Yuuri's Secret Song
"Yuuri!" Wolfram von Shin Makoku yelled as he ran after Yuuri in the great hallway that stretched from the courtyard and well into Blood Pledge Castle's famous gardens.
"I said NO!" Yuuri cried. The king even went so far as to stick his tongue out at his furious Royal Consort and kept running. It was a Sunday, and two hundred years ago, Yuuri had declared that no one (especially the King) is to work on Sundays.
From the balcony of the castle nursery which even now as adolescents Yuuri and Wolfram's offspring still used because they like to room together, Wolfgang watched as his bearer Wolfram chased his father, King Yuuri. The king had in his hand what appeared to be a lyric sheet.
Almost a hundred years ago, Yuuri seemed to have shifted his attention from baseball to guitar mainly to be able to accompany Wolfram when the Royal Consort played the piano, but soon it turned into a passion because, as with all things, Yuuri could not help but throw himself into his new pastime although Yuuri still has his catching arm for whenever he felt like playing baseball with the army's baseball league. So it goes that now Wolfram was chasing Yuuri in the garden because Yuuri had a new song he didn't want to show Wolfram.
Cecil, Yuuri's second child who then stood beside Wolfgang in the balcony, nudged his little brother. Cecil was the heir apparent, and his siblings always joked that it was because it was "apparent" that with Cecil's black hair and eyes, he would succeed his father, who was also a "double-black", or having black hair and eyes. Wolfgang however, was virtually Wolfram's clone. Blessed with flaxen hair and beautiful green eyes, he had all of the court ladies (and some of the lords) swooning after him. His siblings always told him he was popular enough to start a religion, a comment he always answered with "kiss my holy bum then," a remark that always earned him a good rough-housing from Cecil and kisses on the lips from his sisters, stunning double-black Constance and gorgeous blonde-haired-and-green-eyed Gwendolyn, the eldest. Said princesses have long since been married off to wealthy and powerful Mazoku families. Neither brother would admit it, but they miss having young ladies in the house.
"Quit it, Cecil," Wolfgang warned, fireball forming on his palm.
Cecil poked Wolfgang in the cheeks with his forefingers, a lot like how Wolfram poked Yuuri's cheeks whenever the latter pouted. Cecil is, like Yuuri, a water Mazoku, and held no fear of fire.
"I said quit it!" the younger Mazoku prince yelled.
"Snippy again, brat? I could only wonder how you stayed the youngest for this long, the way Dad and Papa carry on," Cecil joked, motioning to their parents playing like kids in the courtyard.
Wolfgang laughed. "I know! Just look at them, aniki! And don't call me a brat, jerk!" Wolfgang spat back good-naturedly, fireball now extinguished. Then he sighed. "I hope I marry someone like Papa one day. He or she need not be double-black like you and Papa. And I'll be fine with someone with half a page from his book."
Cecil nodded. "I agree. I think I want someone a lot like Dad though, someone gorgeous and has a steel backbone, someone who could help me run the kingdom. I know I won't make a great king like Papa, so I at least need a knock-out consort to compensate!"
Wolfgang laughed at that. "Nonsense, Cecil! Uncle Gwen says you have the best of both Dad and Papa. You'll be fine," Wolfgang said, patting his big brother's back and laughing heartily.
Cecil looked at his brother with concern. "What about you, Wolfgang? Are you sure you won't want to stay here and be my Prime Minister when Papa quits? Gwendy and Connie've found themselves aristocratic Mazoku families to marry into, but you…"
Wolfgang shook his head. "I'm sure. Maybe I'll go to Papa's world and be a ramp model like Uncle Gunter was when he stayed there. Just for a few decades… then maybe I can start that religion, eh?" he teased.
Cecil chuckled. "Yep,"
Downstairs on the garden, Wolfram was already throwing fireballs at his husband.
Cecil put an arm around his little brother who was actually only an hour younger than him, as all four of Yuuri's kids were part of a quadruplet. "I think we better go in before we get fried,"
Wolfram smirked. "Right."
At the dining table that evening…
"Yuuri, if you keep on keeping secrets from me, I'll leave you!" Wolfram fumed. He was usually seated beside his husband, but tonight the Royal Consort decided to be seated across the ruler so he could subject the latter to his cold jade glare throughout the meal.
Cecil and Wolfgang rolled their eyes -- this was obviously not a new threat. Queen Celi, Conrart, Gwendal, Gunter, Annissina, Murata and Yozak didn't even try to hide their laughter. Pigs would fly and the ocean would dry before Wolfram left Yuuri. The whole kingdom knew that --
--- but apparently, Yuuri was not part of the whole kingdom. "Come on, Wolfram!" Yuuri pleaded. "It's just a song I made up! It's not like it's a matter of national security! It's… personal. I'll write another one for you, okay? I'll even play it in the music room for the family! But this one's mine. Please?" Yuuri begged.
Wolfram banged his fists on the dinner table. Everyone seated saw that coming and held all their plates and cutlery in place. The last thing anyone needed was a duel between the monarch and the royal consort. Not only would that be scandalous, it'd be stupid. And really, the Royal Family of Shin Makoku was respected for their good hearts, but their subjects still had yet to see them as a serious bunch.
Yuuri sighed. "Fine. You win,"
Everyone at the table except for Yuuri and Wolfram rolled their eyes. Wolfram had a triumphant, almost smug look on his face, which while the king's reddened countenance rivaled with the apples' in the fruits basket.
"Should be interesting," Murata said good-naturedly as he continued to chow down on his steak.
After the meal, the family assembled in the great ballroom which doubled as a music room. Everyone looked forward to the performance, as they've all witnessed Yuuri get better over the decades. Yuuri, however, was another story.
"You okay, Your Majesty?" Conrart asked Yuuri as he helped Yuuri take his guitar out of the case and arranged the music sheets on the stand.
"Oh, for Shinou's sakes, Conrart! You're my godfather AND you were married to Greta, God bless her little soul, wherever it is – and STILL you call me "Your Majesty"?! What is WRONG with you, man?!"
Conrart laughed. "Okay, Yuuri. What's wrong?" he persisted.
If Yuuri's face had been red before, it was ashen now. "Read those sheets," he said.
Conrart read the music sheets and when he was done, his face had the same look as Yuuri's.
"Yuuri! Get a move on!" Wolfram demanded from his seat in front of the bandstand.
Queen Celi elbowed Wolfram and then continued filing her beautiful red nails.
Murata looked pleased. Anything that threw Yuuri off pleased him to no end, anyway.
Yozak was content just watching Conrart's behind – uh, watching him from behind. Then he stood up and started helping Conrart with setting up the instruments. Apparently Conrart had decided to back Yuuri up, as he'd already plugged his bass into Annissina's bread toaster invention which proved more useful as an electric generator for the electric guitar and the jazz bass. After making sure Conrart was set, Yozak seated himself beside the Sage.
Gwendal cracked his knuckles and sat himself behind the drums on the stage, after he saw that Conrart was manning the bass. Gwendal started playing drums since the time they were bought when he visited the Earth a couple of years before; he just liked the largeness of the sound of it, and how it seemed to stabilize the music he chose to accompany, and if anything, stabilizing was Gwendal's specialty.
Gunter took his place as second guitar, as usual. He liked to back Yuuri up in anything he did, just like Conrart was wont to do. But unlike Conrart who took up the bass, he specialized in guitar just like Yuuri so he could strike in colorful notes to compliment His Majesty's.
Yuuri was still shaking where he was, but he managed to tune his acoustic guitar perfectly, skilled ears picking up the pitch and directing practiced hands into knowing exactly how much to turn the knobs by.
Wolfram crossed his arms over his chest and started tapping the floor with his foot. "Yuuri! We're AGEING here!"
Yuuri bit his lip, looking beaten. Then Conrart put a hand on his shoulder and reassured him with a smile. "It'll be fine, Your Majesty," but the look on his face was, "Let's get this over with," and Yuuri didn't miss it.
Yuuri stood at the center of the bandstand and started to talk. "This is actually a song I wrote for Wolfram but I didn't want to share it because… well, it WAS personal. Well, here goes."
Yuuri got his "band" in a quick huddle, telling them the beat, and the scheme of the song. Gwendal grunted, Conrart smiled, and Gunter's nose bled. Yuuri sighed in misery and made his way back to the front of the band, cued Gwendal to start the beat, and started to sing.
We've got the afternoon.
You got this room for two
One thing I've left to do
Discover me
Discovering you
Wolfram started to realize why Yuuri didn't want to share this song. Yuuri was one modest guy if there ever was one. No one else knew about Yuuri the lover, but here it was, about to be laid out in the open. The public displays of attention were the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The Yuuri behind closed bedroom doors was a whole different person the Family and the Nation interacted with on a daily basis. "Well, maybe it's about time they knew," Wolfram thought. Besides, the blush creeping up to Wolfram's cheeks also seemed to have stunned Wolfram onto his seat, his eyes glued to Yuuri's shaking form on the vast stage.
One mile to every inch of
Your skin like porcelain
One pair of candy lips and
Your bubblegum tongue.
"Oh my…" The whole audience collectively breathed, and all of their eyes turned to Wolfram, who would have given a tomato a run for its redness.
Wolfgang thought, "You are too cool, Papa!" and shouted "Way to go, Papa!" which caused Yuuri to lose his self-consciousness and get on with the song with confidence, his look starting to change from defeated to almost predatory as the King shifted his gaze on the squirming Wolfram.
Cecil stretched out his legs comfortably and shook his head. Then he looked to Wolfram and shook his head again. Then he muttered, "Papa SO rocks," an expression he learned from the Great Sage.
Still, all ears and eyes were on the monarch on the stage, his words taken in and formed into images in their minds.
And if you want love
We'll make it.
Swimming in a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break 'em
This is bound to be a while.
If it was possible for Wolfram to redden any more, he would have. He knew exactly how long a "while" was in Yuuri's vocabulary. The thought made him blush even more, and his mouth went dry; rendered utterly speechless.
Cecilie was squealing with joy and shaking Wolfram and kept shrieking how her baby had managed to marry a king who was also a poet and a regular Casanova minus the infidelity.
Conrart's bass played against Yuuri's plucks and Gunter's strums perfectly, and Gwendal kept a rock-steady beat. A strangely self-satisfied look was on the drummer's face; as if he anticipated that something like this was bound to happen.
For the first time in the ages Yozak had known Conrart, he was never as entranced as he was then, as Conrart's skilled fingers slid across the bass' neck and belly, making the orange-haired soldier wonder…
Murata enjoyed the spectacle of Wolfram melting into mush in his seat as Yuuri at last shed his innocent boy-king image in front of the Royal Family. He was only glad that the kids were already in their '80's as the two bachelor sons listened to their father as he practically molested their bearer with this song, and how the latter so liked it. Murata smirked at the thought
There's something 'bout the way the hair falls in your face
I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase
You tell me where to go and
Though I might leave to find it
I'll never let your head hit the bed
Without my hand behind it.
Wolfram writhed a little more in his seat. All those times… Yuuri never let him go in a less than blissful state. In fact, right now, he felt just like some of that kind of action.
You want love?
We'll make it
Swimming in a deep sea
Of blankets
Take all your big plans
And break 'em
This is bound to be a while…
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
At this point, Wolfram finally snapped out of the trance and went up the stage. Then he stood beside him, careful not to block the king from the audience's view. Wolfram wanted to hold him, but he didn't want to disrupt Yuuri's playing. But when Yuuri smiled at him, Wolfram understood it was okay, and he just hugged Yuuri from behind, swaying with him, even as their audience looked on admiringly, if a little enviously.
Yuuri turned to Wolfram and played only to him.
Damn baby!
You frustrate me
I know you're mine, all mine, all mine
But you look so good it hurts sometimes…
Yuuri played his solo flawlessly, his passion doubtlessly inspired by his spouse pressed close to him.
After the last notes of the interlude faded, he
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonder (I'm never speaking up again, I'll use my hands)
Your body is a wonderland
Your body is a wonderland.
No words followed. Yuuri relinquished his guitar to the floor, swept Wolfram off of his feet and carried him off like a bride, not even bothering to close the great ballroom doors behind him.
Wolfgang tapped his older brother's shoulder. "Where are they going?"
Cecil grinned at him and said, "Off to make sure you won't be the youngest for long."
Disclaimer: I don't own Kyou Kara Maou and "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer.