Nightmares tried to creep up on him. Yuuri's voice screaming his name and he'd start to turn but- no- he didn't want to see it again he-

There was a warm weight on his chest and the smell the air had before a storm. Yuuri. Arms were wrapped around him and the weight pushed him down into much more pleasant dreams.

"GAH!"

Wolfram jerked awake. The weight on his chest was gone and that made him panic for a moment before he registered the sight of Yuuri sitting up, clutching at his head. "Yuuri? What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and moving to grab his arms to steady him, not wanting him to fall over.

"I- how?" Yuuri asked, gesturing down the couch.

Something cold dropped into the pit of his stomach. 'he'd be mortified when he was back to his usual self' "How what?"

"How- this!" Yuuri said, waving frantically between them.

"I-" This wasn't fair. Last night had been so perfect. Why did it have to end so quickly? "You're the one that practically dragged me onto the couch with you."

"They saw us." he groaned, pulling his hand back to his head.

"Who?"

"Conrad and Yozak!"

"So?"

"What do you mean 'so'?!"

Wolfram scoffed, feeling the heat of anger rising in his veins. It was a much easier emotion to deal with. "You're also the one that didn't want to go upstairs to a room, remember? And so what if they saw? I'm your fiance!"

Yuuri groaned louder, hands rubbing at his face like he wanted to scrub the reminder away. They were back to this again. He was so sick of trying to fight for something Yuuri seemed to despise. Yanking his feet free he stood and made it as far as the bucket before Yuuri said "Don't be mad."

"How exactly am I not supposed to be mad, Yuuri?" Wolfram demanded as he whirled back around, bucket dangling from his hand. "You act disgusted by me any time I bring up the fact that I'm your fiance."

"I'm not disgusted-"

"Which you proposed to me, by the way!"

"By a misunderstanding!"

"Arg!" Wolfram shouted, throwing his hand up in the air. He must look like an idiot, swinging a bucket around like a crazy person. "Last night," he said, pointing at Yuuri with the hand holding the stupid bucket. "You asked what it was that I wanted from you. You remember that?"

Yuuri nodded, looking terrified. Let him. Let him have to face it.

"What I want, Yuuri, is for you to want me." He said, jerking the bucket back toward his chest. "And- and if you can't then-" he hated thinking like that. Like all this time had been hopeless and trivial and that Yuuri would never love him back. "Then at least stop making me feel special then turning around and make me feel- worthless!"

Black eyes went wide. "You aren't worthless, Wolfram!"

"Shut up! I don't need your stupid-"

"No!" Yuuri said, scrambling to his feet. "You aren't worthless! And you shouldn't let me or anyone else make you feel that way!"

Let him? LET him?! Like Wolfram went through this torture for fun? Could he be any more heartless in shrugging off the responsibility for his actions? Of course it was Wolfram's fault for wanting the man who proposed to him, even dueled him for the rights to the engagement, to actually want him! "Fuck you." He couldn't be here anymore. He wanted to punch Yuuri. Kick and scream and wail until someone made this pain go away. He didn't remember heading toward the door, but as he reached it he realized he was still holded that stupid bucket and threw it to the floor before storming out.

The fresh air did very little to calm him, and the sight of Weller starting across the square angered him even more. Storming forward, he shoved a finger in his brother's face. "You go deal with him! He clearly wants nothing to do with me!" he shouted, continuing on before Weller could dare to ask questions or offer advice. Wolfram didn't want to hear any of it.

The river was back to it's full, regular flow. Wolfram scooped up a handful of rocks and started violently throwing them into the water. He wanted to scream, but that was unbecoming and he couldn't take anymore damage to his pride. Last night, Yuuri had said he had wanted him. That he had consciously reached for him. So why? Why was it so horrible for Wolfram to want to be with him? Why was it Yuuri only actively pulled him in when he was in too much pain to tell up from down?

"Lord von Bielefeld?" Marilein had come up to him at some point. What about his body language made anyone think he was in the mood to be approached, he had no idea. "Is everything alright?"

Wolfram opened his mouth, ready to unleash his anger on her, but stopped short at the image of what Yuuri's angry face would look like if he found out. And, really, the girl had done nothing to deserve his ire. She had been the only one in this town to notice Yuuri was in pain. "Thank you," he finally ground out. "For your hospitality last night." he said, digging the key out of his pocket and offering it back to her. "I'm not sure what state the others left your rooms in, but the only thing that should be out of place from us is a bucket."

"Oh!" she said, accepting the key. "That's no problem. I'm happy to be of service. Will you all be heading out today, then?"

"I assume so," he said with a shrug. He hadn't been a part of the discussions for travel, but their 'mission' here was done, and Yuuri would get better care back at the castle.

"Is His Majesty alright to travel? You came in on horseback, right?"

Wolfram frowned at that. Yuuri was uncomfortable on horses when his head hadn't been split open. He really looked at Marilein for the first time. Maybe calling her a 'floozy', even in his own mind, had been unfair. "Do you have a cart? That would be better for him."

Marilein chewed on her lip. "We do have one. There isn't much need for one out here. It's not in the best shape, but it's managed to get our produce to the closest town for faire."

"I can make due." he said, already digging in his coin purse. It was within his right to just demand it, as a Lord and one of the 10 Aristocrats of the Kingdom, but Yuuri would never approve of that. "Here." he said, putting enough gold in her hand to buy the finest cart in Shin Makoku.

"My Lord!" She gasped. "This is far too much! I couldn't-"

"I insist. And I'll take any blankets you can spare as well."

"Of course."

He wasn't even sure why he was doing this. He had told Weller to take over. He should be the one to figure out how to get Yuuri home. But instead Wolfram had taken it upon himself to lay out blankets on the back of this dilapidated thing in an attempt to make it comfortable. When would he learn to give up on a lost cause?

"Wolfram!"

The sound of Yuuri's voice made him pause before looking over angrily. He expected Weller to be at his shoulder, but Yuuri was alone. Was the man slacking off now? "What."

Yuuri flinched and it made Wolfram's gut twist so he went back to focusing on the blankets. "Thank you, for the cart."

"Whatever." He said, throwing the potato sack stuffed with rags down with far more force than necessary. "A wimp like you wouldn't last an hour on horse in your condition."

"But- what if I want to ride with you?"

Wolfram turned to look at him. What was going on? Yuuri had made his stance fairly clear. Was this some bumbling attempt at an apology? Yuuri didn't like it when people were upset with him. "Why? You can't even walk for an hour without cradling your head."

"That's not exactly true. It was the dizziness that was the main issue yesterday. And that doesn't seem to be that bad today. Besides, you'd be steering, so I know I'll be safe!"

Wolfram snorted angrily as he climbed off the cart. Or maybe he was just trying to act like nothing happened. "Maybe I don't want to ride with you."

"Wolfram," Yuuri said, grabbing his wrist. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for- making you feel that way."

Wolfram yanked away, disgusted at how the touch made his heart skip a beat. "All the time, Yuuri." He hissed. "You make me feel like that all the time."

"What? I- how? What can I do to stop it?"

That made Wolfram laugh as he started preparing his horse. He really was an oblivious idiot, wasn't he? "When you flirt with people constantly."

"But I don't!"

"You never listen to me."

"I do so!"

"You aren't even listening right now!" he snapped. That at least got Yuuri to shut up. "Everytime you freak out over us just touching. Everytime you look down on our engagement. Everytime you run away from me because I'm just so terrible to be around. Whenever you run off and put yourself in dangerous situations," he was too aggressive with the strap and Peaches whinnied in protest. Wolfram took a deep breath as he loosened it again and patted the horse's flank in apology. "Without even listening to my warnings or suggestions. Just- all the time."

Yuuri had crept up beside him, but Wolfram refused to look at him, instead finding any little thing he could fiddle with. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely. "I never meant to make you feel that way."

Oh, that was just great for him, wasn't it? Wolfram thought even as Yuuri hesitantly touched his arm. He hadn't meant to make Wolfram feel like the lowest of the low, so all should be forgiven.

"I still don't know how comfortable I am with the whole engagement thing." Wolfram tensed and Yuuri squeezed his arm. This was the worst apology ever. "I don't like that it was so sudden and unintentional, and before I even knew you. I don't know if I'll ever be okay with it, honestly. But- but I'll do better. With all of it. I promise."

Wolfram tried to look at him without looking at him. He didn't understand why any of that should matter. Nobles often got engaged without ever meeting and still managed to fall in love. He had thought he hated Yuuri at first, but now he'd die for him. There had been so many times he had thought Yuuri was developing feelings the same way. So many signs that had made him hopeful, only for Yuuri to pull away again.

But, still. Here Yuuri was, looking at him so earnestly, asking for forgiveness and promising to do better. Wolfram didn't really believe him, but he knew better than anyone that he would always give Yuuri anything he wanted. "You really want to ride with me?" he finally asked with a sigh.

Yuuri looked at the horse like he was already regretting this decision, but still he agreed.

"Not with Conrad?" He pressed. If Yuuri was serious about wanting to do better, he wanted him to actually think about his requests for once. "Or someone else? Vensa?"

"Vensa?" Yuuri said, looking back to him in surprise. "Why her? Cause she's a girl?" Wolfram glared at him in reply. Of course it was because she was a girl! Yuuri's biggest complaint about being engaged to him was because he was a guy. "No. I want to ride with you."

"Why?"

Yuuri sighed and Wolfram could tell he was uncomfortable but his sympathy for him was low at the moment. "I don't know, Wolfram. My head is pounding and I don't think I have the capacity to think clearly enough to give you the answers you want."

"So you want to because you're not thinking straight?" Was this just another instance of him not being able to tell up from down?

"Thinking straight. Kinda, maybe." Yuuri snorted.

Wolfram's eyes narrowed. Now he was laughing about all this? That promise was awfully quick to go up in smoke-

"Come on," Yuuri pleaded, tugging on his arm. "I'm not trying to make you mad, I swear. Let me ride with you. Please?"

"You're awfully good at it for not trying." he grumbled, but his 'please' was so earnest and hopeful that he didn't have the heart to push anymore.

Wolfram wondered if Yuuri was just doing this because he thought it was something Wolfram wanted, rather than being something he wanted himself. But, as they settled onto the horse and he had Yuuri plastered to the front of him, he couldn't deny that it felt nice. And he was selfish.

As Weller rode up, Wolfram gave him a defiant look. He was taking the claim of Yuuri back whether the other man liked it or not. Of course, Weller showed no reaction and only offered Yuuri another wad of medicine. Curious, Wolfram snatched it up before Yuuri could reach for it.

Holding it out the way he had last night he said "Say 'ah'."

The effect was immediate. Every bit of Yuuri's face went red, making Wolfram confident that he at least remembered letting him feed him the medicine last night. But he wasn't flailing wildly away from him at the memory either, making Wolfram wonder if he hadn't enjoyed the experience as well.

"W-wolfram…" Yuuri whined softly and right in his ear. He was sure he hadn't meant to invoke the sudden fantasies that bloomed in Wolfram's mind at the sound, but they were there all the same.

Weller was still hovering, watching with thinly veiled curiosity and his presence reminded Wolfram of his order to be a gentleman. With a huff he shoved those images into his steadily growing box and shifted his hold on the medicine so Yuuri could take it himself.

Once the medicine had been popped into the king's mouth, Weller drifted off, joining the general party as they headed out. It gave them an illusion of privacy, at least, and Yuuri relaxed against him.

"You know, you can be a bit much, sometimes."

"Me?!" He hissed. The audacity of such an accusation coming from Yuuri of all people! The wimp of a King who would suddenly snap and wield an insane amount of power while scrawling 'justice' as big as he possibly could? He was accusing him of being too much?

"Yes, you." Yuuri replied, oblivious. "But you put up with me being an idiot all the time, so I guess I can manage."

Wolfram couldn't stare at him since Yuuri was leaning the side of his head against his own. "Are you insulting me right now? I honestly can't tell."

"I'm not trying to."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm just… informing you. Letting you know. You can be overwhelming sometimes. I make you mad without meaning to and you overwhelm me without meaning to."

"Oh." he overwhelmed him? What did that even mean? He seemed perfectly content right now. "I'm not sure what to do with that. Does that medicine make you drunk or something?"

"Heck if I know." Yuuri said with a shrug, then snuggled back into him which made him rub places and- Shinou help him, if he made it out of this whole thing without ruining everything it would be a miracle.

But he was the overwhelming one.

Yuuri had drifted off a while ago, which made Wolfram feel validated in having him ride in front. He was currently balanced fairly well, but Wolfram wasn't sure how he was actually comfortable enough to have fallen asleep. Still, he wasn't complaining. The day was excellent for travel and the scenery was lovely. And he had Yuuri happily sleeping against him and he could quietly enjoy the closeness without fear.

He hadn't noticed Yuuri's head slowly sliding farther back along his cheek until a dip in the path jostled them enough that his head fell straight back against his shoulder.

The effect was immediate. Yuuri lurched forward with a cry, like he was trying to jump clear off the horse, startling Peaches so badly he could feel her start to rear. Wolfram dropped the reins entirely, slipping one arm around Yuuri to keep him on the horse and leaning them both forward, his other hand landing in Peaches mane and pushing down to tell her not to rear. "Whoa, easy," he soothed her, using his heels to tell her to keep moving instead. She whinnied and shook her head but kept all four hooves on the ground, finally trotting forward a bit more. Confident Peaches was under control, he sat back up but Yuuri didn't follow, hands clutching at his head. "Yuuri?" he asked, gathering the reins with the arm that wasn't still wrapped around Yuuri to pull Peaches to a stop. "What's wrong?"

"Bumped it." he managed after a moment, his face scrunched up in agony.

Wolfram frowned. He didn't think it would be pleasant if Yuuri hit the wound, but he didn't think it would be this bad. Being careful to only touch the top of Yuuri's head, he gently pushed his head further down so he could better see the bandage at the base of his skull. Red wasn't blooming through the white cotton like he had feared might be the case. "I don't think it's bleeding again. Do you want Vensa to check it?"

"No, I was just dumb."

Wolfram rolled his eyes. He should have made Yuuri ride sidesaddle, or just refused him and made him ride in the stupid cart. With the hand on the top of his head, he leaned Yuuri back against him, but his body tensed once his back finished lining up with his chest. Like he was afraid Wolfram would keep pushing his head back into his shoulder again. His frown deepened at that and he used his fingers to rub his head in what he hoped was a comforting way. "Let's take a break."

"No, it's fine!" Wolfram sighed, not understanding why he was being stubborn about this. He was clearly not fine. "I don't want to hold us up. We haven't even been going that long."

"We're a few hours from Hilvera now." Wolfram assured. Would he be arguing this much if it was Weller's suggestion? "It's fine, Yuuri. You're the king. If you need a break we can take a break."

"It's fine, it's getting better. "

"Maybe, but we aren't even moving and your face is all scrunched up in pain."

Yuuri straightened at that and opened his eyes. His face went from being a bit too pale to a bit too green and he swayed in Wolfram's hold. "Gonna puke."

Wolfram had been quietly dreading this since Yuuri had first mentioned being nauseous after waking up the first time. But, now that it was here, it was like some instinct he hadn't realized he had took over. He used his own leg to kick Yuuri's up over Peaches head and slid them down to the ground. Yuuri's knees gave out almost instantly and Wolf lowered him down onto all fours even as he started retching. It was horrible. Wolfram didn't care about the sick, he was more upset by the look of pain on Yuuri's face. He was making this horrible, broken whining noise. Like he'd be screaming if his throat wasn't otherwise occupied. Wolfram held his forehead up with one hand, hoping to stabilize the jerking the heaving caused. His other hand started doing what he always wished someone would do for him when he was throwing up over the side of a boat- rubbing soothing circles into his back. "It's okay, Yuuri," he whispered. "You're going to be okay."

They had gathered an audience. Everyone had stopped, of course, but now Vensa was kneeling on Yuuri's other side while both Weller and Yosak stood close. He was vaguely aware of someone moving Peaches back, but he was too focused on Yuuri to care much.

At last it seemed to be over as Yuuri's stomach ran out of things to bring up. Wolfram knew better than anyone that having nothing in it didn't stop a stomach from trying, however, and kept up his whispered words of comfort. "It's okay, Yuuri. I have you. It's alright. You'll be okay."

Yuuri finally collapsed against him and Wolfram shifted his arms to wrap around him instantly. Yuuri's face still looked so pained that it felt like a knife was being twisted into his heart just looking at him. "Sh, I've got you."

"Your Majesty?" Vensa tried, but Yuuri didn't respond at all.

"Give him more of the medicine." Wolfram demanded, looking up at her. She was the healer, she had to fix him!

"It's too soon to give him more," she replied, biting her lip as she looked over Yuuri. "And he shouldn't have it on an empty stomach. But I'll see what else I can do. Let's move him to the wagon."

Wolfram started to shift to pick him up, but Conrart stepped forward, lifting him more smoothly than Wolfram ever could. Yuuri made a pained whimper as he left Wolfram's arms that made him want to snatch him back. But that wouldn't actually help him right now. Instead, he hopped up into the wagon, followed by Yozak who Conrart passed Yuuri too. Wolfram quickly nested some of the blankets in an attempt to make the space more comfortable for Yuuri, though at the moment he doubted some blankets would be much help. Vensa climbed up with her bag as Yosak got Yuuri settled.

"Wolf…" Yuuri whimpered, blindly reaching for him. Wolfram was quick to grab his hand and hold on tight.

"I'm right here, Yuuri." he said as Yosak retreated to make more room. Yuuri gave another whimper and pulled on his arm. It felt like last night on the couch, just more desperate. But Vensa was already shifting Yuuri to better inspect him. If he tried to hold Yuuri now he'd just be in her way. Since he hadn't immediately let Yuuri pull him against him, he'd started hugging his arm instead. It reminded Wolf of how Greta would cling to stuffed animals when she was scared and it made his heart ache.

"I don't see any blood, either, but I'm going to check the wound anyway." Vensa said, starting to cut away the bandages.

"Is it normal for him to have such a violent reaction to it being touched?" Conrart asked from the foot of the cart, echoing Wolfram's earlier thoughts.

"It was a very serious injury." she said as she carefully pulled the last of the bandages away from the wound. Yuuri whimpered and tightened his hold on Wolfram's arm. Desperate to give him some sort of comfort, he pressed his hand to his chest and rubbed soothing circles into him. "This was done by a blunt force weapon, correct? And he's been showing signs of a serious concussion. It wouldn't take much to re-aggravate the trauma, especially since his brain hasn't had much time to heal yet."

"Is there anything we can do to speed up the process?" Wolfram asked as the woman carefully examined the stitches she had done barely two days ago.

"Not much more I can do, no." she said, sitting back up, apparently satisfied that nothing had re-opened. "Just to let him rest as much as possible and try not to let him bump it again." she dug through her bag, bringing up some sort of paste that she started applying to the wound, making Yuuri whimper.

"I should have made him ride differently." Wolfram said, scowling down at his own lap. "Or not let him ride with me at all. Made him use the stupid cart." that had been why he bought it, afterall.

"Don't beat yourself up too badly, My Lord." Vensa said as she started to rebandage Yuuri's head. "While this certainly isn't ideal, there shouldn't be any lasting damage. Overall, you've been doing a wonderful job of looking after His Majesty."

Wolfram felt his cheeks heat at the praise, but still didn't feel like he deserved it at the moment. He just wanted Yuuri to be better.

-But then he won't cling to you so desperately-

Wolfram scowled harder and shook his head, disgusted with himself. As nice as Yuuri's affections had been the last two days, he didn't want them if they only came with the caveat that Yuuri would be in constant pain. Even if things went back to exactly how they had been once Yuuri recovered, Wolfram could deal with it. He'd have memories, at least, even if they were a bit guilty. They would still be memories of Yuuri wanting him, needing him. Being happy that he stayed close.

"Alright," Vensa said, moving around to Yuuri's front. "I do have some lighter medicine I can give him if he can keep some food down. Your Majesty?" But Yuuri didn't respond to her, his face still scrunched up in pain. "Your Majesty?" she asked again, leaning closer. "I don't think he's passed out, his breathing seems too elevated for that. Your Majesty?" she tried again, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it the smallest shake. But Yuuri still didn't react, not even to the shake.

"Yuuri?" Weller called. "Can you hear us?"

Vensa sat back and looked to him. "Has he complained of any additional symptoms?"

"I don't think so." Wolfram said with a shake of his head. "Headache, dizzy, and nauseous. I can tell he has trouble focusing his eyes still, sometimes, when the pain seems to be bad. Oh! And he kept complaining about being cold last night. He didn't feel like he had a fever, though, so I didn't think it was an infection."

"No, the wound still looked clean. Concussions can make it difficult to regulate your own body temperature, so it could be that. It doesn't explain his unresponsiveness now at any rate. You try."

Wolfram blinked, taking a moment to realize what she was asking. "Right." he said, stopping the circles he'd still been rubbing. "Yuuri? Yuuri, can you hear me?"

Finally a small sound in the back of his throat. But it was hard to tell if it was an actual response or another whimper. "I need you to open your eyes for me, Yuuri."

Yuuri instead seemed to shut his eyes tighter which made Wolfram roll his own. "Come on, Yuuri." he said, trying to give him an encouraging little rub.

Vensa was still frowning. "I'm starting to worry that the swelling in his brain may have gotten worse."

Wolfram's eyes widened and he looked urgently to Yuuri. "Please, Yuuri. I need you to open your eyes. Just a little bit. Please."

It was another few beats before black eyes cracked open the tiniest bit and Wolfram felt relief flood him as Yuuri seemed to decide it was safe to keep going and finally looked up at him. "There you are." he sighed, once again feeling the urge to kiss him.

"Hi." Yuuri replied, and his voice sounded hoarse and small, but he was managing the smallest little smile that Wolfram wanted to capture and keep forever.

"Your Majesty?"

Yuuri blinked several times before his eyes slid off of Wolfram's face and onto Vensa's.

"You had us worried there. You weren't responding to us. Can you tell me how you feel?"

"Hurts." He said, gesturing to his head without actually letting go of Wolfram's arm. "But… I think it's going down? Slow, but… the light doesn't hurt much, at least."

"That's good." Vensa nodded and Wolfram gave his chest another small rub in reward. He felt more relieved the more words he said. He had just been acting like a stubborn wimp, then. "Anything else?"

Yuuri looked thoughtful for a moment. "My mouth feels gross. And I'm cold."

Vensa looked at Wolfram the same time he turned to look at her. He raised an eyebrow in question, but she just smiled and gave a slight shake of her head. Nothing to worry about, then. "Well, I'm sure we can get you some extra blankets."

Yuuri looked down at that, tightening his hold on Wolfram's arm. Surely he didn't think it was one or the other?

"If you think you can sit up," Vensa continued, "We can have you try some water. That should clear out the taste." Yuuri groaned at that and Vensa laughed. That more than anything else seemed to signal that they were in the clear. "Take your time. I'll see if I can gather something that will be easy on your stomach." She said before climbing off the cart with Weller's help.

When Wolfram looked back down, Yuuri was looking up at him through his lashes like he was already begging forgiveness for something he hadn't even done yet. "Uh huh. And why do you look so guilty, huh?" Yuuri winced and looked away, making worry pool in Wolfram's stomach. Before he could say anything, though, Yuuri was tugging on his arm and looking back up at him hopefully. Oh. Was this what he was apologizing for? Still, the fact that Yuuri was actually asking for him, even if he wasn't saying the words, made Wolfram's heart flutter. "We're just in an open cart, Yuuri." he reminded, since he wasn't sure Yuuri had any idea where he was at this point. "You aren't going to change your mind and blame me again for everyone seeing?"

Yuuri bit his lip and looked down. He was actually thinking it through, which was honestly a bit of a surprise. A moment passed. Two. Wolfram was starting to think he'd just decided to settle for their current position when Yuuri raised one hand to his head and said "I won't blame you."

That made something twist in Wolfram's gut. "But you might change your mind?"

Yuuri seemed to bite his lip harder and looked up at him, eyes pleading. "I want you now." he whispered.

Any possible resistance Wolfram could have had to the situation crumbled at those words. Part of him wondered if Yuuri was using what he'd told (yelled) at him that morning to manipulate him, but that wasn't Yuuri. And, even if it was, the longing in his chest was too much to ignore.

He didn't really pull his arm away from Yuuri so much as slide it under his armpit as he got his other arm under his knees. He hefted him onto his own lap as carefully as possible, then an idea struck him. Yuuri was cold anyway, so he pulled one of the blankets up over them so they at least had the illusion of privacy again. "There- now they'll only see our heads. Is that better?" Yuuri only stared at him with awe filled eyes and Wolfram finally decided he was still just really out of it.

Yuuri managed to keep water down alright without even complaining of being nauseous, so when Vensa dropped off some hardtack, Wolfram didn't think it would hurt to try it. Then Yuuri could have some more medicine. He broke one in half and made to hand it over before pausing. Yuuri hadn't let him feed him the medicine again, but this felt like closer circumstances than this morning had. "Ah?" he asked, holding up the tack.

Yuuri looked exhausted and very done with everything and more than a bit pouty. No blushing and whining of his name, but no contentedly opening of his mouth either. Hm. Was it the being in public thing? That often seemed to be the issue Yuuri had with Wolfram showing him any kind of affection. He couldn't suddenly close them off in a private room but…

He pulled the blanket over their heads. "What about now?"

Yuuri at least smiled at his antics, so Wolfram counted this as a win, either way. "Why the sudden obsession with feeding me?"

Wolfram shrugged. "You let me do it once and I liked it. I'm trying to figure out the formula."

Yuuri blushed, Wolfram could see it even in the dampened light. Certainly better than him getting angry or repulsed by the admission. "Me being too exhausted to argue about your weirdness, as far as I can tell."

Wolfram felt a smile tug at the edge of his mouth. Was he playing along? "Hm. How tired are you right now?"

Yuuri laughed at that, and it was one of the most beautiful sounds Wolfram had ever heard. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd heard Yuuri laugh, but he always loved it when he managed to purposefully draw it out. Yuuri dropped his head onto his shoulder and then Wolfram's stomach did a backflip as he opened his mouth.

It wasn't the same as the medicine, his fingers weren't even really close to Yuuri's mouth, but something about it still felt special.

"You are still weird," Yuuri mumbled around the mouthful. "For the record."

"You're supposed to be too tired to argue!" Wolfram protested, holding back laughter. Had they ever been this casually jovial with each other before? He couldn't think of any time as he lightly poked Yuuri's cheek with the tack. "And don't talk with your mouth full! It's unbecoming of the Demon King."

Yuuri stuck his tongue out at him and probably had no idea how tempted Wolfram was to just lean forward and catch it between his teeth. Then Yuuri's mouth opened expectantly and Wolfram was so thrilled that Yuuri was actively participating in this that any ungentlemanly thoughts left his mind completely.

They made it through two full pieces of hardtack this way, causally sniping meaningless insults back and forth between bites. Yuuri finally said he didn't think he could eat anymore right now and Wolfram reluctantly lowered the blanket and called Vensa over to get the medicine she had mentioned. This time he just offered it to Yuuri, since even trying to go back under the blanket seemed like it'd be pushing his luck. Yuuri gave him a grateful smile and accepted it before snuggling against him and pulling the blanket close. Wolfram rubbed his back and arm with the one arm he had wrapped around him, using the other to tuck him in as much as was possible given their position.

"Wolf…" Yuuri said softly and Wolfram looked down to see him watching him. "Thank you. For… being so great through all this. Even when I've made you mad. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here."

Wolfram bit back the comment that, if not for him, Yuuri wouldn't need to be taken care of right now. "Weller would have looked after you."

"Mm." Yuuri nodded in agreement. "He always does. But, you do too. And I'm glad it's you taking care of me now."

Wolfram felt his face flare with heat and he couldn't stop himself from pressing a kiss to Yuuri's forehead. Maybe it was because he'd technically kissed the bandages, but Yuuri didn't push him away. "Well, you can thank me by not being such a wimp and making me worry in the future."

Yuuri gave a sleepy chuckle and Wolfram pulled back to see his eyes already closed. Had he even registered that he'd kissed him? "I'll try."

"Sleep, Yuuri." Wolfram said, rubbing his arm some more.

"Nnnn… k." he murmured before his body relaxed fully against Wolfram.