To Turn the Other Cheek; part ten

[nikoshinigami]

Title: To Turn the Other Cheek
Author: Niko
Rating: PG
Pairing: YurixWolfram
Genre: Angst/Romance
Chapters: 10/?
Comments: End of series spoilers. Beta read by Karyx. Crossdressing.


The plan was simple and quite nearly fool proof, but that didn't mean that Wolfram wasn't one hundred percent against it. It was as though the world enjoyed taking away every ounce of pride he had left and he wasn't about to let it get away with it. Not without a fight.

"But why do I have to wear this?" he shouted inside the carriage as it bumped along the road. They were driving further into human territory; he could feel it. It made his weak stomach even worse than normal as they jostled to a fro.

Yozak was already dressed in his disguise, looking out of place and yet somehow just as he should at the same time. It was amazing how someone as broad and muscular as he could pull off ribbons and lace as though they were leather armaments. Yozak sighed, knowing the argument was not going to come to an end any time soon. "Because people trust strange women more than they trust strange men. I explained all this seven hours ago. After we abandon the carriage, we walk up to the main house and pretend to be sisters who are down on our luck and in need of temporary employment. Soon as we're accepted, we can get down to finding out everything we need to know about these people."

Wolfram glared at him, his face red with outrage. "I understood all of that perfectly well the first time you told me," he spat out irritably. "What I don't understand is why I have to wear this!"

Wolfram held out a half full sack of flour that had been fitted with straps to tie about the shoulders and waist. It was heavy, it was ridiculous, and he utterly refused to wear the bulky contraption under the disgustingly feminine frills Yozak had provided him as well.

Yozak smirked at him, closing his eyes as though the whole matter was obvious and the younger man was making the conversation rather redundant. "You're not fit for house work, you've the most sensitive stomach of any man I've ever met and with the large amounts of Houryoku in the area you're physically weakened to the point where it might make them suspicious since you're supposed to be a human girl." He peeked his eyes opened and gave Wolfram a small wink. "But no one'd think twice if they thought you were pregnant."

Wolfram threw the flour sack at the orange hair man. "I'm sick of your insults! I'm not going anywhere dressed like that!"

"Yes you are." Yozak threw it back at him. "This is a delicate operation of enormous consequence. I thought you wanted to help Yuri and Shin Makoku."

"That does not mean that I will allow myself to be paraded in front of strangers as a human whore!"

Wolfram watched as Yozak took a deep breath, as though he were trying to calm himself. "Look, you want to go in there as Miss Drop Dead Beautiful Servant Girl, be my guest. When someone decides to rape you and finds more than they were expecting under that skirt though, you're going to blow the whole damn thing. And not only are you going to look like a fool but it'll all get back to Yuri and he'll look like a pretty sorry king having men going undercover into enemy territory like this." Yozak sat up. "There's not too many people in these parts with the balls to rape a pregnant girl, though, no matter how pretty she may be. So to protect your hide and our mission, wear the damn sack."

Wolfram stared at Yozak for a long time, not trusting himself to move. "Yuri doesn't know where we're going, does he?"

"No idea. He'd never agree to it."

The blonde nodded. Their king believed in trusting everyone, even his enemies. Even if it was a necessity to their survival, even if he knew it was not something they could stop doing without compromising the security of their kingdom, Yuri wouldn't want people spying on their neighbors. It was one of the many necessary evils that Gwendel orchestrated rather than allowing their king to deal with it.

Yozak sighed again, adjusting his fake bosom. "Make up whatever story you want about being pregnant, whatever makes you more comfortable in the disguise. But if we're lucky, the people of the household will pity you and the closer you can get to them and the more you can talk to them, the better chances we have of finding out if they have plans against Shin Makoku or Yuri. That's what you want to do, isn't it?"

Wolfram nodded, his fists clenching around the fabric of the sack. "You promise you won't tell anyone about this?"

"As far as Shin Makoku is concerned, this will never have even happened."

Swallowing his pride, Wolfram began to strip off his jacket and shirt. He eyed Yozak, making the older man avert his eyes as he undressed. The flour sack was heavy in his arms but seemed lighter with most of his body supporting it. The straps were rough against his skin though. He'd have to fix them later to make them more comfortable.

He pulled on the layers of frilly pale pink cloth with an expression of disgust. With it tied and laced, the dress hardly touched his knees, the lumpy protrusion from his abdomen only serving to reduce the length in front. Yozak frowned at him for a minute before breaking out in a fit of laughter.

"That's it. I'm not wearing this."

Yozak wiped a tear from his face. "No, it's not that you look bad. It's just you look exactly like your mother. Actually, you look better than her." He took out his handbag and pulled out a small box. "It's a good thing Conrad thought for me to bring these."

Curious, Wolfram stopped untying the sash under his non-existent breasts and peered over at the box in his hands. "What did Conrad give you?"

"Yuri's contacts. Come 'ere."

Wolfram backed away. "I'm not letting you put anything in my eyes! You'll just want to put makeup on me next!"

"Oh, when I'm through with you, no one'll ever recognize you. Now sit still." Yozak leapt as Wolfram opened the door to the moving carriage and tackled him to the seat.

"No!" The blonde struggled fruitlessly, easily overpowered by the taller, stronger man. "I'm not doing this! Let me out!"

With his left arm holding the prince pinned to the seat, Yozak pinched a contact from the box and held it up to his face. "I'm not here to baby-sit you. You either come quietly and do your job or you can leave this carriage and Shin Makoku too while you're at it."

"Stop goading me!"

"You know, there were a couple times I thought maybe you'd grown up a little but now that I've got you like this, it's easy to see that you're still just a selfish little brat."

Wolfram cast him a dangerous glare. "At least I'm honest enough with myself that I can explain my feelings to the one I love. Unlike some people."

Yozak raised an eyebrow at him then smirked at him with a sadistic gleam. "Oh yeah. We're going to get along just great."

Wolfram didn't bother fighting with him after that. Contacts in place, rouge and lipstick on his face, he sat on his side of the carriage looking somber. He didn't dare look at the other passenger; he was too furious at him to do much more than glare at the walls around them as though it was their fault that he had been sentenced to his own personal hell.

"You know, I didn't think you'd have such a problem with this. I mean, you wear that girly nighty."

"For Yuri," he explained simply, defending himself automatically. "I only wore it because Yuri said he'd prefer to marry a woman. I thought if I were more feminine in private...." He bit off the end of his sentence, hands clasped over his stomach to try and steady himself internally. Besides, it wasn't any of Yozak's business.

"You're both messed up, if you ask me."

"Well no one did!" Wolfram found himself fuming again. How was it the other man knew exactly what to say to put him on edge?

Yozak, though, seemed completely unfazed, as though the whole ordeal was rather boring and the company he was keeping was no more entertaining than the trees that passed by their view. Even that was infuriating to the blonde. How could his brother's childhood friend not be the least concerned about the current affairs surrounding the Maou and their engagement? His words were like a whip, each lash ripping his flesh from his bones.

"Look, kid, outside your little world, no one cares. Whether or not you're going to marry the Maou doesn't make life better or worse for anyone else but you. You've got to get over yourself if you want to do any good in the big world."

Wolfram looked at him hard, not sure how to respond.

"Only idiots let themselves be destroyed by love. Are you an idiot?"

He shook his head.

"You're not the only one who's in love with someone they can't have. So stop acting like it."

Wolfram hung his head. "Conrad--"

"Has too much on his hands as it is. He's got his Majesty and that's enough for him for now." Yozak took his powder from his handbag and touched up his chin and nose. "All I'm saying though is that you're not going to get any pity from me. So don't expect any. We've got a job to do. Are you going to be able to pull it together and do this? I could use use help but I'm not about to risk everything if you can't."

Wolfram thought about it for a minute, then nodded slightly. "I can do this."

"Alright. This is where we get out, then."

The blonde blinked and looked outside the carriage as it came to a stop. There was a town not too far from the road they were on and just outside it, he could see a large manor that hung the colors of Shin Makoku from their poles alongside their own flag. He found it hard to hide his surprise at that. "Are humans so far from our borders now aligned with us?"

Yozak stood outside, getting together their few necessities. "Strange, huh? Sure looks like it. Makes one wonder though."

So that's what made Gwendel send us here, Wolfram guessed.

He stepped out of the carriage, thankful for solid ground again. The sack of flour shifted awkwardly in front of him, feeling more uncomfortable now that it was no longer supported by his lap. He felt ridiculous standing there, looking out at the countryside in his knee high stockings and layers or white and pink frills.

Yozak's purple dress nearly matched his own, though the length was much more respectable. It caught the wind as he stood there, sending the driver back to the capital with instructions and details that Gwendel would require.

It was harder than Wolfram had thought it would be to watch their ride return without them. Now, no matter what, he was stuck with the choice he'd made.

"Well now, we'd better get walking if we want to be there before sunset. Also, don't call me Yozak. So long as we're here, call me Betty."

"And how long are we going to be here?" the blonde asked.

"Couple months? Shouldn't be much longer than that." Yozak winked at him with a playful smirk. "Don't worry, I won't forget to add a couple pounds to that sack of yours before we go."

Wolfram put his hands on the small of his back for leverage and grimaced at him. He was enjoying this entirely too much.

"You're going to need a name too. I can't be calling you Wolfram. That's the worst girl's name I've ever heard."

"Right." Wolfram gave it a moment's thought, then smiled a bit to himself. "I'll be Jennifer."

"Alright, Jennifer. Just follow your big sis's lead and everything'll go smoothly."

Wolfram nodded and did his best to keep up with Yozak's pace as they ambled down the gently sloping hill towards the sleepy town before them.

It was the first and last time he would do so.