Disastrous Wake, part 7 by Vanessa S. Quest
Conrad straightened his tussled features, re-sheathed his sword, smoothed down his hair and uniform, straightening his collar and tails of his shirt before giving himself the once-over view to make sure no blood was showing as he stood outside of his door. He seemed so orderly that the concept of sweat seemed to evaporate along with any traces of any such human-like bodily function leaving him as plain old perfect Conrad.
He tapped on the door with him left hand with two knuckles, his palm facing toward himself. Turning his hand this way did two things, one- it made his knock pronounced but soft, two- it made him look debonair and noble. To no surprise, Yuuri did not comment from behind the door, so Conrad entered his own bedroom to check on the black-haired king.
He approached the bed and touched Yuuri's bangs. Unlike Conrad who could only be envisioned in his 'perfect' undisheveled form, Yuuri was sodden in sweat, under his eyes laced with tired, dark bags, skin fairer than normal… This was Yuuri in his weariest of states. His lips were just slightly parted as he took in soft breaths.
"Yuuri…" Conrad commented taking in this prone view, Yuuri seemed to be able to make anything sexy, Conrad noted inwardly, yet equally annoyed at the present state. After all, it was a reminder of his own failings to protect Yuuri promptly. Sighing, he approached Yuuri to pet his face.
Black eyes batted open to take in a melancholy set of brown eyes.
"Ne? Conrad?" Yuuri smiled lightly before closing his eyes again, his voice dripped with the very essence of someone well past over-exerted. He slid up, back braced against the headboard.
"Yuuri, lay back down you need to rest." Conrad mentioned, seeing Yuuri revived as a two-edged sword.
The younger man smiled at him playfully, "How can I sleep if you're making a face like that?" Yuuri squinted his eyes closed as he gave himself a point.
Conrad's face was lightening up, but that didn't change the fact that Yuuri was still spent. "Well, your majesty, as your retainer I must implore you to take better care of yourself." He said in a voice more adult than Yuuri could remember his own parents' being.
"It's Yuuri!" He grumbled, crossing his arms to frump. Hearing Conrad laugh made Yuuri smile once more, he yawned and stretched his arms. "I didn't damage anything did I?" He looked around, inwardly noting that if he were going to keep changing rooms whenever he woke up, waking up here each time was an acceptable trade for his early-morning sanity.
"Not directly. Though, the garden does have a rather large crater now."
Yuuri bowed his head, "Urgh, now there's even more paperwork… I'm not going to run into you until I'm 20…"
Conrad covered his laugh to play it off as a cough. "I think that I'll pass that report onto Gunter." He smiled once more at Yuuri. "If you'd be so kind, I would appreciate it if you would rest now, Yuuri."
Yuuri closed his eyes, still propped against the headboard. "I won't go to sleep unless you kiss me." He teased, already half-way to dreamland.
Conrad surprised him by bowing his head in to kiss him, not saying a word nor letting a second pass before taking up the opportunity. After ten seconds he pulled back. "I believe that was a proper kiss, so, as arranged please go to sleep now."
Yuuri blushed bright shades of pink before sliding back down onto Conrad's mattress, "Mm!" He closed his eyes, he was so shocked he felt like he'd never be able to sleep after something like… like… THAT. However, over-all exhaustion won out and within thirty seconds he was unconscious.
After what seemed like a power-nap, Yuuri's eyes began to flutter open, he grumbled. "Darn it, I knew my luck wouldn't hold out." He mentioned as he noticed he was lying in his own bedroom, he turned to the side, and to his horror saw a globular form of pink and blond.
He sighed as he sat up, "Wolfram… what are you doing in here?"
The blond sat up looking at Yuuri, his own eyes heavy, he wrapped an arm around Yuuri and pulled him back down to bed, snuggling him. "It's late, go back to bed."
An hour later, Yuuri had finally escaped the death-grip via pink nightie and had managed to carve himself into a corner of the bed before the tangled legs in the blanket finally caught up with him as he moved. He fell to the ground with a clatter, he grumbled.
He noticed the door crack open as someone came to investigate the noise.
"Eh?" He felt someone bow down beside him to help him sit up properly, after his eyes adjusted past just seeing shades of brown, Conrad's proper image came into view, though frankly Yuuri knew it had been him since his scent wafted to him from the doorway. "Conrad?" He questioned.
"You fell out of the bed." The older man explained as he repositioned Yuuri on the bed, completely ignoring the pink mass taking up a ridiculous amount of real estate. "Good night."
Yuuri grabbed his wrist and gave him a bit of an annoyed pout, "You know you're going to justify this to me in the morning."
Conrad gave him that insufferably charming smile that basically meant instantaneous surrender on Yuuri's behalf. "Yes, yes. In the morning, it's late and we should try not to wake that up." He pointed suggestively to his kid brother, "Good night, Yuuri."
Yuuri blushed, and as per tradition, bowed to Conrad's smile and will.
As the first few rays of sunlight peeked through the curtains Yuuri was more than willing to awaken, dressed in his morning exercise clothing and out the door waiting for Conrad who looked at him a bit surprised.
"Good morning, Yuuri."
"Good morning Conrad! I was going to do my morning training…" He explained, as it seemed that Conrad was shocked by his appearance.
"Of… course," he smiled softly, "Would you like me to accompany you?"
Yuuri nodded with a strong confidence. "Perfect, then you can explain last night to me." He smiled in a strangely threatening manner.
Conrad merely shirked his eyebrows as if thinking of how to explain something as if he were conjuring a logical reason for a child like how to describe 'air'.
By time they had gotten a third the way through the normal morning jog Yuuri seemed winded, Conrad slowed down, waiting for Yuuri to catch his breath. "Eh?! Why am I so winded…I didn't knock myself that much off my game after the squirrel bite, did I?"
The brunette felt a bit of a sweat approaching, "That probably helped, but, you've been asleep for a few days now, Your Majesty, so your body has been inactive."
"It's YUURI …a few days?" Yuuri's eyebrow rose, asking for clarification.
"Five days." Conrad nodded once answering matter-of-factly.
"…Five days?!" Yuuri expelled a breath, they continued to jog, "Then as for my being in my room…?"
"Regrettably, it was due to Wolfram preaching propriety, also, my bed is a twin so it was hard to argue for disturbing your comfort."
"But on Earth I sleep on a twin, that's fine!" Yuuri complained, remembering how that annoying blond had chased him around and off his bed during that supposed recovery period, anyway!
"Yes, but on Earth you're not sharing."
Yuuri looked at Conrad, as if missing something critical as they jogged on, "Wolfram invaded your room? I'm so sorry…"
"Ah, that's not with whom you shared my bed with." Conrad looked to the side as if trying how to describe something conceptual to a child like 'air'.
Yuuri stopped dead in his tracks, his own forward momentum threatening to send him toppling to the ground until Conrad, whom had just turned around to rejoin Yuuri, sprang his arm forward to Yuuri's shoulder to steady him.
"Y…Y…You… You… You mean… that… you… and I… I… I shared… with you…" Yuuri's eyes met with Conrad's, "with YOU… I… I shared a bed with you…"
Conrad merely kept a gentler poker-face as he let Yuuri stumble over his own thoughts as the wheels began to spin.
"I… with you… in bed… with me… I… Conrad… in bed with… me…" As it seemed to be taking a while, Conrad glanced around. "…in… me… Conrad… I… bed… with… slept with…"
"Your majesty," Conrad caught eyes with Yuuri as his head shot up.
"It's Yuuri--!"
Conrad cupped his chin and moved in for a kiss, Yuuri's tension melted away as he leaned into the kiss before the brunette pulled back. "Are you finished exercising, Yuuri?"
Yuuri blushed, though seemed to be done blabbering over himself, "Ah, yeah, I think so." His cheeks hurt, that was how red he was.
"Alright, then I suggest we return so you can have breakfast and clean up for the day." He smiled through closed eyes.
"Ah, with the guards then…?" Yuuri thought, as if finally recalling what had last happened when he was awake.
"The issues were resolved, and the prisoners were exported on outstanding warrants to foreign sovereignties after a great deal of negotiating for the best interests of Shin Madoku as you were in such a fatigued state." Conrad relayed the, 'slightly' biased, report.
"Ah… and Wolfram…?" His eyes glanced around, he knew that issue wasn't even close to resolved, after all, just this morning…
"What about me?" Wolfram commented, approaching Yuuri, he shot Conrad a dirty look that cast his older brother's eyes upward innocently. "How about YOU Sir Weller! What is wrong with you! All I requested was to make sure this cheat here didn't go gallivanting and here this wimp is, flirting with some female assassin, sleeping with you… I'm starting to think you're not as chivalrous as you let on for his majesty's royal knight!"
Yuuri blinked, Conrad gave him the look that now would be the time to keep the mouth in the SHUT position.
"And you! You think you're a playboy don't you! Just because you got me you think you're some hot stuff strutting around, is that in your character—well it obviously is you cheating little hussy." He grumbled as he began walking back to the dining hall, "I can't believe my fiancé is such a slut…"
Yuuri's eyes went wide, "W… What?"
Yuuri wasn't quite sure at that moment what exactly he was questioning, was it being called a slut, Wolfram being right about him being a 'cheat' well, if that engagement was ever considered valid—which it wasn't!—or the fact that Conrad had just punched Wolfram to the ground and looked like they were having a brawl-fest.
His mouth began to open in a bit more confusion, Wolfram and Conrad… were actually… fighting?! "What… What are you two doing!" Yuuri was in complete disbelief.
Sure, if it was Wolfram starting something, he could understand, but for CONRAD to have punched Wolfram… let alone first… in a fight, Conrad, in a fist-fight… Beyond the fact that it was quite beautiful how feral the man could be—he decided to file that thought away for later. Conrad was acting hot-headed like Wolfram or something!
Yuuri rubbed his forehead, brothers were brothers were brothers, he supposed. "Both of you! Stop it!"
He called from the sidelines, though frankly it had been a bit one-sided, Conrad seemed a bit more than annoyed. Conrad pulled his fist back and stopped.
"What was THAT about Conrad!" Wolfram said, he was about to make a retaliating blow when Yuuri stepped in.
"WALK IT OFF!" He said, Yuuri looked at Conrad shocked, "Yeah, what WAS that?" His heart was beating in his throat.
"Don't you dare ever call him a slut."
Yuuri's hand slid off Wolfram's one shoulder to cover his face and slide it down in his face. "Don't get in fights like that on my behalf!" He said to Conrad, peevishly. "Do you think I really want brothers fighting over me?!" He returned his hand over his mouth remembering just then Conrad's previous 'mouth in the shut position' look.
"Fighting OVER you?" Wolfram asked in disbelief.
"You know, I think I'LL walk that off." Yuuri stated, backing away before turning around to walk, waving his hand signaling the two NOT to follow, gods he hoped that would actually work.
Conrad looked a bit more surprised, but began to do his natural thing of rolling with something and looking really confident whilst doing that. Yuuri almost wanted to watch how he'd back-pedal that, but was pretty sure he also realllllly didn't want to see it.
"CONRAD!" Wolfram began screaming, Yuuri covered his face and began to run off wanting nothing more than to get away from the mess he had just created. He managed to finally reach somewhere the screaming didn't reach at the base of the west tower, he had dropped to his knee, facing the wall, trembling.
What had he done? He just destroyed Conrad and Wolfram's finally mended brotherhood… then, on top of that, just dumped it on them both to run, he was such a coward. He couldn't stop shaking stuck between angry at himself, afraid of what he had done, ashamed at himself, and afraid of what Conrad and yes even what Wolfram would think of him as a result of this all.
As if to continue his reign of misfortune, of all the people that had to find him, he had the pleasant surprise of a visit with Gwendel.
"Are you alright, your majesty?" Gwendel mentioned in a proper, stiff voice.
He internally thought that he was pretty much destined to just ruin all of Cheri's sons' morning, probably. He continued to face the wall, shaking, not quite ready to face it all yet.
Gwendel lowered himself to one knee. "Is this hide-and-seek? Greta is not back at the castle yet."
Yuuri shook his head, still facing the wall, staying silent was the best way, it had to be.
"Then are you cold? You are aware you are shaking. If you're still tired you should return to your bedchamber."
Yuuri finally turned to face Gwendel, "I just keep ruining things!" Black eyes were brimming with tears, which took Gwendel back a bit.
A part of Gwendel thought of how adorable wobbly-eyes were and fancied sewing a sad kitten next. "Ruining things?"
Yuuri shook his head, "For you and your brothers." He wiped his eyes, "Conrad and Wolfram just got into a fight and it's all my fault."
"They fight frequently, Wolfram is ill-tempered."
"…Conrad started it, a physical fight." Yuuri amended.
Gwendel looked surprised for a moment then added, "Wolfram is ill-tempered, and, if it was over you, I could see Conrad taking it to the next level. Though, it must be something if he escalated that far."
"About me? That makes no sense, I don't see why anyone would do that…" He shook his teary head, confused at Gwendel's intimation.
"Then fill me in, I do know my brothers well enough to determine the cause." He commented almost a little proud about that, almost.
"Wolfram was being his normal self calling me a wimp and a cheat, though he did use a new phrase in the litany."
"Being…?"
Yuuri looked at the ground a bit embarrassed, "He called me a slut." Yuuri did feel a bit put-off, but he could see it from Wolfram's point of view if he really thought Yuuri was with Conrad as Wolfram seemed to REALLY believe that their engagement was valid. It wasn't! Yuuri looked back at Gwendel expecting to see his shocked face as to how that could escalate into a fight.
Gwendel nodded, "I could see Conrad punching him for that."
Yuuri blinked daftly, "What? How? No… why?!"
Then, and only then did Gwendel give Yuuri an incredulous look, "If he hasn't told you why it's hardly my place, but I'll say this much, very few people are allowed to enter into Conrad's world."
"Huh?" Yuuri was feeling more and more confused, his eyes were watering up again, and Gwendel was getting a bit annoyed at his own complicated feelings towards reaching out to hug Yuuri when he looked like such an adorable little kitten, damn that soft-spot of his for cute things.
Gwendel wondered how to really proceed without being too much of an intruder to his brothers' business. He couldn't really use 'dignity of the king' or even much of the 'a really good friend' line as that wouldn't explain a fight so much as a sucker-punch. Damn that Conrad leaving him with only one option.
"How does Conrad feel toward you? Has he ever said anything?"
Gwendel sighed, "Imagine if he had heard Julia being called such a name, would it be as much of a surprise for him to react that way?"
Yuuri's head shot up, looking at Gwendel indignantly, "Of course not! But…" Yuuri suddenly appeared more hurt at the thought of merely being a continuation of that. His shoulders slumped, "…But then I said something stupid after they had stopped, and then Wolfram started screaming."
The older of the dark haired men commented, "And what exactly did you say?"
"…That I didn't want brothers fighting over me…"
"Then what?"
"Eh? That's what I said."
"…Where's the stupid part?" Gwendel asked.
"Because Wolfram took it to mean that Conrad was fighting for my honor as…"
"So WOLFRAM mistook something for implicating you for cheating on him?"
Yuuri looked at Gwendel, "When you say it like that… but it sounds so much more out of context than what it really felt like…"
"Did Conrad not correct his misunderstanding?"
He sighed, "That's the thing, there ISN'T a misunderstanding, I do love Conrad." Yuuri said, finally hanging his head in defeat, if he really thought about it, Gwendel never really DID seem to like him, anyway.
"So, my younger brother who loved your soul in not one but two incarnations is fighting with my even younger ill-tempered brother for calling you a derogatory name that you don't fit the description of? Is that it, your majesty?"
Yuuri nodded once, then looked back up at Gwendel surprised, "Wait… you know Conrad loves me?"
Gwendel bit back at his words as if he just realized he had said a little too much about what he knew. His eyebrow twitched, it was as if a look of fear parallel to Anissina's visits had crossed his face. "…Toes…"
"…? Toes? Conrad loves my toes?" He cocked his head to the side, very confused. He shook his head dismissing the thought. He thought back to what Gwendel had said beforehand, the actual weight behind it. "So, are you saying this was something inevitable?"
Gwendel nodded once before getting ready to excuse himself, maybe pack some bags… visit the countryside…
Yuuri touched his arm, "You mean, that because this was inevitable, my reaction- was it the wrong thing to run away?"
"Running away sounds about right." Gwendel snapped out of his reverie thinking of a way to pull that away from what he might have meant, "As for the two, they probably would have preferred to hash out their differences in private, versus in front of you, in particularly. I'm sure the two will approach you with their resolution."
"Wait, so if they're making decisions I SHOULD be there then…?"
"No. Definitely not, there are things you shouldn't and wouldn't want to hear that they will discuss. Your majesty, if you'll forgive me, I'll have to ask that you not say anything about this conversation between the both of us." Gwendel finally added.
Yuuri nodded once, "Gwendel, you're right. Thank you so much. I'll let them figure things out then play it from there, it's not like I can really just go back there now anyway, and I don't really know how Conrad chose to handle it… heh, what if he didn't even come clean--" He blanched, "What if he DIDN'T come clean—no, yes Gwendel. We'll pretend this conversation NEVER EVER happened, alright?"
"Right." Gwendel walked away letting out a nervous sigh and uncurling his toes thinking to himself, 'safe' as he went back toward the main castle.
As he approached he saw Wolfram and Conrad, Wolfram storming past moving toward the South, Conrad walking in a heated pace, though he seemed to be calming with each step.
"Gwendel!" Conrad caught his brother's attention, Gwendel was happy that his own grumpy face hid his own anxiety of being caught knowing too much.
"Ah, what did you need Sir Weller?"
Conrad gave him a weird look at the improper address. "Have you seen his majesty?"
Gwendel had a contemplative look, to lie or to tell the truth and risk the youth leaking too much, hm, decisions.
"Oh, I think I see him, excuse me, Gwendel."
"Ah, Conrad, don't forget breakfast will start soon." Gwendel commented, again thinking to himself, Safe!
Conrad waved as he quickly moved past him and approached the western grounds of Covenant Castle.
--To Be Continued-- by Vanessa S. Quest