Disclaimer: I still don't own Kyou Kara Maou, however sad the truth may be. I'd like to have come back owning it but, ah, no matter how long I'm gone, I guess I can never own it. Boo! Anyway, Kyou Kara Maou belongs to its rightful owners, whose names escape my mind at the moment but, yes, I'm definitely not one of those lucky owners.
A/N: I certainly took my sweet time, didn't I? But like I said, I don't leave my stuff…. I'm gonna finish them, eventually, they're just going to take a long, long while. The delay this time can be attributed to the fact that I pretty much migrated and moved halfway across the world, so I was without a decent computer and Internet for a good month or so, let alone time to sit down and actually finish this. But, while I feel a bit off, this fic has certainly taken a nice twist even I didn't expect it to take (I don't even think the twist is noticeable, yeah, of course it isn't, I just surprised myself). I'm afraid Yuuri's becoming a bit… annoyingly canon, if anyone who's seen episodes thirty-four upwards… well, okay, not canon, just whiny. Wolfram and Yozzak were fun to write though, even though they are off the In-Character scale. I'll promise I'll get better, really. (Don't I always promise this!) Anyway, I hope people enjoy… though I think I'll get flamed again.. I swear, I won't have Adelbert with Wolfram so um.. you can all come out of your hiding places now : D!
PS, Oh and it still isn't edited, so bear with me :D And I feel like I just commited suicide by posting this unedited and unlooked over. Doom.
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Now or Never
Not like it seemed
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The fire hissed and crackled, eagerly swallowing the small pieces of wood he tossed into it out of boredom. At night, when exhaustion finally sets into your bones after a whole day of horse riding and when sleep refuses to come at any moment there really isn't anything left to do but talk with your companions, or idle through the night til' sleep came. Yozzak didn't see the first option happening at any moment with his only companion sitting quietly beside an old tree trunk staring into the fire with the words 'do not disturb me' almost literally written all over his face and their horses both incapable of human talk. He sighed and peeled another bit of wood from the branch he was holding in his hand with his hunting knife before tossing it into the fire. It was an odd habit he'd picked up years ago, from Conrad's father no less, and it worked whenever his companions were too indisposed to entertain him with a word or two.
In the process of peeling another bit, he paused and glanced up, giving his companion a long scrutinizing look. Wolfram was eyeing the fire intently, in deep thought, he was sure. He didn't know the details behind the young prince's departure. He really hadn't had any time to ask anything after being hauled straight from the stables shortly after having given his report on his latest Calerian 'expedition' (spying mission, really) back to Gwendal's office but he was sure, it was, at the very least, a touchy matter. And it definitely had to have concerned either Conrad or Yuuri, or both. That much his experience-honed intuition told him.
Wolfram's mouth dipped into a delicate frown and Yozzak noticed those gloveless fingers tightening around the knees they were wrapped about. He didn't know much about Wolfram, Conrad's younger brother preferred to stay away from his half-human older brother whenever possible and had a general hatred towards those with human heritage and Conrad rarely spoke to him about Wolfram. When he did, however, there was a sense of apprehension beneath his words, one that Yozzak easily attributed with the young Beifield's apparent negativity towards him. He decided long ago he didn't like Wolfram very much, if the minute pain on Conrad's face whenever he spoke of the golden prince was any indication of his attitude towards his very own older brother, but right now the young prince looked very much like a broken child. Human, as some people would put it though he was sure the young blonde would not look very kindly upon that description.
But weren't demons humans, in essence? Like humans, they had hearts and minds, two arms and two legs.
Yozzak sighed and smiled to himself – obviously, if they were going to be together for a long mission out in the edge of the country to some old, backwater village, the Shin'nou would like for them to at least get along. And with his less-than bright and shining impression of his only companion, things needed setting right. Briefly, he scanned the area around him in search of a suitable, preferably thick, piece of wood. He found it on the ground beside a tree not a few steps away from him, got up, and picked it up. He looked to see whether it was dry enough, running his fingers along its cracked bark and then, when he was sure it was dry enough to make those crackling sounds, he walked back to his spot beside the fire.
"Oi, bouya," He called to the young prince and when the prince's head shot up, he promptly threw the piece of wood towards him. Wolfram caught the piece of wood easily with both hands before giving him a frown.
"What?" Wolfram's voice was sharp and abrupt but Yozzak grinned before sitting back onto the ground and picking up his own piece of wood and knife. Apparently, while Wolfram could nowhere be a skilled in the art of swordsmanship like his older, half-human brother, or be gifted with the lot of natural brute strength his other brother had been, he didn't get into the military with his mother's help, or way – both really weren't impossible with Wolfram apparently having inherited more than enough of his mother's physical characteristics.
"Do something, bouya, you sitting there and doing nothing frankly bores me." Yozzak held his knife up, "Tell me you didn't forget to bring your knife, either, because if you did, I'd have to haul you back to Ketsumei and make you bring it back." He resumed peeling off bits from his piece of wood before adding in quiet voice and a deep chuckle, "We wouldn't want that, would we?"
Wolfram huffed and later he heard the prince rummaging through his own pack. Yozzak paused, throwing a bit into the fire, and looked up when the sounds stopped. Wolfram was holding up a small knife and literally glaring knives at him. At that moment, he was sure his hair could go up into fire from the tips of their roots any moment.
"What exactly do you want me to do?" the prince asked darkly and Yozzak laughed. He set his knife and pieces of wood beside and folded his arms across his chest.
"Taking Gwendal's words into heart, I see?" Yozzak remarked, suddenly, and quite amusedly, reminded of the Earth Elemental's explicit order that Wolfram in no way act on his own accord without consulting him. He unfolded his arms in one quick motion and picked up his things again, "I'll show you something to do, bouya, instead of sitting there and moping—"
"I was not moping." Wolfram quickly interjected, his glares sharpening a tad. Yozzak shrugged and continued with a lazy grin as if Wolfram hadn't said anything. He began the slow and careful motion of peeling a layer off the piece of wood in his hand with his knife and, "You could cut tiny bits or peel off layers from that piece of wood and—" He quickly broke the piece off with his knife and then tossed it into the fire, "toss it into the fire—" he smiled when it made a cracking sound and then looked up, "just like that."
The prince rolled his eyes and sneered. "Doesn't look any better than sitting around and staring at the fire," Wolfram pointed out flatly. Yozzak shrugged again and began peeling at his piece of wood once more.
With a quiet smile, he explained, "This is harder than it looks, bouya. Takes some thought to cleanly peel off from the wood so it occupies you enough."
Wolfram was silent and Yozzak repressed the urge to laugh, knowing what that would do to the prideful prince. With a bait like that, he was sure the prince couldn't not try it himself and moments later he was rewarded with an exasperated groan.
Yozzak only grinned. "I told you it would be hard," He said and looked up, only to find the blonde working with his knife against the wood, intently making sawing motions with his small knife in hopes of making a clean cut in silence.
He watched, part in awe and amusement, and then smiled before returning to his own devices.
ooo
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Wolfram sneezed and threw the man hovering over him a withering glare before slapping the hand rested on his shoulder away. He eyed the imposing brush in front of his nose imposingly and growled, finding it hard to find the right words to say about the thing in front of him without embarrassing himself to the darkest pit of hell.
"What," he grounded out with some difficulty, "does a despicable brush have to do with my face? Let alone… alone…"
"The make-up?" Yozzak supplied cheerfully, much too cheerfully for Wolfram's taste, as he brushed some more bronze onto the prince's face, making him sneeze and cough uncontrollably some more. After gather his composure, Wolfram snorted and finally had the mind to grab the hand with the despicable brush before screaming. "YES, THE MAKE UP!" He stood up and grabbed a fistful of the dress the orange-haired demon had somehow managed to convince him to don. "THE DRESS," he pointed accusingly at the brush on the demon's hand as if it was evil incarnate… in the form of a brush, "THE BRUSH. WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO ME!"
"What are they doing on you, you mean?" Yozzak laughed and sat down on a nearby rock, grinning as he folded his arms over his shoulder. Wolfram turned visibly redder, making the orange-haired spy laugh some more as he extended an arm and used his thumb to eye Wolfram like one would to a piece of art. "It's called a…" he paused just as Wolfram began making low growls, "…disguise."
"I'm pretty sure I can have a better disguise than this!" The golden-haired prince looked down disdainfully on the dress he was wearing and 'ugh'ed, "You could've just asked! I can be a sweet little messenger boy!" He paused and placed his arms on his hips and frowned, "I've done it many times too before!"
Yozzak shook his head and rubbed his chin, "I've heard about that, all resulted in a couple of houses burning, too, hn? Bouya?"
Impossible as it was, Wolfram turned redder, like tomato red. It was a picture Yozzak couldn't quite NOT laugh at. And when he did, he found himself subject to most positively murderous glare he had encountered, which, quite honestly, flattered him more than it unnerved him.
Wolfram took a deep breath and quietly pointed at him. "I don't see you making any attempt at a disguise, you know?"
"Ohohoho," Yozzak deliberately made himself sound like an old man there. He leaned forward and winked at Wolfram, "Because I haven't gotten ready yet, see? And I just need one finishing touch for you then I'll work on my disguise. We can't have the lovely little blonde girl be without her big, burly, and absolutely handsome mother, can't we?"
Wolfram froze at the implications behind Yozzak's words and sat back on a rock, wide-eyed and wary as Yozzak rummaged into his pack once more. Moments later he produced a small black tube, one which Wolfram, in his years of living with his infamous mother, could never mistake for anything else. He briefly wondered what else Yozzak had inside his pack but decided against asking, knowing how it would probably do him no good.
"What are you doing with….that?" His voice dipped into a soft whisper at the last word and frowned as the orange-haired demon confirmed his assumptions by removing the tube's lid and revealing bright red stick of rouge. Wolfram heard a distant agonized scream at the back of his mind as Yozzak looked took hold of his chin and smiled down at him.
"This won't hurt, bouya." Yozzak reassured him as he struggled, futily, under the older, bigger man's grasp.
"Of course it's not going to hurt! It's lipstick!" What was he saying? He quickly added, "What in the name of Shin'nou are you doing!"
Yozzak shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Applying rouge on your lips—" The cold, sticky substance came into contact with his lips and Wolfram all but screamed, or tried to do so in his state, anyway.
"WHAT!"
"Careful now, bouya, even humans don't like clowns very much." The older demon's lips turned upwards, "And a certain Maou wouldn't like you looking like a clown, now."
The offhand comment made Wolfram stop squirming long enough for Yozzak to apply the rouge on the boy's lips and when he was done he let go of the boy's chin with a triumphant grin. "Ah there, better now, bouya – all you need to do is even it a bit, though even if you didn't, it wouldn't mind—"
"You cheated!" Wolfram screeched and immediately lunged at him. Yozzak laughed as he dodged the boy with ease and the Biefield prince found himself stumbling forward towards the hard ground.
"Oh come on, bouya, surely you can do better than that? Besides, " Yozzak placed his hands on his hips and shook his head disapprovingly at the prince, "If you mess your make up, we'll have to do it over again and you'd rather go into town naked than that, right?"
Wolfram took a deep breath, again, and internally began counting to ten, before standing up from the ground and dusting his dress. He threw Yozzak a dark glare and huffed. "I'll… trust you on this one… then...," he said grudgingly, "this is… for… the.. mission."
"Right, that's the spirit, bouya!" Yozzak gave him a thumbs up and grinned, "You're going to be little Mary Jane—"
"Mary Jane!"
"—and I'm your darling big momma from one of the bigger cities." Yozzak sighed and began wagging a finger at him, "Oh but when your darling dear poppa died, bouya—I mean, Mary-dear, your momma decided to take you to quiet little Kuchen." Yozzak's voice dipped and he continued quickly, "Act like a naïve girl in search of true love and you'll win any young man or old geezer's heart, and mouth."
"I don't like how that mouth part sounds." Wolfram stated bluntly and Yozzak grinned.
"You had something else in mind?"
At this, Wolfram blushed to the tips of his hair and turned away. He pushed the lustful and, somehow, spiteful thoughts that had come into his mind at the mention of that phrase – whatever better way to spite Yuuri than to show him what he's let go? "What? I just didn't like how it sounded." Wolfram pouted and heard the older demon laugh behind him.
"This is espionage, bouya. I have to tell you; in this field, anything goes. Cross dressing irked me too a bit before, but throwing your dignity away in exchange for your life is a very good deal." Wolfram turned around slowly and Yozzak gave the kid a wink. "Besides, who's going to suspect a pretty young girl and her less than attractive mother?"
Wolfram imagined Yozzak in the attire and an image of a…. less-than-alluring, big-breasted, burly woman from a not-so-distant memory came into his mind. He suddenly decided it was best not to comment on it.
Yozzak smiled, satisfied by the look on the younger demon's face. "Just remember, be quiet, humble, and naïve. I'll discourage using the next sharp thing to gut the things that offends you but am positively encouraging the use of pink, near-see-through night gowns, so long as you wear the right things underneath… this isn't Shinma anymore, see?"
Wolfram nodded slowly, taking in Yozzak's words and paused at the mention of pink nightgowns. He stared at Yozzak, who promptly disappeared behind a bush (with his 'materials', no doubt), with wide disbelief-filled eyes.
That was private!
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Yuuri frowned as he watched the world behind his crystal clear glass of water, idly watching the bubbles dance around the liquid and deform the vision before him. The door opened behind him, followed by the soft, gentle and unmistakable footsteps that belonged to Conrad. Still, Yuuri remained seated on his place before his window and the glass of water set on it.
"It's… quiet without Wolfram around." Yuuri murmured quietly, sounding disinterested though something in his voice betrayed him.
"My little brother is bit loud now, isn't it?" Conrad said softly as he came up behind the young King and placed a hand on the young man's shoulder in a gesture of reassurance, maybe even support.
"It's not that he's loud, really... I don't think he was ever loud," Yuuri mouthed and idly dipped his fingers into the water, "He just had a bad habit of calling me wimp… but that wasn't so bad." A small smile crept across the dark-haired King's lips. He lifted his head up and looked up at Conrad, "You get used to the name calling when you've practically grown up with it. It becomes… a bit… endearing too, I suppose." He paused and laughed softly, "My mother used to call me 'my little demon' all the time, along with a lot of cutesy names, and she didn't stop doing it until I was in third grade when I seriously got bullied for it but… well," he grinned widely, "Looking back, I kinda liked it."
Conrad's grip on his shoulder tightened and Yuuri returned to his earlier position. A delicate frown creased his features.
"I've been thinking Conrad, about what I've done to make Wolfram… well, mad." Yuuri said quietly and sighed before knocking on his head lightly with his hand as if to imply a failure in his brain's part. "I keep thinking; is it because I pushed him off the bed last night? Or I kicked him off the bed the other morning?"
Conrad was nodding quietly behind him and he continued, "I mean, I didn't mean tearing at his pink nightgown or maybe disappearing on him while we were bathing together last week – I don't have a lot of control on these world transportation things."
He frowned deeper and turned to Conrad again, "I don't even fight him back whenever he calls me wimp so that can't be it."
"I don't even know why I'm so bothered about it but…" Yuuri paused looked down, "I keep thinking if I find out what I've done wrong then I can stop it from happening next time. Which is ironic because I don't even know if there's a next time and what's happening right now."
"Is his highness troubled about the engagement being called off?" Conrad asked quietly, kneeling down on one knee to be on the same eye level with the young King.
Yuuri thought for a while and decided that he wasn't particularly bothered by that. "…No." He said slowly and wasn't sure why the answer didn't come so quickly. "I mean he didn't want it either to begin with – who wants to be with a boy anyway?" The look on Conrad's face made him knit his eyebrows, "It was accidental, Conrad, you know, you saw it!" Yuuri added defensively, "I didn't know anything about the customs here then—"
He paused and then looked away, realization hitting him.
"Conrad, he was waiting for me to break it all along." Yuuri whispered quietly, "That was it, wasn't it?"
Conrad said nothing and instead rose up. Yuuri quickly grabbed the brunette by his clothes, "That's part of the customs, isn't it? It's more fashionable if the one who initiated the engagement broke it, right?"
"Yuuri." Conrad managed to say before Yuuri hung his head.
"Uwah, I figured out why he left." Yuuri declared dully. "Because I'm dumb—"
"Yuuri…" Conrad said again and knelt down once more, this time placing both his hands on the young king's shoulders. "There are no such rules in this world. The same things go about here regarding engagements. There is no fashionable way of breaking engagements. You're not... not at wrong here. Not entirely."
"Not entirely," Yuuri frowned, meeting Conrad's gaze and looking unconvinced. He sighed and held onto Conrad's hands before resting his head onto the older man's chest.
"If only you had all the answers, Conrad." Yuuri muttered dejectedly, "Then things wouldn't be so hard. But, ahh… I always… always rely on you too much, don't I?"
Conrad sighed and nodded, moving a hand from Yuuri's hold to run it through the boy's head.
"Yes, yes you do, your highness." He replied and briefly spun his head to the direction of the door at the minute sound of footsteps.
"What is it, Conrad?" Yuuri asked quietly, moving away from the older man and Conrad shook his head with a gentle smile.
"It's nothing." Conrad assured his young King though he knew, without a doubt, what or who that had been.
A soft, defeated sigh escaped his lips as he let go of his King and excused himself, telling the young King he had matters to attend to. Of what, he did not tell, but deep down, he knew his older brother was waiting for him at the end of the hallway.
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A/N: I'd like some helpful comments now, really, I feel like I really need it because my writing has terribly rusted. Must be because all I've been reading really are fanfics, scanlated manga and Chinese mangas – not a good combination. I did borrow a few books from the library here! Haha! The Silmarillion here I come; do you sniff a Lord of the Rings fan now? T-T Anyway, enough babble; I thank all who reviewed even though this fic really did look like one of those doomed unfinished one-chapter fics. I really did think about that happening… okay, so no. I wasn't dead, really, just… lazy to write stuff down. I don't know if I'll be any faster with my fics now, I'm not sure, but I hope I can get enough time (and privacy) to sit down and write them. Anyway, love to everyone, and yey! I can now reply to reviews! Squee!
pinkishy-baobao – I'm not particularly fond of ConradxYuuri myself, but you have to be in serious denial not to notice at least a one-sided thing from Conrad's part. Okay, sorry about that comment, but admittedly, I'm really not fond of ConradxYuuri myself; as in it can get to my nerves seriously. But as someone who likes exploring different things, I do try to get out of the usual pairings sometimes.. be more open-minded, because I know how it feels to be beaten down by FACTS by a hardcore ConradxYuuri fangirl and, really, you'll think twice about bashing ConradxYuuri once you hear a hardcore fangirl show you the facts. I know I did .-. The truth can be painful. I love you though! Because you're hardcore Yuuram fangirl and I love Yuuram fangirls!
Gothgrrl – Thank you for the critique! I didn't notice that even after showing the fic to a hardcore Wolfram-lover-friend of mine (she did point out the right spelling for Aniue though). Have to change it while I upload this… like after… And I don't like having people edit my stuff, well, mostly because it can take a long while and I can be seriously impatient as a result of long periods of no-production, it's natural I want my stuff up there as soon as possible. I'm a bit stubborn too but… ahh, It would be cool to have an editor! Now that I'm on a different timezone, stuff should work differently and not half-a-day and days-like. And I think my muses liked your move, look at the glowing YozzakxWolfram interaction… okay, so not really but it's there and it's scary because Yozzak is… suave behind his eccentric fetishes…..
shakes kinder pinguy – I think by now you've forgotten about it though because I just know half a dozen fics like this and better than this have already popped out. Ahh, still, thank you! Conrad was wonderful in the first half of the series though, it's just when a certain arc comes along that… grr. He's been better though, especially in the 40s…. Say it though, he was cuter when he had more hair. And he had more hair when he was younger :D!
clueless nu – Of course, of course! Wolfram loves Yuuri! Though, just how much does he? We never know if it's his pride alone.. lol, forget that, I was misleading you. :D!
Chakura – I know you're not alone XD (cries about ConYuu)
siberian-emerald – Very flattered I am. Thank you :D Although I know my work's far from one of the best.. but ah, I'm afraid I didn't get to update ASAP… I hope this is still fine though and that you liked how it went :D!
Guren – I'm glad you like it then. You should watch KKM when you get the chance to though:O!
Mata – Am very flattered now that I can render people speechless (textless?). I hope this was up to par with the first one… eep!
Rubiel – I'm not sure either, Wolfram probably has some inner, hidden charisma… T-T Thank you for the review!
ILLK – Sporks are love. I hope this was… okay... even though I took forever. XD Thanks for the review and I hope you stick awhile .-.
Kloudy Reignfall – I like making cliffies though, so bad me? XD Though admittedly, yes, Cliffies are evil. So here's my update, I hope you haven't lost interest! I hope you likeeey‾!
RoninsOath – Yes, the engagement's off. Sorry… But here's the continuation.. I hope things look… brighter? I hope you've been waiting because here's the new chappy… why do I have to take forever all the time D?
KittyBlue – Glompieness for you! I finished it in a day! I hope this works out well and it's just fine and dandy… I wonder when I'll get to finish the next chapter. Dumbadumbadum. Wubbles to you, Kyatt-chan, and thanks for reading the draft I had for this chapter! You were a big help :D!