Fic: Tensions (GwendalxGunter)
Title: Tensions
Author: Lin
Rating: PG. Sadly. First time I write a fic in, oh, at least 6 years, and it’s not even porn. I’m disappointed with myself, really.
Characters/Pairings: Gwendal/Gunter.
Genre: Fluff, romance.
Chapter: One-shot
Warnings: Awkwardness, Gwendal being a douche.
Summary: Gwendal has a headache. Gunter is nice enough to make it go away by throwing a bucket of UST at it.
Word count: 1.551
Author’s note: I took some liberties concerning Gwendal and his family - I’m working almost entirely off anime canon here, which gives us nothing about Gwendal’s dad, so... there ya go. I'd also like to apologize for the hideous title, I'm terrible at naming things (which doesn't bode well for my future offspring). And many many thanks to elyndys for beta-ing!
His office was silent apart from the quiet scritch of his quill on parchment. It was a familiar sound, as even and rhythmical as the soothing click-click-click of his knitting needles, and he normally found some comfort in it. It denoted a familiar activity, and Gwendal took pleasure in the familiar. He was a creature of habit, and not too ashamed to admit it.
Today, however, the sound was an assault on his ears, hammering around inside his skull and setting his teeth on edge.
His head throbbed, starting at his temples, circling around his eyes and pinpointing between them, in the place where a by now practically famous wrinkle had deeply embedded itself in his skin. It was a headache he suffered often, a headache caused by working too hard, spending too many hours staring at words and signing documents. It was a headache he knew he could do very little about, except, perhaps, not work so hard.
Someone knocked on his door and entered without waiting for his permission to do so first. This meant it could only be one of three people - his mother, Anissina, or Gunter. His mother was far away right now, having headed off to some tropical location with her latest boyfriend, and Anissina had been holed up in her laboratory for days (which worried him, actually, because that never boded very well), so that left only one option.
"What is it, Gunter?" he grumbled.
"I thought you would like to know that His Majesty has just returned safely from Earth, he's changing into a dry set of clothes right now."
"Good. Then he can get back to doing his work, instead of leaving me to do it for him."
He had not looked up from the parchment. Looking up would mean moving his head, which he considered a spectacularly bad idea at the moment. Just the thought alone inspired white-hot pinpricks of pain to burst behind his eyes.
"You look tired, Gwendal. Are you all right?"
Gwendal sighed, and didn't answer (one of his favourite tactics when it came to conversation, actually).
"You shouldn't frown so much, it's really starting to leave its mark on your face. Really now Gwendal, when people ask you something, it's only polite to -"
"Look, my head hurts, I have a lot of work left to do, I'd rather finish that than sit here wasting my time chattering to you," he snapped. Couldn't he just go away and leave him in peace?
Gunter sighed dramatically. "No wonder! You work entirely too hard, Gwendal. You should allow yourself to take a break from time to time," he said, shaking his head. "And I mean a *real* break, not simply half an hour of sneaking to your rooms to knit. Go outside, sit in the sunshine! It’s a beautiful day, you're missing out on all of the beauty spring has to offer..."
And now he was going to launch off into a long, lyrical diatribe about spring and all its glory. Don't misunderstand - Gwendal loved spring. Spring meant bunnies and lambs and baby chicks and Gwendal loved all those things very, very much. He just didn't feel like listening to Gunter wax poetic about it for half an hour. His head already hurt enough as it was.
"I don't have the time to sit in the sunshine. My headache will go away, and hopefully, so will you," Gwendal said, finally looking up from his writing to throw what he hoped was a threatening glare Gunter's way. He was standing in front of Gwendal's desk, one hand on his hip, one eyebrow raised and an amused smile playing around his lips. Funny - Gwendal had expected him to look angry, or at the very least put off by his grouchiness. He guessed Gunter had gotten more used to him and his moods than he would have expected.
"Your headache will not go away by staying in here. I'm quite serious, Gwendal. You need to rest. I worry sometimes."
Gunter's words touched him, ever so slightly. He never really expected anyone to give that much thought to him and it came as a surprise whenever it turned out someone did . He had grown up pretty much all by himself, his mother barely out of childhood herself when she had him and losing her husband when their son could barely walk, leaving Gwendal to look after her more than she ever looked after him. Then later on in his life everyone always just assumed he could take care of himself, as he'd managed to perfectly well before, and turned their attention to his brothers; Conrad, always seemingly ready to happily self-destruct for some cause, and Wolfram, demanding more attention than he ever rightfully deserved. But here Gunter was, claiming he worried about him. It was a positively new sensation.
Gwendal sighed. "Look, I'll ask your daughter for something to help with my headache for now. This is important and needs to be finished, once it's done I'll suppose I'll... go outside." The last two words left his mouth as if he were offering Gunter the possibility of inviting Lord von Grantz over for a friendly dinner. It didn't make him think he was being very convincing.
Gunter shook his head theatrically, his silvery hair flowing across his shoulders. "Don’t even think about bothering Gisela with this, you don't need to. Medication isn't going to help."
Before Gwendal could even protest he'd moved to stand behind him and had placed his hands on either side of Gwendal's head. "Hey, what're you..." he said, moving away from Gunter's touch, attempting to bat away his hands.
"Don't be a baby and lean your head back," Gunter simply stated, grabbing his head again and forcing it back firmly. Gwendal felt his face grow hot and was ready to throw some choice verbal abuse Gunter's way, when Gunter started massaging his temples and any and all vitriol faded away.
Gunter's long fingers worked in even circles, moving counter-clockwise. His fingertips were cool on Gwendal's skin. The thought of protesting still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind, but his resolve thinned with every move of Gunter's hands and Gwendal's eyes slowly drifted shut. The circles drawn by Gunter's fingers on his temples became wider, and Gunter began slowly and expertly moving his fingers around Gwendal's eyes, his forehead, along his hairline. He rubbed his index fingers between Gwendal's eyes, smoothing out the wrinkles, and back up to trace two circles on his forehead. His hands were soft, which struck Gwendal as odd - all the time Gunter spent holding a sword should have at least left some calluses on his skin. He supposed Gunter must use some kind of hand lotion, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. The whole idea was just entirely too... dainty.
"See, isn't this much better? Gisela taught it to me. It's a means to reduce tension headaches without having to resort to medicine or maryoku. She does this to me when I get headaches, too, though I hardly get them as often as you do."
His voice was soft, and Gwendal could feel his breath on his face. He realized just how *close* Gunter was, as Gunter's fingers slid into his hair, massaging his scalp. His blunt fingernails scraped ever so slightly, and the delicious feeling of gentle hands running through his hair sent goosebumps down his back. He shivered pleasantly, and the tension he'd been carrying earlier just flowed out of his system. His shoulders, his arms, even his chest relaxed as he sighed deeply, and he hung quite boneless in his chair.
He opened his eyes, and found himself staring straight into Gunter's violet ones. And kept staring. All he felt were Gunter's fingers in his hair, all he saw was Gunter’s face hovering mere inches above his own, and for some reason he was holding his breath now and to be quite honest, he had to admit that Dai Shimaron could have launched a grand attack on his castle and he wouldn't even notice. He became acutely aware of just how intimate the situation was.
Gunter blushed. Gwendal parted his lips. Gunter's hands moved down to the sides of his face, gently caressing now, fingertips barely touching.
"You WIMP, *what* did you say you did when you were at home?!'
"Don't call me a wimp!'
The voices coming from the courtyard, his little brother's disturbingly high-pitched screams and His Majesty's exasperated protests, crudely pulled him out his trance. He sat up abruptly, narrowly avoiding bumping foreheads with Gunter, and coughed. "Right. That'll do. Thank you, Gunter, for your... assistance," he stated, businesslike, as he began shuffling the documents on his desk.
Gunter was quiet for a moment, standing still behind his chair, before Gwendal heard him clear his throat too as he briskly started towards the door. "Yes. You're welcome, Gwendal. Any... any time." He hesitated when he reached the door.
Gwendal didn't look, still shuffling the documents, only pretending to be looking for some all-important one, but he knew Gunter was looking back at him, possibly hopeful. Gwendal didn’t look, and after a moment Gunter quietly left.
Gwendal continued to work until well after dinnertime. His headache didn't come back for another four days. He didn't tell Gunter.
Author: Lin
Rating: PG. Sadly. First time I write a fic in, oh, at least 6 years, and it’s not even porn. I’m disappointed with myself, really.
Characters/Pairings: Gwendal/Gunter.
Genre: Fluff, romance.
Chapter: One-shot
Warnings: Awkwardness, Gwendal being a douche.
Summary: Gwendal has a headache. Gunter is nice enough to make it go away by throwing a bucket of UST at it.
Word count: 1.551
Author’s note: I took some liberties concerning Gwendal and his family - I’m working almost entirely off anime canon here, which gives us nothing about Gwendal’s dad, so... there ya go. I'd also like to apologize for the hideous title, I'm terrible at naming things (which doesn't bode well for my future offspring). And many many thanks to elyndys for beta-ing!
His office was silent apart from the quiet scritch of his quill on parchment. It was a familiar sound, as even and rhythmical as the soothing click-click-click of his knitting needles, and he normally found some comfort in it. It denoted a familiar activity, and Gwendal took pleasure in the familiar. He was a creature of habit, and not too ashamed to admit it.
Today, however, the sound was an assault on his ears, hammering around inside his skull and setting his teeth on edge.
His head throbbed, starting at his temples, circling around his eyes and pinpointing between them, in the place where a by now practically famous wrinkle had deeply embedded itself in his skin. It was a headache he suffered often, a headache caused by working too hard, spending too many hours staring at words and signing documents. It was a headache he knew he could do very little about, except, perhaps, not work so hard.
Someone knocked on his door and entered without waiting for his permission to do so first. This meant it could only be one of three people - his mother, Anissina, or Gunter. His mother was far away right now, having headed off to some tropical location with her latest boyfriend, and Anissina had been holed up in her laboratory for days (which worried him, actually, because that never boded very well), so that left only one option.
"What is it, Gunter?" he grumbled.
"I thought you would like to know that His Majesty has just returned safely from Earth, he's changing into a dry set of clothes right now."
"Good. Then he can get back to doing his work, instead of leaving me to do it for him."
He had not looked up from the parchment. Looking up would mean moving his head, which he considered a spectacularly bad idea at the moment. Just the thought alone inspired white-hot pinpricks of pain to burst behind his eyes.
"You look tired, Gwendal. Are you all right?"
Gwendal sighed, and didn't answer (one of his favourite tactics when it came to conversation, actually).
"You shouldn't frown so much, it's really starting to leave its mark on your face. Really now Gwendal, when people ask you something, it's only polite to -"
"Look, my head hurts, I have a lot of work left to do, I'd rather finish that than sit here wasting my time chattering to you," he snapped. Couldn't he just go away and leave him in peace?
Gunter sighed dramatically. "No wonder! You work entirely too hard, Gwendal. You should allow yourself to take a break from time to time," he said, shaking his head. "And I mean a *real* break, not simply half an hour of sneaking to your rooms to knit. Go outside, sit in the sunshine! It’s a beautiful day, you're missing out on all of the beauty spring has to offer..."
And now he was going to launch off into a long, lyrical diatribe about spring and all its glory. Don't misunderstand - Gwendal loved spring. Spring meant bunnies and lambs and baby chicks and Gwendal loved all those things very, very much. He just didn't feel like listening to Gunter wax poetic about it for half an hour. His head already hurt enough as it was.
"I don't have the time to sit in the sunshine. My headache will go away, and hopefully, so will you," Gwendal said, finally looking up from his writing to throw what he hoped was a threatening glare Gunter's way. He was standing in front of Gwendal's desk, one hand on his hip, one eyebrow raised and an amused smile playing around his lips. Funny - Gwendal had expected him to look angry, or at the very least put off by his grouchiness. He guessed Gunter had gotten more used to him and his moods than he would have expected.
"Your headache will not go away by staying in here. I'm quite serious, Gwendal. You need to rest. I worry sometimes."
Gunter's words touched him, ever so slightly. He never really expected anyone to give that much thought to him and it came as a surprise whenever it turned out someone did . He had grown up pretty much all by himself, his mother barely out of childhood herself when she had him and losing her husband when their son could barely walk, leaving Gwendal to look after her more than she ever looked after him. Then later on in his life everyone always just assumed he could take care of himself, as he'd managed to perfectly well before, and turned their attention to his brothers; Conrad, always seemingly ready to happily self-destruct for some cause, and Wolfram, demanding more attention than he ever rightfully deserved. But here Gunter was, claiming he worried about him. It was a positively new sensation.
Gwendal sighed. "Look, I'll ask your daughter for something to help with my headache for now. This is important and needs to be finished, once it's done I'll suppose I'll... go outside." The last two words left his mouth as if he were offering Gunter the possibility of inviting Lord von Grantz over for a friendly dinner. It didn't make him think he was being very convincing.
Gunter shook his head theatrically, his silvery hair flowing across his shoulders. "Don’t even think about bothering Gisela with this, you don't need to. Medication isn't going to help."
Before Gwendal could even protest he'd moved to stand behind him and had placed his hands on either side of Gwendal's head. "Hey, what're you..." he said, moving away from Gunter's touch, attempting to bat away his hands.
"Don't be a baby and lean your head back," Gunter simply stated, grabbing his head again and forcing it back firmly. Gwendal felt his face grow hot and was ready to throw some choice verbal abuse Gunter's way, when Gunter started massaging his temples and any and all vitriol faded away.
Gunter's long fingers worked in even circles, moving counter-clockwise. His fingertips were cool on Gwendal's skin. The thought of protesting still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind, but his resolve thinned with every move of Gunter's hands and Gwendal's eyes slowly drifted shut. The circles drawn by Gunter's fingers on his temples became wider, and Gunter began slowly and expertly moving his fingers around Gwendal's eyes, his forehead, along his hairline. He rubbed his index fingers between Gwendal's eyes, smoothing out the wrinkles, and back up to trace two circles on his forehead. His hands were soft, which struck Gwendal as odd - all the time Gunter spent holding a sword should have at least left some calluses on his skin. He supposed Gunter must use some kind of hand lotion, which made him feel a little uncomfortable. The whole idea was just entirely too... dainty.
"See, isn't this much better? Gisela taught it to me. It's a means to reduce tension headaches without having to resort to medicine or maryoku. She does this to me when I get headaches, too, though I hardly get them as often as you do."
His voice was soft, and Gwendal could feel his breath on his face. He realized just how *close* Gunter was, as Gunter's fingers slid into his hair, massaging his scalp. His blunt fingernails scraped ever so slightly, and the delicious feeling of gentle hands running through his hair sent goosebumps down his back. He shivered pleasantly, and the tension he'd been carrying earlier just flowed out of his system. His shoulders, his arms, even his chest relaxed as he sighed deeply, and he hung quite boneless in his chair.
He opened his eyes, and found himself staring straight into Gunter's violet ones. And kept staring. All he felt were Gunter's fingers in his hair, all he saw was Gunter’s face hovering mere inches above his own, and for some reason he was holding his breath now and to be quite honest, he had to admit that Dai Shimaron could have launched a grand attack on his castle and he wouldn't even notice. He became acutely aware of just how intimate the situation was.
Gunter blushed. Gwendal parted his lips. Gunter's hands moved down to the sides of his face, gently caressing now, fingertips barely touching.
"You WIMP, *what* did you say you did when you were at home?!'
"Don't call me a wimp!'
The voices coming from the courtyard, his little brother's disturbingly high-pitched screams and His Majesty's exasperated protests, crudely pulled him out his trance. He sat up abruptly, narrowly avoiding bumping foreheads with Gunter, and coughed. "Right. That'll do. Thank you, Gunter, for your... assistance," he stated, businesslike, as he began shuffling the documents on his desk.
Gunter was quiet for a moment, standing still behind his chair, before Gwendal heard him clear his throat too as he briskly started towards the door. "Yes. You're welcome, Gwendal. Any... any time." He hesitated when he reached the door.
Gwendal didn't look, still shuffling the documents, only pretending to be looking for some all-important one, but he knew Gunter was looking back at him, possibly hopeful. Gwendal didn’t look, and after a moment Gunter quietly left.
Gwendal continued to work until well after dinnertime. His headache didn't come back for another four days. He didn't tell Gunter.