know if you like someone?" he asked hurriedly, eyes bright with curiosity and embarrassment.
At those words, Yozak's jaw uncharacteristically dropped.
XXXXXXXXXX
"So, you like—"
"I'm not sure if I do!"
"But you said—"
"I'm not sure!"
"Well, what makes you think you do?"
"W-well—"
"Just say it, Your Majesty. It's not like you had a dirty dream involving you two and the library."
Silence.
"Oho! You did? I didn't realize His Highness was into that!" Yozak's voice was laced with awe and more than a little disbelief.
"Yozak!!!"
"I wonder what the Captain would say—"
"You're not going to say anything!" Yuuri blurted out forcefully, grasping the man's shoulders and shaking. "You're not going to say anything."
"Okay! Okay!"
Yuuri settled back down on his seat with a huff.
"Well, if you're dreaming about you and Lord Gunter going at it—"
"I'm not dreaming about it! I dreamt it! Once!" Yuuri cried defensively, arms crossing above his chest.
"Right." The spy drawled blankly, bright blue eyes staring intently into his black ones. "Well, maybe you don't like him. Maybe you just realized he's attractive and lust worthy."
This time, Yuuri's jaw dropped. "You think I'm lusting after him?!" he choked out, wide eyed.
"Lots of men and woman have dreamed about steamy encounters with him. It was bound to happen sometime, Your Majesty."
"So… It's nothing I should worry about?"
"I don't think so, at least not right now."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, now that you've opened your eyes to how attractive Lord Gunter is, you'll begin picking things up about him even if you don't notice it. You'll be paying more attention. It's an unfortunate side effect to realizing someone's appealing." Yozak said in a rare moment of insight, ending his statement with a rather dramatic sigh.
Yuuri's mouth opened in surprise, "Wow. I'm amazed that you'd say something like that."
Yozak's eye twitched, aura darkening despite the seemingly harmless grin on his lips.
The king immediately backpedalled, "N-no! I mean— it's just weird!"
He just made things worse.
"Err— anyway! What'll happen then?" he said hurriedly, wanting to distract the man from his blunder.
"Well, it's either it'll end up as nothing but a passing phase or you end up madly in love with him." He grinned brightly, extracting his revenge on the young king with his evil not-meant-to-be-taken-seriously-at-the-moment words.
Silence.
"WHAT?!"
Neither of them noticed the bird passing above screeching, "Bad omen! Bad omen!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"End up madly in love?"Yuuri repeated almost hysterically in his mind as he walked to his impending doom AKA the dining room where breakfast was soon to be served. "No way. I won't. That would just be… bad. Besides, he wouldn't like me in that way."
His heart beat faster as he neared the dining room, stopping before the large doors.
He was nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about. It was just breakfast. Right. Just breakfast with the people he loved. Right. This'll be just fine. All he had to do was stop noticing Gunter. Well, stop noticing what he shouldn't be noticing. That'd be easy. Fun. It'll stop all of this from spiralling out of control.
"Madly in love."
"Gah!" Yuuri exclaimed aloud, shaking his head from side to side. "No— no way!"
That wouldn't happen. Gunter may be a really attractive, intelligent, powerful, almost perfect demon lord but—
All he had to do was act normal. That was it. Just act—
"Is something wrong, Your Highness?" a soft baritone sounded from somewhere behind him.
Yuuri's heart stopped, and his body seemed to suddenly refuse to move.
"What? He's here?! I'm not ready yet!" he hyperventilated inside his head.
"Yuuri-heika?"
A hand landed on his shoulder.
Yuuri jumped in shock as a jolt of electricity seemed to run through his body, cheeks flushing darkly. "Uh— hey, Gunter! Uhh! Breakfast!" he blurted out, laughing loudly and awkwardly as he pushed the doors open and rushed into the dining room, consequently pulling away from the warm hand on his shoulder that had been distracting him. He completely ignored the surprised faces of the people inside the room as he sat down in his seat, still as red as a tomato.
"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."
Mission: Act Normal.
Result: Complete and total humiliating failure.
XXXXXXXXXX
I like a Yuuri that's completely off his game because of his new and understandably confusing feelings, don't you?
Oh well. He'll get back to his… happy-go-lucky ways soon. Maybe. Probably.
Sooner or later.
Review please? :D
