Chapter 7: A Bit Unnerving

The next day was a blur for both boys. Hundreds of people were hired just to decorate The Great Hall so it was much more noisy and crowded in the castle than usual. Wolfram was hiding from the masses of people in Yuuri's room pretending to do something productive with his time. In reality, he was just trying to get out of Gunter's much to excitable decorating frenzy that Yuuri, on the other hand, had already been dragged in too.

Yuuri rolled his eyes once again as Gunter told him to move the poster 'just a little more to the left or right.' He did not see what was important about the placement of such a gaudy piece of paper. After a few hours of being stuck in many places he did not want to be, Yuuri decided to take a lunch break and try to find Wolfram as he hadn't seen him at all today.

The double black figured the blond would be reading somewhere in the castle, so started at the library. When that proved incorrect, the young king stalked off towards his room. He was surprised to see Wolfram lying on the floor in the sunshine with a book opened on his chest. The boy was not wearing his normal blue uniform, but an almost simple white shirt with some slight frills around the cuffs along with a pair of blue pants that were not quite uniform worthy. He was even more confused when he saw the hole in the right pant leg. The boy looked so…normal.

Yuuri sat down next to Wolfram and looked at the cover of the book. He frowned when he did not recognize the lettering. It had been several years, and he still could not read the Mazoku language well.

"Wolfram?" Yuuri called out to see if the blond was awake. The boy stirred, but his breathing remained constant. For a moment Yuuri thought of waking the boy with a kiss, but just couldn't bring himself to go through with it. Wolfram would have probably freaked out and it would have been so worth it to startle the normally stoic blonde. The double black had made the decision to not live without the other boy at his side, but was still uncomfortable with moving so quickly after just deciding about the advancement in their relationship. Instead, Yuuri brushed a piece of golden hair shining in the brilliant sun out of the older boy's eyes.

Wolfram flinched again in his sleep, his body telling him that someone else was there. He woke slowly, having been so comfortable in the early afternoon rays of light, and he squinted when the brightness flooded through the creases of his eyelids.

"Yuuri?" The blond asked sleepily, using his hand to shield his eyes from the intrusive rays. The double black scooted into Wolfram's line of sight blocking the yellow light and watching as the emerald circles shrink as his eyes adjusted to the shade and registered Yuuri's face.

"What have you been doing all day, napping?" The young king asked in a joking manner. The blond huffed and stuck his nose in the air.

"As if, I merely nodded off while studying." Was the excuse Wolfram thought up, betting on the fact that Yuuri probably couldn't tell that the book now in his lap was a book of fiction tales.

"Oh." Yuuri said, believing him. "Why haven't you been helping out with the decorations? I was dragged into it." The dark haired boy said in exasperation. The blond chuckled in return.

"I was clever enough to come up with an excuse to avoid it. Just as I always do." Wolfram replied. Yuuri narrowed his eyes in a contemplative way.

"…I don't have any good excuses. It's my party, I am expected to help out." Yuuri thought Wolfram sighed dramatically.

"Ah the expectations of being king." The blonde said with an air of false sympathy. The younger boy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, get off the floor and come with me to get food you lazy prince, I'm starving." Yuuri said standing and offering his hand to Wolfram. The blond nodded and accepted the gesture.

Wolfram had been surprised by the fact that they had just had an entire conversation without even a hint of anger, and even more so by Yuuri not releasing his hand when he was pulled onto his feet. Wolfram eyed the other boy warily, but did not want to give Yuuri any reason to release his hand, so walked alongside his fiance as if this were a normal occurrence.

Yuuri was glad that Wolfram did not bring too much attention to the fact that they were holding hands since the eyes of the people around them were staring intently enough to frighten the young king out of his mind. They continued to the kitchen, where sandwiches were being handed out to any of the people that were helping decorate the castle. They stood in the short line and received their lunch before deciding to eat out in the gardens. Conrad smiled when the boys passed him by. Yuuri's face had been beet red, and Wolfram's had looked more happy than the tall brunet had ever seen him.

They ate slowly, making small talk. Yuuri asked meaningless questions about the blonds' favorite things, Wolfram answered and returned most of them. Eyes watched them from the many castle windows and it was all the blond could do not to glare at their intrusion.

"What's the matter?" Yuuri asked Wolfram, noticing that his eyes had once again flitted towards the castle. Correcting his gaze, the blond sighed.

"I swear, no one in this place knows the meaning of the word privacy." His voice was frustrated, but not quite angry. Yuuri blinked and looked over to the windows behind him and noticed the people watching them bolt from the area. The double black chuckled.

"They are just surprised I guess. We aren't fighting today." Wolfram looked over to Yuuri and laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so." The boys ate their lunch in peace, and then went back to helping decorate for the ball occurring the next night.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Yuuri asked, as Wolfram set up an abnormally large ladder in front of a wall. It looked a bit sketchy for the king's taste.

"It's fine, don't be such a wimp." Wolfram retorted smartly before climbing up the first few prongs. He then looked down to Yuuri.

"Just hold the bottom rungs in place and I'll climb up to hang the banner." The blond instructed.

Yuuri moved in front of the ladder and grasped the sides firmly. Wolfram seemed satisfied enough and began to climb up with the large banner slung over his shoulder. As he ascended, the ladder became more and more unstable, and Wolfram grabbed the rungs tightly and looked down at Yuuri.

"Hold it still Wimp, it's wobbly." The young king looked surprised.

"I'm holding it as tight as I can, maybe the ladder is just limp."

Wolfram began to get a bit worried as he looked up and saw he still had a ways to go before he reached the hanging point. He put on a stern face and reasoned with himself not to be afraid.

"HEIKA!" Came a loud cry that shattered the silence and caused Yuuri and Wolfram to startle. The ladder swayed dangerously, but Yuuri regained his hold.

"Damn it Gunter! Do not distract him!" Wolfram admonished loudly. Gunter looked up and sighed dramatically.

"My dearest king! I was just about to inquire as to Mr. Bielefeld's whereabouts. How could you have known to find him? You are truly magnificent!" Gunter grabbed Yuuri's arm in a fit of passion and the young king gasped.

"Gunter don't-" Yuuri started as his grasp was yanked off of the ladder. Wolfram's eyes widened in shock as the ladder began to lean to one side.

"Yuuri!" Wolfram called out in fear as it leaned further down beyond the point of saving.

"Wolfram!" Yuuri shouted as Gunter let go of him after realizing what he had done.

The blond curled his hands into his chest and let his body go limp as he realized that the ground was rapidly approaching. The ladder clattered to the floor, shattering some of the rungs, and a blond boy rolled amongst the rubble a few feet before lying still on the stone tiles.

"-fram" a fuzzy voice entered the blonds' hazy conscious. It was familiar, but it took him a while to register it.

"Yuuri?" The blond questioned in a murmur. His eyes flickered a few times before he descended again into darkness.

"Will he be okay?" Yuuri turned to Gisela, who nodded.

"Yes I believe so, there is no real damage other than perhaps a slight concussion. I have mended his fractured wrist, and the bruising on his side. He should wake within the hour. I'll fetch some water and a snack if he wakes hungry." The green haired woman stated professionally before leaving the room. Yuuri nodded and thanked her before sitting back on the bed they had moved the blond to. He grasped the boy's hand and positioned himself lying next to Wolfram face to face. It wasn't long before Yuuri also drifted off to sleep.

Wolfram woke only moments later and groaned as the memories re-registered in his mind. He opened his eyes to see Yuuri's closed ones. He blinked a few times as he realized that his hand was being held and that that Yuuri had obviously chosen to lay there.

The blonde reached out to shake Yuuri's shoulder, but stopped short. Instead of waking the sleeping king, Wolfram took advantage of this opportunity and nuzzled closer to the black haired boy. Yuuri, in his sleep, unconsciously wrapped his arm around Wolfram to make himself more comfortable. The blond smiled slyly before letting himself succumb to a peaceful nap.

Gisela let the boys sleep until a little while before dinner time. She shook Yuuri a bit knowing that he was the lighter sleeper. As expected Yuuri woke quickly and just about had a panic attack when he noticed his arm's around Wolfram, who woke up when he heard Yuuri yelp.

"What the hell?" Wolfram whined. "I was sleeping." The blond grabbed Yuuri's shirt and pulled the boy closer. Yuuri tried to push the clinging boy off of his shirt but to no avail.

"Wolfram! Get off!" Yuuri said loudly, the blond groaned again and released Yuuri, turning his back to the boy and pretending to go back to sleep. Yuuri narrowed his eyes.

"Gisela said it's time for dinner. Wake up." Yuuri pushed Wolfram's shoulder. The blond made no movement. The double black's eyes narrowed further, then opened thoughtfully as a light bulb went on.

"Fine, if you don't want to join me for dinner, I'll just leave you here for Gisela to find later. Or maybe I'll ask Conrad to eat with me." Yuuri saw Wolfram stiffen and smirked. The king raised one eyebrow, then continued.

"Just the two of us…" Wolfram tensed further and balled his fists.

"…alone…." Yuuri let his voice drift off dreamily. The blond snapped up and faced Yuuri.

"You are planning a date to cheat on me out loud while I'm still in the room! What kind of fiancé are you!" Wolfram shouted and made to punch at him. Yuuri smiled and grabbed Wolfram's hand.

"Got you to get up didn't it?" Yuuri concluded mischievously. Wolfram sputtered, speechless. The king got out of bed and pulled Wolfram out with him. The blond narrowed his eyes in irritation.

"Do not joke with me like that." Wolfram said seriously. Yuuri rolled his eyes.

"Come on Wolf. You know I was joking. I already said I was not going to cheat on you didn't I? Am I so unreliable?" Yuuri stated in a lighter tone.

"I would say you are unreliable, you dropped me from a ladder." Wolfram accused. Yuuri looked down at the floor.

"I am sorry about that. Gunter tackled me and I lost my grip. Are you ok?" the king asked in a worried tone dropping the blonde's hand. Wolfram nodded, all thoughts of being angry with the king vanishing with Yuuri's caring gaze.

"I'm fine." Wolfram answered. Yuuri seemed satisfied with the answer and took the blonde's hand again before walking out of the room towards the dining hall.

As it turned out, the decorations had been finished more or less before dinner, and the boys no longer had a reason to help out. Wolfram went on patrol that night, and Yuuri went to his office to sign more paperwork.

"Heika!" A females voice sang as it entered the office door. Yuuri looked up at smiled.

"Hey Lady Cecilie. How are you this evening?" He asked politely. The blond woman sauntered over and sat on a chair near Yuuri's desk facing the king.

"Fine I suppose. I have heard rumors that you have been holding hands with my youngest son all day today. I am merely here to inquire as to the truth of this statement." She said in her usual overly seductive tone that creeped Yuuri out.

"Uh…yeah." Yuuri replied.

"So, you like him now?" She asked in a curious way. Yuuri nodded.

"I suppose I always have, I just never thought of actually starting a relationship with him. I plan to announce our formal engagement at the ball tomorrow if that's alright." Yuuri told her. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Really? That would be…wonderful!" The ex-queen said happily exclaiming that was something she needed to go and talk to the maids about. Yuuri was glad that the queen had agreed so easily, but there was something about that hesitation that was unnerving to Yuuri.

Anyone else a little suspicious of the Queen? I always found her character rather interesting.