9. Magic
Rating: PG
Characters: Yuuri, Yuuri's family, Wolfram

"How does that work?" Wolfram wanted to know. Suppressing a sigh, Yuuri looked up to see what his fiancé was pointing at now.

"It's a traffic light," Yuuri explained. "When it's red, we have to stay on the sidewalk, but when it turns green, it's safe to go."

Wolfram eyed the cars whizzing by with nervous suspicion, and Yuuri had to practically drag him into the street even after the light had changed and the cars were stopped.

"Hey, there's people inside those things!" Wolfram exclaimed, and Yuuri reflected that this had been the longest walk home ever. He was starting to wish that he'd talked Ulrike and Murata into bringing his family to Shin Makoku to meet Wolfram instead of the other way around.

His tension eased a little when his mother fell in love with Wolfram on sight, and hugged him to within an inch of his life while squealing about how gorgeous his eyes were and he was cute even without wings, and Yuuri refused to translate any of it, to Wolfram's irritation. Yuuri got a little break to sit and eat cookies at the table while Jennifer demonstrated to Wolfram how every single thing in the kitchen worked, and by the end, even she had mastered the Mazoku words for 'what's that' and 'how does it work'.

Yuuri's father came home soon, and he and Wolfram talked about Mazoku politics while Yuuri helped his mother start dinner.

"Dad knows Wolfram's my fiancé, right?" Yuuri asked his mother, glancing over his shoulder nervously. They seemed to be getting along entirely too well. "He doesn't seem to mind or anything…"

"Yu-chan!" Jennifer scolded, handing him a knife to chop the potatoes. "We are very modern and open-minded! And Wolfram is so cute…I always dreamed about having a handsome son-in-law, and royalty too!" Yuuri groaned as his mother drifted off into her fantasy.

Yuuri's brother arrived just before dinner was served, and he and Wolfram eyed each other before shaking cautious hands.

"God, I always knew," he muttered, giving Yuuri a look out of the corner of his eye. "Always with the pigtails…"

Yuuri flushed, and stoically refused to repeat that to Wolfram.

Dinner was a complete success, with Wolfram and Yuuri's brother arguing about sports using Yuuri's father as a translator, while Jennifer gushed at Yuuri about wedding preparations and their future as the royal couple.

"She keeps saying 'grandu chiltran'," Wolfram leaned over to hiss at Yuuri after a while. "What's that mean?"

"Nothing!" Yuuri yelped, while his mother sighed romantically and his father tried to smother a laugh. "It doesn't mean anything!"

Happy though he was at his family's apparent acceptance of Wolfram, by the time he crawled into bed Yuuri was absolutely exhausted. Wolfram, who had been talked into human pajamas for the sake of Yuuri's sanity, let out a huge yawn and snuggled close against his side. Not like he had any choice, given the size of Yuuri's bed.

"Hey," he murmured as Yuuri reached over to turn off the lamp, "how's that work?"

"Magic!" Yuuri snapped, having reached the end of his rope.

"I knew it," Wolfram grinned triumphantly.