Chapter Text
“It’s a zeppelin.”
Yuuri stared up at the craft that was circling over Covenant Castle, the side of the balloon emblazoned with the Demon King’s shield. Wolfram held his arm a little more tightly than he normally would, his expression a mixture of awed and wary as the craft made excellent time around the nearest turret. Yuuri shot a nervous glance down the castle forecourt to the stables and then out the gates into the city but neither the horses nor the citizenry seemed particularly concerned about the large unknown object hovering over the castle. Probably, he reasoned, both had become so accustomed to mayhem they didn’t think anything of the situation unless something was on fire.
“Technically it’s a rigid hot air balloon,” Murata replied, shading his eyes as he squinted up at the craft. “Anissina borrowed design concepts from both.”
“It requires two magical operators,” Anissina said, watching her creation with a mad glee. “A fire wielder to control the vertical lift and an air wielder for the thrust.”
“It seems to work well, My Lady!” Julian shouted from the window of the craft, waving his arm. Felix leaned over his shoulder waving as well.
“Take it on a test run to the Weller Estate and back!” Murata called out. “We need a time indicator!”
“Right away Your Eminence!" Felix shouted as Julian ducked back inside and the craft made a speedy turn northward.
Yuuri turned to the Sage in surprise. “This is what you and Anissina have been working on the last year?”
“Mostly we’ve been working on a magical steam engine,” Murata admitted. “But when inspiration strikes you have to sort of move with it.”
“My Magical Steam Car has been reasonably successful!” Anissina said, watching the air ship grow smaller as it headed toward the horizon, clearly pleased. “But at speed the ride is quite rough, totally unsuitable for anything more than rapid deployment.”
Yuuri stared at the airship, his eyes narrowing. He turned back to Murata again with a frown. “Is this an Ambulance?”
Murata’s reply was a seemingly disinterested half shrug, his eyes still fixed on the craft. “The first ones will be, but eventually we hope to construct enough of them to serve as transport.”
“Our new schools will be training fire and air wielders for that purpose,” Anissina said.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Yuuri observed, turning to Wolfram.
“It certainly seems more practical than the steam car,” Wolfram nodded approvingly.
Yuuri frowned. “You drove it, didn’t you?” Wolfram didn’t reply.
“You’re the king of a steampunk alternate universe, Shibuya,” Murata said with a twinkle in his eye.
Yuuri let out a tired sigh. “Well, at least this is better than a magical fusion bomb.” No one said anything and Yuuri’s brow furrowed in suspicion. “Murata!”
“You know,” Murata said, turning to Anissina and ignoring the king entirely. “I was thinking about the steam car and there’s a concept I want to explain to you, it’s called shock absorbers.”
“Murata!” Yuuri growled warningly.
“Oh, come to my lab!” she said excitedly, linking her arm with his.
“Murata!” Yuuri shouted after him.
“You wimp,” Wolfram sighed in exasperation. He pulled out the notebook he had tucked under his arm, quickly leafing through the pages before handing it to Yuuri.
Yuuri stared down at the page, his face almost instantly lighting up. “Oh! Oh yeah, that’s nice. It’s perfect.”
“I’ll put the smithy to work on it,” Wolfram said with a smug smile, taking the sketchbook back and closing it. “What are you going to call it?”
“The Demon King’s Medal of Honor,” Yuuri said decisively as they watched the zeppelin turn into a pinprick on the horizon.
“We’ll need to store the first one in the archives for historic record,” Wolfram stated. “But I assume you’ll want to give the second one to Gisela.”
“Yeah, if you can let the smiths know,” Yuuri replied. “I want to hold the ceremony as soon as we can.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Wolfram promised. “Any thoughts on the next recipients?”
“Well, I don’t want to pass out too many of them,” Yuuri observed thoughtfully. “It cheapens the honor a little.”
Wolfram nodded. “Agreed.”
Blue sky and white clouds swallowed up the faint shadow that was all they could still see of the zeppelin. It really was extraordinarily fast compared to their existing transportation options. If they could make them viable, and knowing Anissina that wasn’t going to be a problem, the crafts would be able to move healers and emergency supplies all over the Great Demon Kingdom in a matter of hours. He would have liked to have listened in on the conversation with Murata that must have led to the whole thing.
A grimace formed on Yuuri’s face. “I’m going to have to give medals to Anissina and Murata for this, aren’t I?”
Wolfram’s only reply was a noncommittal hum.
Yuuri groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She’s going to be insufferable.”
“Hmm,” Wolfram hummed in agreement again.
Yuuri swore under his breath.
A crack of thunder rattled the rain drenched windows of the Demon King’s Private Bath, another bolt of lightning on its heels lit up the soft illumination of the lamps on the water. Yuuri shivered, looking down at the sponge in his hand with the faintest shaky breath. The storms this summer had been the worst he could remember in the Great Demon Kingdom. At least, he reasoned, it was this summer and not last. That would have been unbearable.
"Are you all right?" Wolfram asked, stripping off his clothing and casting it into the hamper before striding boldly across the bathing chamber. "Yuuri?"
"Hmmm?" Yuuri's breath caught as he looked up at his consort. His eye traced alabaster skin but his expression was more stunned than amorous.
"I asked if you were all right," Wolfram stated, crouching beside him. Yuuri stared into his eyes for a long moment before looking away, scrubbing his arms.
"I'm fine," he said.
"You don't exactly look fine," Wolfram replied, taking up his sponge and washing Yuuri's back. The young King froze, staring at the floor as if his mind had wandered. Wolfram paused, tracing one thin scar across Yuuri's back with his finger. The scars weren't quite so bad as he'd feared they might be but there would be no way Yuuri would ever dare to let his family or anyone else, see this. Something inside him seemed to mourn painfully and tears stung his eyes.
"Do you remember the first time I actually let you wash my back?" Yuuri asked.
Wolfram held back a chuckle, quickly running his arm over his eyes, nodding. "You wore yourself out sparring with Conrart and you could barely move.”
"And you didn't bother offering to heal it until you'd finished," Yuuri said.
"Well you didn't ask," Wolfram stated a bit defensively.
"It wasn't a criticism, Wolf," Yuuri said tenderly, reaching behind him to grasp Wolfram’s hand. Wolfram gave his fingers a squeeze, leaning forward to brush a lingering kiss on the scar that ran along Yuuri's shoulder blade.
₪₪₪
"Just sit still and let me take off your bandages," Wolfram said, his fingers swiftly undoing the buttons of Yuuri's pajama shirt. "I know it's still a lot of work for you to sit up so I'll be quick."
"It's okay, I can manage," Yuuri insisted, breathing heavily.
"You don't have to put on this tough front," Wolfram stated sourly as he unwound the bandages. "You've been injured, it's not like anyone in your place would look any better than you do now, not even Gwendal."
"Are you trying to tell me I'm not as much of a wimp as you thought I was?" Yuuri asked with a half smile.
"No," Wolfram answered, peeling the last of the bandages away. "You're still a wimp. But this doesn't have anything to do with that." His hand hovered in mid air over the severe red welts that crisscrossed Yuuri's back.
"This is probably going to sting," he warned, gently sponging Yuuri's back. The wounds had been slow to heal, all of Yuuri’s energy going to the things that would keep him alive. They’d been home nearly three weeks and Yuuri was just now strong enough to sit up on his own.
"Wolfram?" he winced a little, tensing slightly.
"Yeah."
"Thanks."
"I wish there was more we could do about the cuts," Wolfram stated. "But they aren’t infected, that’s the important thing.”
"You did your best, Wolf," Yuuri's brow furrowed.
"The scars are going to be pretty bad," Wolfram admitted.
"I don't mind," Yuuri sighed, he forced a smile, glancing over his shoulder. "It would have been a lot worse if a good looking guy like you had gotten all torn up."
"Yuuri, don't say things like that," Wolfram's voice broke. Yuuri turned, shifting slowly so that he could meet his fiancé's eye.
"I'm sorry," he said hesitantly. "You're right, I shouldn't have said that. I'm just..."
"It's okay," Wolfram insisted, trying to sound offhanded.
Yuuri reached out, grasping hold of his hand. "I'm scared," he admitted. "I'm so messed up and I... I just want to be me again, the old me, but I can't even remember what that felt like."
"You're not messed up," Wolfram corrected sternly. "You're just... having a rough time of it."
Yuuri glanced down at their joined hands, blushing as he quickly released his grasp on his unintentional fiancé.
"It's going to be okay, Yuuri," Wolfram insisted, gently gripping his arm. "It's going to take a while but it'll be alright. I swear to you." Ebony eyes shimmered as they met emerald ones.
"Why'd this happen?" Yuuri asked in a small voice.
"I don't know," Wolfram admitted. "But it wasn't your fault." The young King struggled to hold back tears but Wolfram gingerly wrapped his arms around him, pulling him to his shoulder.
"We'll get through this, I promise," Wolfram soothed as tears trickled down his king’s face. "I told you before, it's okay to cry, and you have more right than anybody." To his shock Yuuri wrapped his good arm around Wolfram’s chest, clinging to him as he let out a sob.
"It's okay," he repeated, his hand resting on Yuuri's head. "Everything's going to be fine. You're home and safe and you're healing. No matter how long it takes it's going to get better. You have to hold on to that. One day it will all be better again."
"Are you sure?" Yuuri asked, slumping into him as if he had spent all the energy he had.
"Of course I'm sure," Wolfram said with a frown, drying Yuuri's tears. "You know me, would I make you that promise if I couldn’t keep it?"
₪₪₪
Yuuri stared at their joined hands a moment before turning around and grasping Wolfram by the shoulders, forcing his consort to face away from him.
"There are still times when I half expect you to push me away," Wolfram admitted hesitantly as Yuuri scrubbed his back "I know I shouldn't, but..."
"There are still times when I half expect you to bite my head off for no reason," Yuuri confessed in return. "And you haven't in so long. As a matter of fact I don't even remember when you last did. I should trust you more than that."
Wolfram shook his head. "It's not about trust, it's about growing up. And I needed to do as much of it as you did." The silence spooled out between them soft and still.
"I'm glad this happened," Yuuri whispered, his hand resting in the middle of Wolfram's back.
"What?" Wolfram demanded, turning to face him with a look of horror. "Yuuri, how can you say that?"
"Because it made me grow up," Yuuri answered, caressing his cheek. "It was horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. But it might have been years before I was mature enough to admit my feelings for you, maybe I never would have owned to it. I don't know. All I do know is that I have you now because of what happened, because I couldn't stand on my own and I needed you. I've always needed you, but for once I couldn't deny it." Tears stung Wolfram's eyes and Yuuri pulled him into his arms, holding tight to him and feathering kisses on his jaw as Wolfram clutched at him.
"You were there for me when I needed you most," Yuuri whispered against his ear. "I want to be there for you too. The Tribunal made me think about a lot of things, about Lady Flynn watching her husband die, about how you and the others have always done everything in your power to protect me, most of all about how hard you fought for me, you fought for me even though you had no reason to believe you'd ever get anything back. I should love you for that alone. I love you, Wolf, more than anything. No matter what, we fall together."
"I love you too," Wolfram whispered, pressing his lips to the King's neck. Yuuri kissed his ear, holding him tighter.
Lightning streaked the sky followed by a clap of thunder so close that it sounded like a firing cannon. Conrart Weller bolted straight up in bed, blinking his eyes. The storm outside drew his attention and he smiled to himself, lying down once more. A storm was no cause for concern. His brow furrowed as another loud bolt crackled through the air. He debated for a long moment, trying to talk himself out of it, but he finally conceded that he couldn't. He'd merely check, just to be certain Wolfram had awoken before returning to his bed. He swung his legs out from beneath the blankets, automatically catching up his sword as he strode across the room in his bare feet. He opened the door to his room and crossed the hall, his hand resting on the door latch.
He gently pushed the door ajar, peering into the room at the massive canopy bed. He frowned, catching sight of a hunched figure on the bed, half hidden in shadow.
"Yuuri," he sighed sadly. He pushed the door open just enough to enter the room, padding on silent feet toward the bed. A bolt of lightning lit the room and he came up short.
"Wolfram?" he whispered in surprise, drawing close enough to see the bed's occupant more clearly. His brother looked up at him with a glowing smile before lowering his head once more. Conrart followed his gaze, a smile lighting his own lips. Yuuri slept peacefully, his head pillowed in Wolfram's lap. Another loud crash of thunder rattled the windows but the young King only barely stirred, sighing contentedly in his sleep as he nuzzled Wolfram's leg.
Wolfram raised his head again, happy tears streaking his face as he met his brother's eye. Conrart smiled as well, nodding in silent understanding. The demon king slept on, his repose uninterrupted by the storm that raged outside.