Part Twenty-Eight
Very Brief Recap
- Lolz Yuuri got kidnapped
- Who's this Iris chick??
- Poor Wolfie has a headache
- Conrad and Yozak are betting on the gender of the baby
- PLACE YOUR OWN BETS NOW!!! :D
Warnings
- PG-13ish?
- ANGST
Characters
Yuuri - Guine
Dimitri - Mikage
Iris - Mikage
Owen - Mikage
Wolfram - Mikage
Murata - Mikage
Jade - Guine
Hale - Guine
Covering the Bases
Part Eight - Right Through Bill Buckner's Legs...
Dimitri - *smiles at him serenely again, making sure he couldn't guess at his true intentions by looking at him* "There isn't much I want at the moment, Your Majesty. It would be for the best to wait for your advisors to arrive, and then we can negotiate. I hear they've already begun their search." *shakes his head sadly* "Although it does bring sadness to my heart to think of your poor fiancé. At the rate things are going at the moment, I fear he will do nothing more than waste away. What a horrible fate for someone of such beauty..."
Yuuri - "Stop it!" *quickly brings one of his hands to cover his face/doesn't know what to do, just knows he had to get out and find a way to help Wolfram*
Dimitri - "Oh, dear. It seems I've upset you..." *inwardly cackles*
Yuuri - *shakes his head, though he could feel his body shaking, and not just from the pain*
Dimitri - "You should really sit down, Your Majesty. I can't imagine all of this is very easy for you to hear."
Iris - *worried/really wishing she could do something to make Dimitri stop, but she's too frightened by him* "Yuuri..."
Yuuri - *only glances up once Iris calls to him/quickly gives her a small nod before sitting back down/tries to fight off the sudden stinging in his eyes*
Dimitri - *carefully watches the exchange between them, before standing from his own chair with another smile directed at the king* "I believe there may be something I can do to help you."
Yuuri - *looks up at him, frowning* "And what would that be?"
Dimitri - *has to force back a smirk* "I can bring your fiancé to you, if you would like."
Yuuri - *frowns more* "How about you take me to him?"
Dimitri - *shakes his head sadly* "I'm afraid I can't do that. I'm expecting your men to be here within a week or so, and we need to be present when they arrive in order to proceed with the negotiations."
Yuuri - *glares/doesn't want them anywhere near Wolfram*
Dimitri - "It really wouldn't be too difficult a thing at all..."
Yuuri - *still glaring* "You're planning on kidnapping him too? Thanks, but I think I can wait..."
Dimitri - *looks surprised, then saddened* "But he may already be dead by the time the negotiations are complete..."
Yuuri - *feels himself tense up, his heart skipping a beat as well, instantly coming out of his glare as his eyes begin to sting again*
Dimitri - "Yes, I think you'd like to see him before then, wouldn't you?"
Yuuri - *quickly glares at the man again* "Don't you dare go near him."
Dimitri - *finally allows a smirk to break out along his face* "I never said I'd have to."
Yuuri - *confused, but still glaring* "What do you mean?"
Dimitri - "I will leave you here to think on that." *motions towards the guards at the door again, who come to remove the platters of food on the table - though they leave Yuuri's plate, as he hadn't eaten anything yet, and his spork as well, but they take the knife; no use giving him any sort of opportunity, after all/Dimitri then moves towards Iris, gripping one of her arms and hauling her up* "And now, if you'll excuse me, Your Majesty, the girl and I have some business to attend to in private."
Yuuri - *quickly jumps up from his seat, grabbing onto the girl* "No! Leave her alone!"
Owen - *easily removes Yuuri, pulling him back*
Iris - *wide eyed and terrified*
Dimitri - *begins leading Iris to the door* "I'll come back later to speak with you again, Your Majesty. Perhaps I'll even have a surprise for you."
Yuuri - *fighting against the man as best he could, doing whatever he could to ignore the increasing pain at each movement* "No! Don't go near Wolfram! And give me back Iris! Leave her alone!!"
Dimitri - *smirks at him* "Give her back to you?" *raises an eyebrow* "Why, you act as if she's yours."
Iris - *scared out of her mind/turns to look at Yuuri as she continues to be dragged out of the room/tears in her eyes/is barely able to choke out:* "Yuuri!"
Owen - *holds onto Yuuri tightly to keep him from escaping*
Yuuri - *still fighting and clawing at Owen, trying to force himself out of the man's hold, reaching out to the girl as if he could somehow reach her if he did* "She's sure as hell not yours!! Give her back!!! Iris!!"
Dimitri - "Oh, but I do believe she is mine." *leaves the room, taking Iris with him*
Iris - *shouts for him one last time* "Yuuri!!"
Owen - *waits for them both to leave before attempting to further subdue the struggling boy/growls* "Don't make me hurt you again..."
Yuuri - *still trying to fight against the man, jabbing his elbow at his stomach to let him go/breathing heavily and has one eye closed completely to try and block the pain* "Let me go!"
Owen - *isn't even fazed by the jab into his stomach/he's got a couple of layers of muscle and fat that serve as good protection* "I don't think so..." *grabs hold of Yuuri's arms and forces them behind him, motioning with a jerk of his head for the other remaining guard to come closer*
Wedge - the other guard - *walks closer to Yuuri, smirking at him as well, popping his knuckles*
Yuuri - *too pissed to care that he was already outnumbered, not to mention he could hardly fight back as it was/still trying to struggle against the man* "Let me go, damn it!!!"
Owen - *continues to hold onto him, forcing him to stand still*
Wedge - *chuckles/to Yuuri* "You've got a nice face. Anyone ever tell you that?"
Yuuri - *glares at him, still fighting against the man's hold, though quickly wishing he could just sit down to stop the spinning*
Wedge - *still smirking, 'cause apparently bad guys like to smirk* "It'd be a shame to do anything to ruin it." *quickly launches his fist out, punching Yuuri in the stomach*
Yuuri - *lets out a short cry of pain, trying to pull his arms away to hold onto his already painful stomach/trying again through clenched teeth* "Let me go!!"
Owen - *doesn't release his arms, holding onto them tighter*
Wedge - *rears back again, punching him along the face this time* "Oops. My bad."
Yuuri - *cries in pain again, feeling his head snap back some, though more pissed than anything/turns his head to glare at the man again, still trying to get free/attempts kicking at them since his arms were apparently not going to help*
Owen - *rolls his eyes at the boy, but is still fairly amused*
Wedge - *lashes out to punch him again, in nearly the same spot as the previous time, delighting in his cries of pain* "Oops. I did it again."
Yuuri - *nearly stops moving completely, trying to catch his breath, pausing to spit out some blood from his mouth/rapidly losing any energy he had since that morning* "Let... me go..."
Owen - "Gladly." *practically throws him to the floor, not caring if it hurt him any more*
Wedge - *kicks him in the side, though he makes sure it's his uninjured one/busting his stitches open and making him bleed everywhere would not be a good thing/they wanted him docile, not dead*
Yuuri - *lets out a pitiful cry, both from being thrown to the ground and from being kicked/quickly moves his arms to wrap around his stomach, his hand covering his still painful wound from before for protection/tries catching his breath again, as well as work up the strength to stand and fight back*
Owen - *moves to hit him as well, giving him a nice kick in the head, though not nearly hard enough to break his skull open... however much he wanted to...*
Yuuri - *cries again/now trying to stop his head from spinning from the pain/wasn't so much of a wimp to just give up like that/shoots one of his arms out to grab onto one of the men's ankles - since his vision was too burry at the moment to tell them apart - pulling him hard, towards him, hoping to knock him to the ground*
Owen - *surprised, and ends up stumbling a bit, but manages to catch onto something for balance/kicks him again with his other foot to make him let go*
Wedge - *stands back and watches/this was very amusing to him, though he was a bit surprised that the boy had any more strength left in him/either way... the sight of his blood was exciting... maybe Lord Dimitri would let them do something more later...*
Yuuri - *can feel something warm spreading down from his face, probably from where he was punched before, but ignores it/still holding onto his wound with one hand, but releases the man's ankle to grab onto the leg of the chair, flipping it over between him and the man to get him to back off for a moment/really doesn’t have much strength, but with adrenaline kicking in, it didn't really matter*
Owen - *jumps back, glaring at the boy, now/pulls out a knife from somewhere within his clothing*
Wedge - *eyes widen a bit/as much as he'd like to draw more blood, he can't let Owen do anything serious/warningly* "Owen..."
Yuuri - *quickly rolls over, trying to get to his feet, completely ignoring how his body fought against its own movements*
Wedge - *moves over to the boy right away, pushing Owen back/kicks him in his uninjured side again, a little harder this time, trying to knock the fight out of him*
Yuuri - *immediately falls back to the ground, crying out in pain again/tries to push himself up, only to find that his arms had almost completely betrayed him, not allowing him to move without his body shaking from pain and lack of energy*
Wedge - *smirks in accomplishment, though he can't help but goad him a little* "It seems Lord Dimitri plans on bringing your fiancé here. Maybe he'll let us have him to ourselves for a while before bringing him to you."
Owen - *grins evilly/goading him as well* "I wonder what he tastes like..."
Wedge - "I'm sure his blood is just as pretty as he is."
Yuuri - *can feel the tears fill his eyes again/tries pushing himself up again, but only manages to roll over on his side* "Stay the hell away from him!!!"
Owen - *more smirking* "I bet he drives you crazy - looking at you with those big green eyes, batting his long lashes."
Wedge - *licks his lips* "I'd like to try him for myself."
Yuuri - "SHUT UP!!!" *trying even harder to push himself up*
Wedge - *smirks wider, then walks around Yuuri to kick him in the back of the head*
Yuuri - *passes out completely, though not before tears began to stream down his cheeks, along with the blood*
Owen - *chuckles, then puts his knife away and heads for the door, a little disappointed that he hadn't had to use it after all*
Wedge - *smirks once more, before heading to the door as well, closing it and locking it behind him*
----------
Wolfram - *and, obviously, since it's been a week since Yuuri was first brought to the manor, it's also been a week since Wolfram first woke up and discovered the distressing news/Conrart and Yozak stayed with them all at the inn for a while, allowing them some time to recover from the attack, but once the storm cleared they went out with the search party to begin searching, hence the name 'search party'/Wolfram, though still worried about Yuuri, calmed... a little/instead of throwing a fit and demanding to be able to go and help, he fell into a state of depression instead/they would have traveled back to the castle earlier, as his head wound was healing fairly well, but he began experiencing some slight stomach pains, which the doctor assured them were caused by nothing more than stress, and were not of any risk to the child... as long as they didn't continue/Murata, Jade, and Hale allowed Wolfram a few more days rest until beginning the journey back to the castle, accompanied on their journey this time by a large group of soldiers/currently, they are almost within view of the capital and Wolfram - as a way to prevent him from escaping - has been forced to ride on a horse with Hale, sitting in front of him to further prevent him from trying to take off on his own, which didn't prove difficult at all seeing as Hale was tall enough to see and reach around him easily/Wolfram is presently silent, as he's been for most of the journey*
Hale - *feeling a little awkward about the whole being-close-to-the-king's-fiancé bit, but is other wise normal Hale/silent as ever, though still worried for the boys’ safety/supposes he should try being at least a bit friendly to the blond, and had tried being friendly throughout the week, but it wasn't much help with his apparent love for silence/quietly, like always, to Wolfram* "Are you feeling any better today...?"
Jade - *riding somberly next to her brother, and is being completely silent/still can't shake the feeling that everything that happened was her fault*
Wolfram - *physically he feels fine, except for being a little tired - being plagued by nightmares every time he sleeps doesn't help at all with the actual sleeping process/emotionally, he feels pretty drained, and isn't able to do much more than sit there and sulk, and continue to blame himself for everything/shakes his head slowly/quiet as well* "No..."
Murata - *silently continues to ride, and even though they have a group of soldiers with them now, he still keeps an eye out for anything even remotely suspicious/hasn't really talked to Wolfram at all since his little speech, besides the few times he's had to yell at him and force him to eat something*
Hale - *nods understandingly, falling back into a state of being completely silent*
Jade - *shoots her twin a glare, obviously not thinking his little attempts were good enough*
Hale - *rolls his eyes/quietly still* "Are you hungry...? Or... do you want me to get you anything...?"
Wolfram - *shakes his head again, unable to stop tears from filling his eyes at his words/knew Yuuri would have asked him the exact same thing had he been there*
Jade - *puts on a smile and rides up a bit further to be able to see Wolfram's face/really doesn't know what to say to make him feel better* "Cheer up! At least you are very nearly home!"
Wolfram - *shrugs, struggling to prevent his tears from falling, thinking he'd already cried enough this last week/didn't really care that he was going home/it just meant he'd be even further away from Yuuri/sadly moves one of his hands so it's resting against his stomach*
Jade - *sighs, falling back some and turning to glare up at her brother again*
Hale - *rolls his eyes at her/softly again* "I think what you need is a nice, long bath."
Jade - *sputters and falls away from him even more to ride with Murata/men!*
Wolfram - *that doesn't cheer him up at all, because he knows that instead of bathing with Yuuri, he'll be bathing all alone*
Murata - *turns to curiously look at the girl, but doesn't allow himself to say anything*
Jade - *doesn't say anything to him, nor does she look at him, just sits on her horse, letting the others lead the way*
Hale - *goes silent again/at least he tried... sorta... *
Wolfram - *continues to just sit there and let everything happen around him, thankfully able to blink his tears away after a while/finally the capital comes within view, and the group quickens their pace*
Jade - *finally looks up once they reach the capital/impressed with how it actually looked, which, apparently, was much more majestic in person than in pictures*
Hale - *looks up at it as well, but apparently not as well read up as his sister was*
Wolfram - *remains quiet, not even bothering to look around as they enter the streets, heading up towards the palace, used to all of the houses and the people and the children playing 'Demon King' in the snow/swallows thickly*
Murata - *a little relieved to finally be back home, though he doesn't show it/merely continues to look straight ahead, hoping there wouldn't be too much of a fuss when they got to the castle*
Hale - *still keeping an eye on Wolfram as they were lead through the streets up to the castle and through the gates to the front*
Jade - *still staring in awe at everything/mumbling something to herself about how one of her books was completely wrong about the pulley system on the gates as they pass through them*
Wolfram - *still staring at nothing, not even caring that they'd arrived, or bothering to look up and see if anyone was waiting for them*
Murata - *releases a soft, short sigh, finally able to completely relax, though there was still the matter of finding the king to take care of*
Hale - *once stopped completely, he carefully sides off the back before moving to help Wolfram down from the horse*
Greta - "Wolfram!!" *waiting right there on the steps, running down to fling herself on him as soon as he was off the horse*
Wolfram - *doesn't put up a fuss at all, and allows Hale to help him, taking a step away from him once his feet were on the ground/is startled by Greta's sudden pounce, and momentarily flinches back, but manages to keep his balance and wrap his arms around her/still doesn't say anything, though*
Lady Celi - *stands back by the fronts steps to watch them enter, but once Greta's jumped foreword she allows herself to walk towards her son as well/not nearly as flamboyantly happy as always - deeply concerned instead*
Gunter - *stands by the front steps where Celi and Greta left him, distressed about the king's disappearance*
Gwendal - *no where to be seen*
Jade - *dismounts as well, getting a little overwhelmed with such highly ranked people around/unconsciously backs closer to Murata since she was slowly getting used to being around him*
Greta - *clinging to Wolfram, though starting to move back towards the castle and out of the cold* "We were so worried! Are you okay?"
Wolfram - *moves slowly, and nods a bit to reassure her, but still doesn't say a word*
Murata - *tries to smile at Jade, but it's a little lopsided/turns to Lady Celi, motioning to the twins, figuring he may as well make the introductions and try to make things a little less awkward* "Lady Celi, this is Jade and Hale Cross. They were of assistance to us on our journey back. Jade, Hale, this is Lady Cecilie von Spitzweg, the former queen."
Celi - *stares at the two for a moment, and has to forcefully stop herself from gushing about how cute the girl was and how tall the boy was, telling herself this was neither the time nor the place for flirting and girl-talk/she smiles at them all the same* "Thank you. You're welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like. I can have the maids prepare rooms for you."
Jade - *sputters, blushing a bit at the introduction/wasn't really expecting to be introduced to any one else of importance... okay... so she met the king, but that was before all her emotional defenses were out of sync/quickly bows to her* "Thank you so much for your hospitality, Lady von Spitzweg! We do not wish to intrude for long. Only until we are no longer of service!"
Hale - *bows as well/really tempted to thank the former queen for Wolfram's good looks, but holds back/smiles lightly to himself in amusement, especially since Wolfram seemed so confident they would never meet his mother*
Murata - *smiles at Jade/she was really, really cute* "You won't be intruding. There's plenty of space. And I'm sure Shibuya would want you to stay for the wedding."
Celi - *brightens a bit at the mention of the wedding, but quickly turns serious again soon after/spares a concerned glance towards her son*
Greta - *still clinging to her adoptive father, reaching up to brush his bangs back a bit to see the bandage on his forehead/extremely worried* "Do you want anything? I can get you anything you'd like!"
Jade - *still blushing, but now silent/fidgeting a bit nervously in place, not wanting to move and make herself look stupid*
Hale - *rolls his eyes at his sister*
Murata - *continues to smile, back in his element* "Well, we shouldn't dawdle here all day. I can show the both of you around if you'd like." *turns back to Celi, then* "And you should have Gisela look over von Bielefeld, just to be safe." *makes no mention of the fact that he's pregnant, though he knows no one at the castle knows yet/figures he's already told enough people, and that Wolfram will tell his mother and daughter if he feels like it - or if Gisela instigated a conversation, but Murata was more than confident that she'd keep her silence if she saw Wolfram really wasn't in the mood*
Celi - *nods, politely excuses herself, and goes back to coddling her youngest son*
Greta - *still petting Wolfram's hair, giving him small kisses of comfort on his cheek, hoping that would help him feel better*
Jade - *nods nervously to Murata, only because she didn't know what else to do with herself, much less did she want to be in the way*
Hale - *was going to follow his sister/didn't really care*
Murata - *motions for the twins to follow him and begins to give them a tour, dragging Gunter along too so the poor man didn't worry himself to death - maybe he'd get distracted with telling long, drawn-out stories about the historical aspects of the palace and forget his concern for a while*
Wolfram - *appreciates Greta's love and concern, but can't force himself to show her even the smallest of smiles*
Greta - *still watching him worriedly/ends up leading him up the stairs and into the warmth of the castle* "Are you hungry?"
Wolfram - *shakes his head, allowing himself to be lead*
Celi - *walks along with them, stopping a maid once they'd entered and asking her to call for Gisela*
Gisela - *catches up with them after a few minutes/out of breath from running, like usual/stops a little short of the group to gape at Wolfram, but then composes herself and makes the rest of the way to him* "Are you in any pain right now?"
Greta - *clinging to his arm*
Wolfram - *besides the pain of guilt, no/he shakes his head once more/knows that she knows about the baby almost immediately, remembering what the healer had said about it at the church/swallows thickly again, trying to stop his eyes from tearing up again*
Celi - *notices Gisela's momentary gape, but doesn't ask questions*
Gisela - *eyes him with concern for a moment, then starts to dig through her bag, pulling out a small bottle, opening it and handing it to him* "Drink this, Your Excellency... You'll feel much better..." *actually, it was so the baby wouldn't get too malnourished, knowing full well how Wolfram wasn't very good with eating like he was supposed to*
Greta - *still watching them, wondering why Gisela seemed to be a bit more secretive in what she did than usual*
Wolfram - *he takes the little bottle from Gisela and looks at it for a moment/he knew what it was supposed to do, according to her, but he still didn't know if he could trust it - it smelled funny/glances at her with sad eyes, speaking quietly* "What is it?"
Gisela - *watches him with wide eyes/doesn't know if she should actually say anything about it, especially if she hadn't been informed of the situation as soon as they had arrived* "Trust me... it's for your health..."
Wolfram - *looks at it with a blank gaze for a little longer before taking a tiny sip/immediately makes a face and pulls it away* "It tastes horrible."
Gisela - *sighs lightly/at least Wolfram hadn't changed completely/shakes her head* "You have to drink all of it..."
Wolfram - *shakes his head slowly, still speaking very quietly* "I don't want to."
Gisela - *frowns at him, though still not wanting to say anything* "You have to drink it... it's for your health... It..." *really doesn't want to say anything else, just gazes at him with wide eyes, hoping he would understand*
Wolfram - *stares at the bottle some more, but makes no further move to drink the rest of it*
Celi - *sighs a bit at his stubbornness but, curious, takes the bottle from him/her maternal instincts are screaming at her, making her highly suspicious/she sniffs at it lightly, making a face as well and pulling it away/yes, she remembered that horrid smell all too well/eventually hands it back to Wolfram* "Drink it, Wolf."
Wolfram - *pouts a little bit, not really liking the fact that the women were already ordering him around when he hadn't even been home an hour yet, but he takes the bottle back from his mother and drinks it as quickly as he can, trying not to taste it and keep himself from gagging*
Gisela - *stares at Celi for a bit, knowing that she would know what it was for, but still doesn't say anything/turns back to watch Wolfram, sighing in relief once he finally drank it, holding her hand to take the bottle back from him* "Let's move to a more comfortable room, Your Excellency... I need to take a look at your wound..."
Greta - *curious, but doesn't say anything/she would have to ask her grandmother later if need be/still clinging to Wolfram's arm*
Wolfram - *hands the bottle back to Gisela and quietly nods at her suggestion, moving slowly down the hall to make his way to his room - well... his and Yuuri's room; he hadn't used his own room in years*
Celi - *patiently follows, keeping her silence/true, she was normally a bit of a busy-body, but she knew when it was best to just shut up/Wolfram would talk when he felt like it*
Gisela - *finally reaches the room, pushing the door open once they arrived/everything had been cleaned up and put back in order with nothing to suggest the tantrum Wolfram had thrown before leaving/they had even replaced the broken mirror/stands to the side, holding the door open for the others*
Wolfram - *makes his way in, as slow as ever/ hardly notices the change from the last time he'd seen the room/merely goes to the bed and flops down onto the mattress, curling onto his side on Yuuri's side of the bed, reaching for Yuuri's pillow and hugging it to him*
Greta - *worriedly follows, getting on her knees to rest her head on the edge of the bed, wishing there was something she could do to make him feel better*
Gisela - *follows Wolfram over to Yuuri's side of the bed, sitting down on the edge next to Greta/carefully reaches out to touch the bandage, peeking under it and cringing a bit before putting it back in place/continues by hovering her hand over the wound, letting a green light seem to glow from it*
Wolfram - *simply lays there and lets Gisela do her work/doesn't have the energy to fight with her, nor would he really want to if he did*
Celi - *shuts the door once they've all entered, not wanting the gossiping maids to peek in or 'accidentally' overhear anything/walks over the stand by the bed as well, though keeping herself back further than the other two, not wanting him to become overwhelmed at all*
Gisela - *continues holding her hand over his forehead, since it would take longer to heal than just a sprained foot/softly* "How are you feeling...?"
Wolfram - *was about to shake his head in reply, but figures it would be best not to move it at the moment/finally opens his mouth to say more than a few words, though he still sounds strangely subdued... although, under the current circumstances, maybe it wasn't so strange after all* "My stomach's a little upset, but that might have something to do with that horrible drink you gave me."
Gisela - *blinks at him, shaking her head* "No... the medicine shouldn't give you any problems... it's very gentle on the body, despite the taste..." *pauses for a moment* "You've been under a lot of stress..." *can only imagine what it must be like for him, especially since Yuuri wasn't there* "You really need to take it easy, Your Excellency..."
Greta - *reaches out to gently pet his arm, still trying to make him feel better, but doesn't really know what to say to him*
Wolfram - *a little angry at her words/raises his voice just slightly* "How can you expect me to 'take is easy?!'" *he bats her hand away from his head to sit up on the bed, glaring at her, though a few tears still linger in his eyes* "You want me to just sit here and do nothing?!"
Celi - *shifts a little on her feet, taking a step closer, ready to stop him from doing... whatever it was he was gonna do/it would definitely not be good for him to throw one of his vicious little tantrums right now* "Wolf..."
Gisela - *locks her eyes onto his/firmly* "Yes. You need to sit here and do nothing." *pauses, a little softer* "You'll hurt yourself if you do anything strenuous..."
Wolfram - *shakes his head* "I don't care what you say about what I need to do! I can't just sit here!! I... I can't!!"
Gisela - *frowns lightly at him* "In your condition, you shouldn't do anything. It's not that you can't do anything, or won't be able to do anything... it's that you shouldn't do anything."
Wolfram - "So I'm just... supposed to sit here..." *doesn't really like that idea at all/he'd heard of pregnant people having to be put on bed rest before, but having to do it this early on was just ridiculous!* "What... you expect to just stare at the wall and twiddle my thumbs when Yuuri's out there..." *trails off, feeling his eyes sting more*
Greta - *speaks up before Gisela could/doesn't really understand what they were talking about, but if Wolfram was upset, then she would do anything to help* "I'll stay with you... "
Wolfram - *looks to Greta, and his expression softens a bit* "There's nothing to do here, Greta."
Celi - *frowns a bit, before moving herself closer to the bed/she climbs up onto it and seats herself beside him, pulling him close with one of her arms around him* "Of course there is! There are a lot of things we could be doing! Why, I can teach you how to knit, so that you can make little sweaters and booties on your own - it's always better than just buying them; it makes you feel closer. And we really should start planning the wedding." *brushes some of his hair out of his face, trying to comfort him* "You know His Majesty will come back safely, and as soon as he does I'm sure he'll want the wedding as soon as possible."
Gisela - *sighs a bit in relief for Celi's words/doesn't go back to healing him yet/wants to know he's calm enough to stay still*
Greta - *eyes widen a bit at the mention of 'little' sweaters and booties/smiles widely at him* "Yeah! And I can bring in games to play and books to read! And we'll have lots of fun and before you know it, Yuuri will be back and we'll have to teach him to knit as well, otherwise he would be the only one who doesn't know how."
Wolfram - *smiles just slightly at the thought/can't really imagine the clumsy fool knitting anything*
Celi - "And we can start planning what the nursery will look like. We really shouldn't do any decorating yet, just so no one else notices, but you can still start picking things out. Or we can have the cooks bring food in, and we can spend the afternoon tasting everything, figuring out what you want to eat at the reception. And you'll have to be fitted for some new clothes, and you can start thinking of names..."
Greta - *nods, getting excited* "And I want to try all the desserts! Oh! And we can pick stuff out for Yuuri to wear since he's not here to do it himself. That way he won't have a choice on what he wears since he didn't do any of the work!"
Gisela - *sighs again, smiling as well/so much for worried about being the one to bring up the topic of babies*
Wolfram - *smiles for a little longer, liking the thought of all that, but it doesn't last long/frowns again, lifting a hand to rub at one of his eyes* "I just want Yuuri back..."
Celi - *cuddles him close against her side* "Oh, Wolf, I know you do. But he's been in this sort of situation before, and he's always come out of it just fine. He wouldn't want you spending so much of your time worrying about him when he knows it's not good for you..."
Greta - *nods, getting up from the floor to climb onto the bed as well, cuddling next to Wolfram, opposite her grandmother* "And we'll be so busy having so much fun, you won't even notice he's not here... and then you'll be really surprised when he's suddenly back and helping with the planning as well."
Wolfram - *doesn't think he could possibly distract himself enough to not notice that Yuuri is so obviously missing, but he doesn't say anything against her*
Celi - *still trying to cheer him up* "Think of all the cake you'll get to try. You like sweets. You can have cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until you find out which kind you like best." *thinks about that idea for a bit, realizing it probably wasn't the best one she'd ever had* "Of course, you'll have to make sure to eat a lot of healthy food in between. No more wine at dinner, either."
Wolfram - *grumbles* "I don't usually drink wine at dinner, anyway..."
Gisela - *smiles at them, figuring he was calm enough now/carefully moves a bit closer to him, once again holding out her hand to continue healing him*
Greta - *grins up at him* "Yup! Eating healthy is very important! Hey, if you want, I can go get something right now. We can play a game, or something... Or read a book!"
Wolfram - *frowns a bit more, finding his happiness and excitement over the coming baby fleeting at best/what was the point if Yuuri wasn't here?* "I'm not hungry..." *feels his eyes sting even more/what if Yuuri wasn't okay? what if he didn't make it back in time for the wedding? he'd have to deal with all the whispered comments and hateful looks all on his own - with Yuuri there he didn't think it would faze him at all, but with him gone.... what if they didn't find Yuuri for months and months, and he missed all this?/slowly starts working himself into a panic*
Gisela - *pulls back a bit, able to feel his stress/glances nervously at Celi, hoping she could do something else to help since what they were doing only seemed to be temporary*
Greta - *watches him, her smile fading a bit at seeing the tears in his eyes* "Wolfram...?"
Wolfram - *takes a few deep breaths to try and control himself, but it hardly helps/what if Yuuri was hurt? what if he got sick again? what if... what if they killed him? what was he supposed to do if Yuuri was dead?/a few tears escape his eyes and fall down his cheeks*
Celi - *frowns at him a bit more, as if she can tell exactly what he was thinking/pulls his face around so he has to look at her, staring at him seriously* "Now, you listen to me, Wolf. Right now you shouldn't be thinking about His Majesty. You shouldn't even be thinking about yourself. What you need to be thinking of is that tiny, innocent little baby inside of you. He or she is depending on you to make sure they're born strong and healthy."
Gisela - *watches them, extremely glad that Celi was there to help/she could only do so much, herself*
Greta - *doesn't say anything, just cuddles closer to Wolfram/can feel the tears in her own eyes at the sight of his*
Wolfram - *looks at his mother, because he can't really look away with her hands on his face, but he doesn't feel better in the least/she didn't understand anyway - none of them did/how could they expect him not to think of Yuuri?*
Celi - *continues, even though it doesn't seem as if she's getting through to him at all* "You're in a very delicate condition right now. You only just got pregnant, and it's not hard at all to lose a baby this early. If you let yourself get too stressed, or if you go out and hurt yourself, you could miscarry."
Wolfram - *cries a little more at that thought/he'd hate himself forever if that happened*
Greta - *cries silently with him, reaching her hand up to stroke at his arm again, trying to comfort him in any way she could*
Gisela - *sits still, watching them/can't make herself say anything for fear of stressing him out more*
Celi - "I know you're upset, Wolf, and you have every right to be, but you can't let yourself endanger your child." *brushes some of his hair back again, then wipes at his tears a little* "You need to learn to separate yourself from things better. It's alright to be sad and worried, but you can't let it overwhelm you to the point of panic."
Wolfram - *cries a little harder/knows she's right to a certain extent, but it's not like he could just turn his emotions off and stop feeling all together*
Greta - *watches him, still stroking his arm, tears still falling down her cheeks* "We'll be here for you... It's okay... It'll make Yuuri sad if he found out you've been worrying over him so much... He'll feel really bad about it..."
Gisela - *continues to sit silently, knowing she couldn't possibly say anything better to make him feel better*
Celi - *nods a bit at what Greta had said, agreeing with her* "If His Majesty were here right now, what would he say to you?"
Wolfram - *thinks for a moment, remembering all the 'I love you's and other sweet things Yuuri had said to him over the time they'd been away, but he knows that, in this instance, he'd say something completely different/speaks through his tears, his throat tight and sore* "'Stop being such a brat and eat something.'"
Greta - *smiles a bit through her tears at that* "That sounds like him..."
Celi - *nods again* "See?" *continues to wipe away his tears, sparing a smile at Greta too, moving her hand from Wolfram's cheek just long enough to wipe her tears away as well, knowing the poor girl must be just as worried, though she was good a hiding it* "So why don't I have one of the maids bring us something to eat, and then Gisela can give you something to help you sleep and you can take a nap - you look like you haven't slept in days. And then, once you wake up, we'll start planning the wedding." *smiles at him again* "I've already written out the invitations, you know. I finished them all before I'd even found out you'd run away."
Greta - *smiles a bit more* "And I already started trying some of the food. There's this one little fruit pastry that's really good..." *pauses, looking up at him* "Wolfram...? Can I take a nap with you...? After we eat?"
Wolfram - *turns to look at Greta, easily noticing that she'd been crying too, and immediately feels guilty/he forces a small smile and nods at her, then moves away from his mother to hug her* "I'm sorry."
Greta - *hugs him back, closing her eyes to stop her tears* "It's okay. You're just worried. But we're with you now. And they'll bring Yuuri back really soon."
Wolfram - *nods again and continues to hug her/he sincerely hoped she was right*
Celi - *strokes Wolfram's hair a bit more before removing herself from the bed, walking back towards the door and opening it to ask one of the passing maids to bring in some food - nothing heavy, of course, but enough to satisfy them*
Greta - *continues hugging Wolfram, really glad that at least he was back safely/really hoping that she was right, herself, and that Yuuri would be with them soon*
Gisela - *lets them have their moment, closing her eyes while she waited to check to make sure the baby was okay, as well as checking for anything else that might be wrong with Wolfram*
Wolfram - *takes a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and it works a bit better this time than it had previously/a light twinge-like pain in his stomach makes him worry, though/glances up at Gisela* "Is the baby really okay?" *the doctor at the village they'd stayed at had told him it was fine, but he'd been a mere doctor - not a healer - and hadn't been able to feel it*
Gisela - *opens her eyes, smiling at him* "Yes... As long as you don't stress yourself out too much, the baby will be just fine."
Greta - *glances at her as well, relieved to hear that she was really going to have a baby brother or sister to look after soon*
Wolfram - *also relieved, though he still doesn't see how they expect him not to be stressed*
Celi - *stays by the door until the maid comes back with a platter of light sandwiches/politely thanks her before closing the door once again, taking the food over to the table by the large windows and setting it down/takes a few of them and carries them over the where the others were on and by the bed/hands one to Wolfram* "Here. You eat it, and then once you're done I want you to eat another one. Knowing you, you haven't been eating properly at all since you left." *also gives a little sandwich to Greta, and then to Gisela, keeping one for herself as well*
Greta - *takes the sandwich from her - thanking her as well - to nibble on, but is mostly watching to make sure Wolfram ate like he was supposed to*
Gisela - "Thank you..." *takes the sandwich, but sets it down on her knee for the time being/going back to hovering her hand over Wolfram's wound to finish her job before doing anything else*
Wolfram - *grumbles under his breath about how he wasn't a little boy any more and she didn't have to order him around, but he begins to take small bites of his sandwich regardless, at the same time trying to be as still as possible so Gisela could see to his head/determinately stops himself from wondering if Yuuri was eating okay, and forces himself to think of other things instead - like the wedding he was supposed to be planning/immediately thinks of the spring wedding he'd wanted - so long ago, it seems now, even if it really wasn't - pouting lightly* "I won't be able to have any flowers..."
Celi - *smiles at him in between bites of her own sandwich* "I'm sure we'll be able to find something else to decorate with."
Greta - *smiles at him, although it seemed to be more like a grin* "Oh... if you want flowers, I bet you'll be able to have flowers..."
Gisela - *raises her eyebrow at the young girl, but doesn't ask any questions, just continues with her job*
Wolfram - *looks at his adopted daughter, curious* "How? It's winter, Greta. All the flowers are dead."
Greta - *still grinning* "Maybe they are dead here..." *trails off playfully*
Wolfram - *gives her a strange look* "I don't understand..."
Greta - *grins a bit more* "Yuuri said you would have flowers, right?" *really just assuming, since if Wolfram wanted something, then Yuuri would more than likely get it for him*
Wolfram - *still looking at her strangely, pausing in his eating* "I... I suppose, but... I still don't understand..."
Greta - *nibbles a bit on her sandwich before turning to smile at him again* "You might not be able to get flowers from here... But I bet they have lots of them on Earth."
Wolfram - "On... Earth...?" *now, why hadn't he thought of that?/smiles just slightly* "I'll have to make Yuuri get some when he comes back."
Celi - *smiles as well* "We'll need to find you a veil. It's been so long, I can't remember where I put mine."
Wolfram - *turns to face her and wrinkles his nose*
Celi - *laughs at him* "It's tradition for the bride to wear a veil... and since His Majesty was the one who proposed..."
Gisela - *smiles at them, pulling her hand away once she was done, but pauses, leaning a bit closer to lift up the bandage to check/sighs lightly in relief before replacing it against his forehead* "That's all the treatment I can give you today... I'll have to come back tomorrow to finish up." *she wasn't supposed to heal him completely without his body being able to catch up to it, anyway/it would only cause problems since his body would fight against the healing, thinking there was something wrong/finally picks up her sandwich to nibble on*
Greta - *laughs as well* "At least you won't have to wear a dress to match!"
Celi - *grins at her* "Oh, he could, if he wanted. I once went to a wedding in which the male bride wore a dress." *smiles back at Wolfram* "What do you think His Majesty would prefer, Wolf?"
Wolfram - *shoves the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth and chews, refusing to answer her*
Greta - *laughs again* "Wolfram would look pretty in a dress." *pauses, teasing* "Although, Yuuri could always wear it... But it would be kinda funny to see him in one."
Celi - *laughs lightly* "I'm sure he'd look lovely, although it wouldn't be very proper for the king to wear a dress to his wedding. He'll have his own suit and ornaments and little trinkets to wear." *pauses for a moment, taking a few more dainty bites of her sandwich* "And long ago it was tradition for the bride to wear a white gown, be they male or female. It was supposed to symbolize their innocence." *grins at Wolfram then* "Although I suppose you're not exactly innocent anymore. You'll have to tell my what His Majesty's like in bed."
Wolfram - *sputters and flushes darkly, nearly choking on his food, but manages to swallow it without too much difficulty*
Greta - *laughs at them, though still too young to really understand what they were talking about, though she could guess - she was smart, after all/moves away from Wolfram, sliding off the bed to get some more sandwiches for them, forcing another one into his hand even before he was done with the one he was working on/smiles brightly at him*
Gisela - *smiling as well/digs through her bag to pull out a pad and quill to jot down a few notes of what she'll need to get from the stock of herbs and such*
Celi - *sighs wistfully* "I'll bet he's a wonderful kisser. He seems so sweet and innocent, but sometimes he gets that dark, passionate look in his eyes, and you just know that underneath everything-"
Wolfram - *tries to cut her off* "Mother..."
Celi - *pretty much ignores him* "And he's so handsome. You should feel lucky to have such a handsome fiancé, Wolf. His arms are so strong - though he isn't very good with a sword - and his shoulders... what I wouldn't give to just-"
Wolfram - *tries again* "Mother, please..." *starts nibbling on his second sandwich*
Greta - *laughs more/amused by how much her grandmother seemed to be enjoying herself, and by how flustered Wolfram could get*
Gisela - *shakes her head, though still smiling/digs through her bag again, pulling out another little bottle, handing it to Wolfram* "To help you sleep... I'll come back to check on things in a few hours. But first I have other duties to attend to..." *slowly gets up to move away from the bed*
Wolfram - *takes the bottle from Gisela/quietly* "Thank you..." *places it against the bedside table to be used once he'd finished the other sandwich Greta had shoved into his hand/munches on it some more, glaring at his mother just the slightest bit*
Celi - *nods to Gisela in thanks*
Gisela - *smiles at them, giving a small bow before briskly making her way to the door and out, shutting it softly behind her*
Greta - *waves good bye to Gisela/still munching on her sandwich/turns to look up at Wolfram before cuddling a bit closer to him*
Wolfram - *eyes his mother some more, hoping she'd finished with her embarrassing talk/it wasn't good to speak of those sorts of things in front of Greta/actually... he'd rather not speak of those sorts of things at all...*
Celi - *smiles at him sweetly* "We'll have to get you some cute pajamas to wear on your wedding night."
Wolfram - *nearly chokes on his sandwich again, but refuses to answer/he didn't really see what the point of having cute pajamas was anyway, considering Yuuri had a habit of wanting them off/... then again... maybe that was the point...*
Greta - *giggles at her adoptive father's reaction/to her grandmother* "Can I help pick them out?"
Wolfram - *flushes darkly and shakes his head at the girl, answering for his mother* "No, you cannot!"
Celi - *answers Greta as well* "Oh, of course you can, dear." *to Wolfram* "It won't be long before we're having to plan another wedding anyway. She may as well get that sort of planning experience now, and start building ideas of her own."
Greta - *grins widely at the both of them* "I've already got a few..."
Wolfram - *shoots a little, over-protective-father/mother glare at her* "You're too young to start thinking about those kinds of things. I told you to stay away from boys, anyway."
Greta - *still grinning/shakes her head* "Just a few more years and I'll be able to get married. I've gotta start looking for boys I like now."
Wolfram - "Uhh, how about 'no.' You're not marrying anyone I don't approve of. Which means you won't be getting married, because I don't approve of anyone."
Celi - *laughs at him a little* "Oh, Wolfie, don't be like that."
Greta - *grins wider* "Yeah, you don't want me to have to elope, do you?"
Wolfram - *sputters, still looking at her seriously* "Bad things come to those who elope. And you're a princess. It wouldn't be proper."
Greta - *giggles at him* "It didn't stop you from trying, you know."
Wolfram - "And obviously that was a mistake..."
Celi - "Well, I wouldn't say that..."
Greta - "Don't worry, I won't do anything I'm not supposed to..." *pauses, glancing off to the side, though still grinning* "Maybe..."
Wolfram - "Greta..."
Greta - *smiles innocently at him* "Yes?"
Wolfram - *he could have said a lot of things to her at that moment, such as how men were evil and couldn't be trusted - no matter what her grandmother said - and how those who actually weren't evil and could be trusted were nothing more than wimps anyway, but he settled on something entirely different instead* "I don't want to talk about it anymore." *childish, maybe, and it probably didn't solve anything about the dilemma that was Greta meeting boys and getting married, but at least he wouldn't have to think of it so much if the topic was dropped*
Celi - *huffs a little at him, but says nothing else about it*
Greta - *smiles, nodding and cuddling up to him again*
Wolfram - *frowns a little bit more at her, not completely trusting her to not think about boys and stuff, especially with the word 'wedding' being tossed around so much - and she had become entirely too sneaky lately - but he eventually sighs and quickly finishes the rest of his sandwich, then grabs the bottle Gisela had left him and drinks it/thankfully, it tasted marginally better than the last one had*
Celi - *watches him, brushing back his hair some*
Greta - *watches him as well, having already finished off her sandwich/moves around a bit to get more comfortable, getting ready for a nice, long nap*
Wolfram - *moves around as well, laying himself down on Yuuri's side of the bed again, sighing to himself as he wondered what Yuuri was doing at that moment*
Celi - *decides that she's a little tired, too, and since she really doesn't want to just get up and leave her son, she lays down next to him, continuing to stroke his hair/smiles*
Wolfram - *gives his mother a strange look, but decides not to say anything*
Greta - *curls up on the other side of Wolfram, because luckily the bed was big enough for that/closes her eyes to go to sleep*
Wolfram - *finally drifts off, and whatever it was that Gisela gave him worked great, because he didn't dream of anything*
Celi - *watches over them for a while, before settling down more comfortably and joining them in their nap…*
----------
New Characters
Wedge - Mikage
Greta - Guine
Celi - Mikage
Gunter - Mikage
Gwendal - Mikage
Gisela - Guine