Chapter Text
"Here, Greta," Wolfram took her hand, wiping her face with his napkin. "You have custard on your nose."
"Can I go now?" She pleaded, squirming in her chair. Warm morning sunshine bathed the terrace in dappled light, stretching out across the courtyard. The scent of spring flowers filled the air and with a sigh and a nod from Wolfram she pushed her chair back, darting past Murata who was climbing the terrace steps, his hands in his pockets.
"Try not to get too dirty," Yuuri called after her. "You don't want to have to change before we all go to the temple." He shook his head, watching her go as he settled back in his chair with his tea.
"What's for breakfast?" Murata asked cheerfully, claiming the chair beside Yuuri. He looked around at Conrart, Shori, and Wolfram. "Where's everyone else?"
"Lady Celi is helping Mother pack," Shori answered, filling his plate.
"It's a little like a wake," Conrart added. "They don't really seem to be doing anything but giggling and crying."
Murata shrugged. “Seems perfectly normal to me.”
"For the record," Yuuri said, looking at Wolfram with his most serious expression. "I'm totally glad I married a guy." Wolfram's cheeks turned pink and Conrart and Shori both laughed.
"Murata I was wondering," Wolfram said, looking out over the garden to where Greta was making leaf boats in the fountain. "Have Yuuri and I always been... close?"
"Are you certain you want me to answer that?" Murata asked, his fork hovering half way to his mouth. "You're opening a can of worms with that question."
"I know," Wolfram sighed, looking at him a bit sadly. “But it bothers me. I've always felt like Yuuri and I were meant to be together even though I couldn't explain why."
"We were meant to be together," Yuuri replied simply, earning surprised looks from both Conrart and Shori. “You can’t worry about who you were before. You have to be who you are now.”
"Yes, Wolfram," Murata answered, with an amused look. "You and Yuuri were always close. Just not often in the way that you mean. It isn't always appropriate."
"I'm not sure I understand," Conrart said, shaking his head.
"We were all very dear friends," Murata replied. "Some of us closer than others. At the start of the war we were all of different ages and vastly different backgrounds. That continued to be true as time passed. The essence of the relationships themselves remained, the dynamic simply changed to fit the circumstance."
"What does that mean exactly?" Wolfram asked.
"Well, for instance," Murata said. "Earhart's dearest friend from childhood was Laurence, they were like brothers. Shibuya and Conrart are equally close friends, and Conrart was also close to Lady Julia. Rufus was somewhat heroically infatuated with Sigrid which accounts for your idolization of your eldest brother, Wolfram."
"So it's like an imprint?" Shori asked.
"In some respects," Murata nodded. "But it's not predictable, and the relationship does evolve over time. It's only in the last two thousand years or so that the Voltare heirs and the Karbelnikoff heirs have pursued one another. Prior to that they spent most of their time as inseparable friends or bitter rivals... or both. When Rufus and Earhart met, Earhart was married with a family and Rufus, the youngest of us, was little more than a boy. However it was Earhart who was most responsible for Rufus becoming the second Demon King... and Rufus' grandson later married one of Earhart's great-granddaughters.” Yuuri let out a choked laugh as Wolfram gaped at him.
"Wait... do you mean?" Wolfram sputtered. Conrart bit his lip to keep from laughing as Shori pretended to be absorbed in his breakfast.
"You should try the berry tarts, Shori," Murata remarked. "They're delicious."
"Oh?" Shori leaned across the table. "I do have a weakness for berries..." his voice trailed off and he looked at Murata suspiciously.
"Would someone pass the cream?" Murata asked as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
"I want to go too," Greta said, looking up at Yuuri with big watery eyes. He cringed. "Please?" She folded her hands under her chin.
"Please," Miko added, doing a passable impression of her adopted granddaughter, clasped hands and all.
"Mom, we've been over this," Yuuri sighed, looking at them both as if he were a little frightened of them. "Wolfram and I are leaving on our honeymoon tomorrow, we won't even be there."
"Well Greta's not doing anything!" Miko pointed out. "She can stay with us!"
"Mom, I don't think-” Yuuri began.
"I managed to raise you and Shori and you both turned out fine," She huffed.
"It's not that, she doesn't speak any Japanese," Yuuri said, shaking his head. "She's never seen a car or a train or even a TV."
"That's my point," Miko said in exasperation. "She's not going to see them here!"
"Dad, help me out here," Yuuri pleaded.
"Tread carefully," Shoma advised.
"Tread carefully?" Yuuri asked. "That's all you've got for me?"
"It's good advice," Shoma shrugged. "You're married now, you'll need it."
"You know, it's not that bad of an idea," Wolfram said, an odd expression on his face as Greta continued to stare up at him pleadingly.
"I thought you were the one that said the key to good parenting was a unified front." Yuuri replied irritably.
"Oh come on," Wolfram frowned at him with disdain. "You're the one who's always saying how safe it is there. She'll be fine with one of Anissina's translators. Your parents and Shori didn't have any trouble."
"Why do I suddenly feel like the bad guy here?" Yuuri rolled his eyes.
"I'll be good," Greta promised, taking his hand and giving him a particularly charming smile as she nuzzled his arm.
"I swear, if you flatten Tokyo I'm never taking you anywhere again," Yuuri said.
"I can go?" she asked. He nodded and she let out a squeal of delight, wrapping both arms around his waist. "Thank you!!" She released him and raced straight to Shori, tackling him.
"You're right, it worked!" She declared delightedly. Shori blushed as Yuuri scowled at him.
"Well now that's settled," Murata said, climbing into the fountain. "I promised my folks I'd be home for dinner."
"We'll be home tomorrow," Yuuri said to Conrart, glaring daggers at his brother as Shori carried Greta to the fountain.
"Enjoy your trip," Conrart replied. "We'll look after things here until you get back." Yuuri turned, climbing onto the edge of the fountain.
"I know," he said, patting Wolfram's back comfortingly. "You really hate this part. Do you want a pep talk?"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," Wolfram nodded, staring into the fountain with a slightly green expression. Yuuri leaned close to him, his lips brushing's Wolfram's ear as he whispered. Wolfram let out a rather lascivious giggle and hopped into the fountain.
"Wolfram, your face is all red," Greta observed. "Are you okay?"
"You better hold on to me, Mama," he said, ignoring Greta's question as he took Miko's hand.
"Everyone brace yourselves," Murata announced as the water began to swirl around them.
"I updated your diplomatic credentials," Shori said, handing Wolfram a passport and holding one out to Yuuri. "And I had my secretary make you reservations at a ryokan in Minakami. I'll have the booking information for you tomorrow morning."
"You didn't have to do that Shori," Yuuri protested, leaning back in his chair at the dining room table to look up at his brother.
"Bob insists that I treat you with every diplomatic courtesy," Shori insisted firmly. "Technically we're still your subjects."
"That nice cache of demon stones we gave him doesn't hurt either," Wolfram pointed out, eyeing his passport photo critically.
"Well, there is that," Shori agreed practically. "Really, I think he just likes you."
"Yuuri!!!" Greta let out a squawk. He looked up to see her standing about 5 inches from the TV, her eyes as big as saucers.
"Oh! the ball game’s on!" Wolfram said excitedly, moving toward the sofa "Greta don't stand so close to the TV, you'll lose your eyesight!"
"He sounds like my mother," Yuuri mumbled.
"Bob says he wants me to take over next year," Shori said, sitting down at the dining table beside his brother.
"Really?" Yuuri gave him a surprised look. "That's great news for you!"
"No Greta, it's not magic," Wolfram said, pulling her onto the sofa beside him. "It's.... I'm not sure what it is to be honest. Maybe you should ask Father, he knows a lot more about TV than I do."
"They shrink the ball players down and put them in a box," Shoma began.
"Dad!!" Yuuri shouted in protest.
“Shoma, don't tell her things like that, honestly!" Miko demanded irritably. He leaned closer to Greta.
"It's magic," he said with a wink.
Yuuri let out a groan, letting his head thump on the table. "Is it a diplomatic incident if I beat the hell out of my own brother?”
"Hey, I just thought they'd like to spend some time bonding with their granddaughter," Shori said. He lowered his voice so that only Yuuri could hear him. "I mean before she turns thirty."
Yuuri sat up, his eyes narrowed to menacing slits. ”What’s that supposed to mean?”
"It means that I was in The Great Demon Kingdom four months ago," Shori replied, his voice barely more than a whisper. "But she's aged a year since then, so why don't you tell me, little brother, exactly how long have you been away?" Yuuri gave him a dark look and pushed his chair back.
"You're not watching the game before dinner?" Miko asked as he headed toward the door to the back lawn, Shori on his heels with a scowl.
"Shori and I have some business stuff to discuss," Yuuri answered. "We'll only be a minute." He padded across the deck, sitting down on the edge with a frown.
"Well?" Shori demanded, sitting beside him.
"It's been three months." Yuuri said.
"You've only been gone a month," Shori snapped.
"I know."
"Is that what you've been doing since school?" Shori asked. "Three months there for one month here?
"Yeah, pretty much," Yuuri nodded.
"You're not eighteen." Shori said, staring at him with wide eyes. "You're what, almost twenty?”
"Technically I think if I factor in the relative time differential from when I was in High School I'm probably about twenty-one." Yuuri replied.
"Are you stupid?" Shori demanded.
"I just used ‘time differential’ in a sentence... correctly." Yuuri said, giving him a dry look.
"Point taken," Shori said grudgingly. "What are you thinking? You don't think mom and dad are going to start getting suspicious when their twenty-five year old son looks forty?"
"Nope."
"Yuuri!"
"Do you remember how dad said Bob hadn't aged a day in the whole time he'd known him?" Yuuri asked.
"Don't change the subject!" Shori protested.
"Just answer the question," Yuuri rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Yeah I remember mom wanting to know his beauty regimen," Shori said. "Hey, demons have good genes. Look at that lot you hang around with."
"Have you ever asked Wolfram how old he is?" Yuuri questioned.
"No," Shori shook his head. "Look at him, he can't be much older than you."
"He's eighty-six," Yuuri said.
"He's..." Shori's jaw came unhinged. "My little brother married and eighty-six year old guy?"
"Shori, pay attention!" Yuuri snapped. "Haven't you noticed it, even a little?"
"Noticed what?" Shori asked.
"I noticed it while I was in school," Yuuri said miserably. "I hardly aged at all while I was in The Great Demon Kingdom. I was gone for months sometimes, I came home and all my clothes still fit. But every time I went back there Gunter had to have the tailor in to cut me a new suit."
"Explain," Shori insisted.
"Demon Tribesmen, full blooded Demons, age about five times more slowly than humans," he said. "The most powerful magic wielders like Lady Celi and Gunter hardly age at all. The magic is weakest here on Earth but that's still enough to keep Bob from aging and there isn’t a single Demon Tribesman on earth that isn’t part human.”
"Why didn't he tell me this?" Shori asked, running his fingers through his hair. "Why didn't you tell me this?"
"So that you can lie awake at night and wonder who you'll have to say goodbye to in the next two hundred years?" Yuuri asked.
"Two hundred years?" Shori looked so stunned he was almost pale.
"I asked Murata. All three of us are extremely powerful magic wielders. He said that since we were born on earth and we're not full Demon, we can expect to live about two hundred years, he and I will probably live a little longer than that since we're living in The Great Demon Kingdom."
"What about dad?" Shori asked. Yuuri didn't answer. Shori rubbed his face with his hands, looking as if someone had yanked the rug out from under him.
"I just wanted to buy some time," Yuuri sighed. "I wanted to be able to come back home as long as I could."
"That's not going to work any more," Shori insisted. "Greta's human. You can't take her home in grade school and bring her back here in university. They'll notice."
"Why do you think I avoided introducing them to her for so long?" Yuuri asked. Shori put an arm around his shoulders and they sat in silence.
"I'll be here," Shori said. Yuuri looked up at him. "I'll be here when you need to come home. I can make you that promise. I will be here when it counts, no matter what." He kissed Yuuri's temple, ruffling his hair fondly.
"Maybe the next time I come back it will be for your coronation ceremony." Yuuri said with a smile.
"I'm kind of hoping you'll be back before that," Shori replied, clambering to his feet and offering his brother a hand.
"Thanks Shori," he said softly.
"You'll have Wolfram," Shori said, gripping his shoulders as they faced the doors, watching Wolfram and Shoma discuss baseball as Greta stared at the TV with wide eyes. "He's going to be there for you too. I didn't really see it before, but he is good for you. He'd do anything for you and he's not afraid to be tough on you when you need it. You did good little brother.”
"I love him a lot," Yuuri said, his throat growing tight.
"I'm glad you have someone like him," Shori said, steering him toward the door.