Kyo Kara Maoh, "Dress Code," Josak/Conrad, NC-17
So Kyo Kara Maoh ... holyshit good series, there. I wrote about half of this story last night, then watched the last three episodes of the series, cried myself into a migraine and finished the story today.
This story has nothing to do with the end. Spoiler-free if you've seen through episode ... oh I'll say 10, to be safe. If you know what Wolfram wears to bed, you're good.
This is my explanation for his nightclothes.
Oh, and it's for pockygirl, but most of my stuff is, so ... yeah.
Dress Code
by Mistr3ss Quickly
"Lord Weller. I need to talk to you."
Conrad blinked at his younger brother. Nevermind that he was in bed, wearing nothing but his underwear, wrapped in his lover's arms in a rather compromising manner. Wolfram seemed determined and serious and desperate, and Conrad wasn't the sort of fellow to say no to anyone, if he could help it.
"Very well, Wolfram," he said, patiently, tightening one hand on Josak's firm butt, quieting whatever protest the man in his lap had drawn breath to make. "Would you step outside a moment, allow me to collect myself?"
Wolfram's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to ... do anything that'll take awhile, are you?" he said. "I don't want to hear that, and this is important."
Conrad shook his head. "I'd like to put on some pants, Wolfram," he said. "That's all."
Josak sighed. Wolfram snorted.
"Fine," he said. "You have three minutes."
Then he turned and marched out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.
"Well that was unexpected," said Conrad, cupping his lover's cheek and kissing him lightly on the lips. "Sorry, Jo'. I promise it won't take long."
"'S okay, Captain," said Josak. "I understand, duty calls." He rocked his hips, rubbing his erection against Conrad's, the slick head leaving a smear of precome just to the side of Conrad's navel. "Just 's long as you know your duty to me'll be waiting in here for you. Been weeks since I got to hold you properly, I'm not going to wait 'til tomorrow."
Conrad nodded and stole another kiss, slipping his tongue into his lover's mouth when Josak sighed and rocked against him, once again. "I won't be long," he breathed, when the sound of Wolfram cursing and kicking things, just outside the door, broke them apart. "I promise."
Josak grinned and rolled off of him, smacking Conrad smartly on the butt when the man climbed out of bed. "I look forward to it, Captain," he said, watching Conrad dress. "Very, very much."
~*~*~*~
Wolfram was silent, walking along a pace behind his brother down the long corridor and up two flights of stairs to the older man's office. He used magic to light the logs stacked neatly in the fireplace without needing to be asked to do so, then settled in one of the squashy chairs by the hearth and frowned until Conrad sat down across from him, long legs crossed before him.
Silence stretched. Conrad cleared his throat.
"What can I do for you, Wolfram?" he said, gently.
Wolfram's frown deepened into a nasty scowl. "Don't you dare make fun of me, Conrad," he snarled. "I won't hesitate to fry you, if you laugh."
Conrad nodded gravely. "I will take you seriously, Wolfram, no matter what the issue. You should know that."
"Hmph," said Wolfram. He squirmed a little in his chair, looked at the fire. "I need your advice," he grumbled, eventually.
"Ah," said Conrad. "I would be honored to advise you."
Wolfram glared at him. "Don't condescend to me like that," he snapped. "Just ... well I can't ask Mother, she'd tell the whole castle, and I couldn't ask Gwendal, that'd be too embarrassing. So that leaves you."
Conrad nodded sagely. "A wise choice," he said.
"It'd better be," said Wolfram, but there was no venom in his tone. Instead, he sounded weary. Defeated. Conrad restrained himself from reaching out to pat the boy on the knee.
"I'll do my best to help," he said, gently.
"Good," said Wolfram. He squirmed in his chair, once again, restless like the child Conrad remembered reading to when both of them were younger and Wolfram still looked up to him, still loved him like a sibling. "I need a strategy."
"A strategy?"
Wolfram nodded. "In case you didn't notice, I'm engaged now, and my fiancée keeps disappearing," he said, staring intently into the fire. "I need a strategy to convince him that he's mine, so he doesn't ... wander, when we're apart."
Conrad's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh," he said. "I don't think you need to worry, Wolfram. Yuuri is an honorable-"
"That's not what I'm asking," Wolfram snapped, scowling at his older brother. "Of course you'd say he's all 'honorable' and everything, but that's because he's not your fiancée. You're half-human, you wouldn't understand."
Conrad blinked at his brother. Nevermind that his own partner of more than fifty years was half-human, as was the new Maoh. Wolfram seemed too wound-up to be bothered with details. "Ah," he said, instead.
Wolfram returned his gaze to the dancing flames of the fire. "Doesn't matter, anyway," he mumbled, and Conrad couldn't help but wonder if he'd figured out on his own the ridiculousness of his previous statement. "I just need to know what to do to ... I don't know, attract him or whatever, when he comes home."
His cheeks colored up as he spoke. Conrad stared at them.
Why Wolfram, he thought. I do believe you've got a crush on our king.
It was nothing short of adorable.
"Well," he said, slowly. "You could try being a bit ... gentler with him. Yuuri's a sensitive boy, I don't think shouting at him like you do is quite the way to endear yourself to him."
Wolfram snorted. "It's not my fault he's a wimp who knows nothing about being a ruler," he said. "I'd be remiss as a fiancée if I didn't tell him when he embarrasses himself and New Makoku as a whole. And besides, that's not what I'm asking, don't tell me what to do."
"Ah, sorry," said Conrad. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're asking then, Wolfram."
Wolfram sighed. "I want to ... you know."
He looked at Conrad out of the corner of his eye. Conrad gave him an honestly puzzled look.
Wolfram sighed again. "When you and Josak ... you know, got together," he said, "what'd you do? Or him, what'd he do? To make sure you both knew that ... you know."
He fucked me 'til I could barely ride my horse without passing out from the pain, actually, thought Conrad, an odd thrill curling through his veins at the memory. Can't very well tell you that, though, your circumstances are very different from ours. Yuuri would run screaming from this country and never return, if you approached him with that sort of suggestion.
"Ah, well ... let's see," he said, watching the shadow of Wolfram's chair flicker against the back wall of his office. "We began sharing things more, I suppose."
"Sharing?" said Wolfram, as though he'd never encountered the concept before in his life. Conrad caught himself wondering if that could possibly be the case.
He didn't ask. Instead, he nodded. "Yes. Just little things, at first. Our water canteens, for example, salve when we'd get mild injuries in battle. Then eventually, it was easier to just share a tent, since we were sharing so many supplies, and then a blanket, since the tents we carried with us weren't very large."
Wolfram's eyes were huge, full of an odd mixture of surprise, morbid curiosity, and disgust. "Yeah?" he said. "That worked?"
Conrad cleared his throat. "Under our circumstances, yes. And then, after the War, we'd both gotten so used to living together that I requested shared quarters here at Blood Pledge, for the both of us," he said. "I suppose that's when we knew we were, ah ... an item, if you will."
Made it so neither of us had to carry lubricant in our trouser-pockets anymore, too, which was nice, he thought, but Wolfram seemed overwhelmed enough with what information he'd just received, so Conrad kept that detail to himself.
"You're saying," said Wolfram, slowly, "that all I have to do is give up my room and move in with that wimp, and he'll figure it out?"
"Well no, not exactly," said Conrad, wincing inwardly at the thought of the young king's reaction, were he to return and learn that he couldn't escape his temperamental fiancée, even to sleep at night.
Wolfram frowned. "Why not?"
Conrad blinked at him. "Ah, well for your comfort and Yuuri's comfort, wouldn't it be best to-"
"Don't call him so casually by that name!" snapped Wolfram. "He's my fiancée, Conrad."
"Yes, Wolfram, I'm well aware of that," said Conrad.
Wolfram sulked. "Good," he said. "I don't care if he likes you better, he's engaged to me."
Oh for Shinou's sake, Wolfram, of all people to be jealous of, it shouldn't be me, thought Conrad, stifling a sigh. I'm his godfather, I'd no sooner think of him romantically or sexually than you'd think of Mother in such a manner, heavens.
"Indeed, he is," he said, patiently, "and it makes me very happy to know that he'll be married to you, someday. You're a good man, Wolfram, he's lucky to have you as his fiancée."
Wolfram looked startled, then embarrassed, then pleased, blushing a little in the dim light from the fire. "Yeah, well," he said. "I, uh ... I guess. Thanks."
Conrad smiled benevolently and resisted once again the urge to reach out and pat his brother on the knee, instead tapping the chair's upholstery with the tip of his finger. "Try not to worry about it so much, Wolfram," he said. "These things often take quite a bit of time. Josak and I served for years together on the front before we became partners, after all. You've only just met Yu-er, His Majesty, after all."
"Yeah, but Josak didn't go off missing for months on end without warning, did he?" said Wolfram, slumping in his chair. "You knew where he was, you were his commanding officer."
"Yes, that's true," said Conrad. "But think about it, Wolfram. Josak is one of the best spies in New Makoku, the absolute best I've ever had under my command. I can't tell you how many missions I personally had to order him to take, not knowing if he'd come back safely or not."
He sighed and uncrossed his legs, crossed them the other way. A few times, he came back so badly injured we didn't think he'd live, he thought. You have no idea how much those times hurt, Wolfram. I'd never have forgiven myself. Still won't, if something happens to him, even now.
Wolfram sniffed and looked back at the fire without a word. The flames seemed to comfort him, Conrad had noticed, and it was almost cute, like the security blanket to which Wolfram had clung for years as a child. He sat in silence, watching his brother brood, lost in thought.
The sound of his office door opening jerked him from his thoughts, startling Wolfram badly enough that the boy leapt to his feet, hand tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, ready for a fight.
"Whoa, calm down, 's just me," said Josak, grinning as he slipped into the office and pushed the door closed, sauntering calmly across the room, the ruffled silk robe he wore rustling against the floor rug. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything, but it's been quiet in here long enough, I wanted to make sure you two hadn't fallen asleep or something. Not good for your backs, sleeping in these chairs."
He tapped the back of Conrad's chair, as if to prove his point. Wolfram snarled at him.
"We were having a private conversation, Josak," he spat. "Do you mind?"
"Nah, not at all," said Josak. "Just checking on you two, 's my duty to make sure you're both safe, you know. 'Sides, you were talking about me, so nothing I didn't already know."
Wolfram's eyes went huge as saucers. "You were eavesdropping," he said.
"Wasn't," said Josak. "Heard my name, is all. Brought you something, too, might help."
He handed Wolfram a floppy package, wrapped in plain brown paper, and grinned. "Ordered it awhile back, just got it today, so it hasn't been opened or used or anything."
At that, both Wolfram and Conrad stared at him. Josak shrugged.
"Think you've got better use for it than I do. Go on, open it up."
Wolfram hesitated, then did as he'd been told, untying the twine knotted at the top of the package, then unfolding the paper. Inside was a nightgown, soft pink cotton with dark pink bows sewn on the front, ruffles adorning the sleeves and hem. Nearly as long as Wolfram was tall, it trailed on the ground when the boy held it up, staring at it.
"What," he said, transferring his gaze from the nightgown to Josak, "is this?"
"Nightgown," said Josak. "S'posed to be kinda short and slinky, but I'm taller than you, so I guess you'll have to go for more regal and elegant, in it."
Wolfram gawked at him. "It's ... this is a woman's nightgown."
Josak shrugged, resting one of his hands on Conrad's shoulder, gently squeezing the tense muscle he found there, his other hand plucking delicately at the ruffled edge of the dressing-gown he wore. "Not if it's on a man," he said. "You wanted to know how your brother and I got each other, didn't you? A nightgown not unlike the one you've got in your hands, there, played a role in it, just as much as sharing a blanket or a canteen."
Conrad felt his face heat. "Josak!" he said. My little brother does NOT need to know that about me, for Shinou's sake.
"Well it's either that or your underwear," said Josak, as though his lover hadn't spoken. "Give it to your mother if you don't want it. She'd look lovely in it, don't you think?"
"No!" said Wolfram and Conrad, in unison, Wolfram jumping to his feet once again, the paper and twine falling from his lap to the floor. He looked from the nightgown to Josak to his brother, then growled something incomprehensible and stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he went.
Conrad groaned. "Josak ..." he said.
"What?" said Josak. "Answered his question and got rid of him, didn't it? And notice, he did take the nightgown. Better than nothing, which is what he started with, eh?"
A sigh answered him, Conrad hunched forward, face in his hands. Laughing.
Better than nothing indeed, he thought. Oh Wolfram, don't blame me when Yuuri freaks out at the sight of you in that get-up.
Still chuckling, he stood and collected the paper and twine from the floor and extinguished the fire, threading his fingers together with Josak's as they made their way back to their bedchambers in the darkness, footsteps echoing loudly in the silence of the night.
~*~*~*~
"Aah, Captain ... ngh if your brother comes back, we're throwing him out, right?"
Conrad hummed around the head of Josak's cock, sucking hard a few times before sliding the entire length into his throat and swallowing, dragging a ragged groan from his lover. He bobbed his head a few times, then sat back, licking the very tip of Josak's erection, watching the other man through the fringe of his bangs. Josak stared back, chest heaving, his breath making the frills of his open dressing-gown ripple and flutter.
"Right?" he repeated, his voice rough and deep.
"Right," said Conrad, crawling forward to straddle his lover, rocking his hips gently as they kissed.
Back to where they'd been, an hour before, Josak nude but for his dressing-gown, Conrad wearing nothing but his underwear, the string rubbing tantalizingly between his buttocks, almost-painful enough to make him eager for Josak to strip him completely naked. Back to hard breathing and sloppy kisses, the bed creaking each time Josak bucked under Conrad's weight.
Conrad sighed and dipped his head, sucking gently at the sweat-salty skin just under the sharp line of Josak's jaw, biting down in surprise when he felt the other man's fingers, rough and dry, slipping under the string of his underwear to rub firmly against his anus, slipping just slightly inside.
Josak chuckled. "Blame your brother," he said, "if I'm going too fast for you. Kid made me wait, I'm all impatient now."
"Ngh," said Conrad, pressing back against his lover's fingers. "Stop talking about my family, Jo'. Please."
Josak blinked at him, then laughed, loudly enough in the quiet of their bedroom that Conrad startled, tense and wide-eyed as Josak bucked and sent him tumbling backwards, sprawled across the rumpled blankets.
"Apologies, Captain," said Josak, slipping out of his dressing-gown and tossing it over the back of the chair by the bed. "I won't talk about anything, then, how's that sound?"
"Good," said Conrad, reaching for him, pulling him down for another messy kiss. He groaned softly and lifted his hips for Josak to strip him of his underwear, groaning more loudly when the man took him in hand, stroking him gently. "Better," he gasped. "Much better."
Josak growled and kissed him again, pulling away and licking his lips when Conrad squirmed and grabbed the bottle of lubricant they kept in his pillowcase. "You or me, Captain?"
Conrad grinned at him and pulled him down, biting into the kiss with the kind of passion they'd had as younger men trying to quiet the terror between battles with the comfort of each other's arms. He pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured oil onto his own fingers, rocking his hips up enough to roughly shove a finger into himself.
"Me," he growled, fucking himself on his own finger. "Or both of us, if you want to help."
"Shinou," breathed Josak, his hand trembling as he held it out for Conrad to wet with oil. "Love it when you're like this, Captain."
Conrad snorted and bucked his hips, stilling at the touch of Josak's fingertips at his anus, rubbing and pushing and stretching him open, two fingers sliding in alongside his own. Slowly, they moved together, Conrad setting the rhythm, Josak spreading his fingers to stretch him. When he twisted his hand, Conrad grunted in discomfort, but on the next inward thrust, when Josak's middle finger rubbed hard over Conrad's prostate, he cried out, pulling his finger free of his body and wrapping his hand around his erection.
"Jo'," he whispered.
"Yeah," said Josak, taking over, rubbing and thrusting and stretching Conrad carefully and efficiently, mercilessly teasing the man's prostate on every inward push. "Oil, Captain?"
Conrad nodded and passed him the bottle, then pushed himself up, growling and kicking at his lover when Josak tried to press him back down to the mattress. "Over," he said, when Josak chuckled and backed off obediently. "I want to turn over."
"Mmm," said Josak. "However you want it, Captain."
Conrad rolled onto hands and knees, thighs pressed tight together. "How's this?" he said, watching his lover over his shoulder.
"Best," said Josak. "Love it when you're like this."
He pressed the head of his cock against Conrad's ass and pushed, sinking inside a good three inches before Conrad's body spasmed, tightening around him, telling him to wait. When Conrad sighed, he reached around and took the man's erection in hand, stroked the head with his palm until the muscles squeezing his cock relented, allowing him all the way inside. He buried himself in Conrad's body and swallowed hard, stroking faster, just to feel his lover groan.
"Stop that," said Conrad, gently batting his hand away.
Josak grinned. "Yes sir," he said, releasing his lover's cock, hands gripping Conrad's hips instead.
Then he began to move.
One long, slow stroke, almost all the way out. Then another, all the way in, slow and careful.
Again, not as long but faster, his hands squeezing Conrad's hips, then pressing open-palm against the mattress, steadying both of them as Josak began to fuck hard, pushing his lover forward with each thrust, bodies slapping loudly in the quiet of the room. Beneath him, Conrad panted, grunting whenever Josak rubbed against his prostate, shifting when the angle began to make his back ache.
Good, he told his lover, arching his back.
Harder, he begged, tightening his thighs.
Come in me, he ordered, reaching down to take himself in hand, his forehead scrubbing against the pillow.
Josak groaned and bore down on him, fucked him with hard, short jabs for the last tense moments before he stilled and came, his voice cracking as he called his lover's name, head thrown back and fingers digging into the mattress.
"Ngh, that ... ah Shinou that was good."
Conrad hummed into the pillow, muscles rippling as he stroked himself, covering the sting as Josak slid out of him, cock still stiff, dripping wet.
"I'm getting close," he gasped, pushing himself up, head falling back to rest in the curve of Josak's shoulder when Josak reached forward and pulled him, up and back.
"Mmm," said Josak, covering Conrad's hand with his own.
Together, they moved, long strokes like the rhythm of Conrad's fucking, nights when Josak took him inside and rode him, strong and wild and beautiful. When Josak slipped the fingers of his other hand into Conrad's body, twisting and rubbing the sensitive, slick muscle of his entrance, Conrad arched and came, biting his lip and trembling, semen spattering across his thighs.
"Wow," he sighed, slouching against his lover.
Josak hummed softly. "Better without interruptions," he said.
Conrad laughed, wincing a little as he sat up straight, cupping his hand against the inside of one thigh, catching a drip of semen. "Very much so," he said, waiting for Josak to hand him the towel they kept under the bed, helping him clean up the mess on his legs. "And just for the record, Jo'?"
"Yes, Captain?"
Conrad slid out of bed and stretched, wincing a little as he reached for Josak's dressing-gown, tugged it on. "I've always loved how you look in your nightgowns," he said. "But that's not the reason I fell in love with you."
Josak smiled, reaching out to tie his robe closed over his lover's cold-prickled skin, kissing the man on the lips. "I figured," he said, forehead resting against Conrad's, "but it's nice to hear it, all the same."
Conrad pushed him away gently and winked, limping just a little as he crossed the room to the bath, Josak's gaze on him the entire time.
It'll be the same for Yuuri and Wolfram too, Jo', he thought. Just wait and see.
This story has nothing to do with the end. Spoiler-free if you've seen through episode ... oh I'll say 10, to be safe. If you know what Wolfram wears to bed, you're good.
This is my explanation for his nightclothes.
Oh, and it's for pockygirl, but most of my stuff is, so ... yeah.
Dress Code
by Mistr3ss Quickly
"Lord Weller. I need to talk to you."
Conrad blinked at his younger brother. Nevermind that he was in bed, wearing nothing but his underwear, wrapped in his lover's arms in a rather compromising manner. Wolfram seemed determined and serious and desperate, and Conrad wasn't the sort of fellow to say no to anyone, if he could help it.
"Very well, Wolfram," he said, patiently, tightening one hand on Josak's firm butt, quieting whatever protest the man in his lap had drawn breath to make. "Would you step outside a moment, allow me to collect myself?"
Wolfram's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to ... do anything that'll take awhile, are you?" he said. "I don't want to hear that, and this is important."
Conrad shook his head. "I'd like to put on some pants, Wolfram," he said. "That's all."
Josak sighed. Wolfram snorted.
"Fine," he said. "You have three minutes."
Then he turned and marched out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.
"Well that was unexpected," said Conrad, cupping his lover's cheek and kissing him lightly on the lips. "Sorry, Jo'. I promise it won't take long."
"'S okay, Captain," said Josak. "I understand, duty calls." He rocked his hips, rubbing his erection against Conrad's, the slick head leaving a smear of precome just to the side of Conrad's navel. "Just 's long as you know your duty to me'll be waiting in here for you. Been weeks since I got to hold you properly, I'm not going to wait 'til tomorrow."
Conrad nodded and stole another kiss, slipping his tongue into his lover's mouth when Josak sighed and rocked against him, once again. "I won't be long," he breathed, when the sound of Wolfram cursing and kicking things, just outside the door, broke them apart. "I promise."
Josak grinned and rolled off of him, smacking Conrad smartly on the butt when the man climbed out of bed. "I look forward to it, Captain," he said, watching Conrad dress. "Very, very much."
~*~*~*~
Wolfram was silent, walking along a pace behind his brother down the long corridor and up two flights of stairs to the older man's office. He used magic to light the logs stacked neatly in the fireplace without needing to be asked to do so, then settled in one of the squashy chairs by the hearth and frowned until Conrad sat down across from him, long legs crossed before him.
Silence stretched. Conrad cleared his throat.
"What can I do for you, Wolfram?" he said, gently.
Wolfram's frown deepened into a nasty scowl. "Don't you dare make fun of me, Conrad," he snarled. "I won't hesitate to fry you, if you laugh."
Conrad nodded gravely. "I will take you seriously, Wolfram, no matter what the issue. You should know that."
"Hmph," said Wolfram. He squirmed a little in his chair, looked at the fire. "I need your advice," he grumbled, eventually.
"Ah," said Conrad. "I would be honored to advise you."
Wolfram glared at him. "Don't condescend to me like that," he snapped. "Just ... well I can't ask Mother, she'd tell the whole castle, and I couldn't ask Gwendal, that'd be too embarrassing. So that leaves you."
Conrad nodded sagely. "A wise choice," he said.
"It'd better be," said Wolfram, but there was no venom in his tone. Instead, he sounded weary. Defeated. Conrad restrained himself from reaching out to pat the boy on the knee.
"I'll do my best to help," he said, gently.
"Good," said Wolfram. He squirmed in his chair, once again, restless like the child Conrad remembered reading to when both of them were younger and Wolfram still looked up to him, still loved him like a sibling. "I need a strategy."
"A strategy?"
Wolfram nodded. "In case you didn't notice, I'm engaged now, and my fiancée keeps disappearing," he said, staring intently into the fire. "I need a strategy to convince him that he's mine, so he doesn't ... wander, when we're apart."
Conrad's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh," he said. "I don't think you need to worry, Wolfram. Yuuri is an honorable-"
"That's not what I'm asking," Wolfram snapped, scowling at his older brother. "Of course you'd say he's all 'honorable' and everything, but that's because he's not your fiancée. You're half-human, you wouldn't understand."
Conrad blinked at his brother. Nevermind that his own partner of more than fifty years was half-human, as was the new Maoh. Wolfram seemed too wound-up to be bothered with details. "Ah," he said, instead.
Wolfram returned his gaze to the dancing flames of the fire. "Doesn't matter, anyway," he mumbled, and Conrad couldn't help but wonder if he'd figured out on his own the ridiculousness of his previous statement. "I just need to know what to do to ... I don't know, attract him or whatever, when he comes home."
His cheeks colored up as he spoke. Conrad stared at them.
Why Wolfram, he thought. I do believe you've got a crush on our king.
It was nothing short of adorable.
"Well," he said, slowly. "You could try being a bit ... gentler with him. Yuuri's a sensitive boy, I don't think shouting at him like you do is quite the way to endear yourself to him."
Wolfram snorted. "It's not my fault he's a wimp who knows nothing about being a ruler," he said. "I'd be remiss as a fiancée if I didn't tell him when he embarrasses himself and New Makoku as a whole. And besides, that's not what I'm asking, don't tell me what to do."
"Ah, sorry," said Conrad. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you're asking then, Wolfram."
Wolfram sighed. "I want to ... you know."
He looked at Conrad out of the corner of his eye. Conrad gave him an honestly puzzled look.
Wolfram sighed again. "When you and Josak ... you know, got together," he said, "what'd you do? Or him, what'd he do? To make sure you both knew that ... you know."
He fucked me 'til I could barely ride my horse without passing out from the pain, actually, thought Conrad, an odd thrill curling through his veins at the memory. Can't very well tell you that, though, your circumstances are very different from ours. Yuuri would run screaming from this country and never return, if you approached him with that sort of suggestion.
"Ah, well ... let's see," he said, watching the shadow of Wolfram's chair flicker against the back wall of his office. "We began sharing things more, I suppose."
"Sharing?" said Wolfram, as though he'd never encountered the concept before in his life. Conrad caught himself wondering if that could possibly be the case.
He didn't ask. Instead, he nodded. "Yes. Just little things, at first. Our water canteens, for example, salve when we'd get mild injuries in battle. Then eventually, it was easier to just share a tent, since we were sharing so many supplies, and then a blanket, since the tents we carried with us weren't very large."
Wolfram's eyes were huge, full of an odd mixture of surprise, morbid curiosity, and disgust. "Yeah?" he said. "That worked?"
Conrad cleared his throat. "Under our circumstances, yes. And then, after the War, we'd both gotten so used to living together that I requested shared quarters here at Blood Pledge, for the both of us," he said. "I suppose that's when we knew we were, ah ... an item, if you will."
Made it so neither of us had to carry lubricant in our trouser-pockets anymore, too, which was nice, he thought, but Wolfram seemed overwhelmed enough with what information he'd just received, so Conrad kept that detail to himself.
"You're saying," said Wolfram, slowly, "that all I have to do is give up my room and move in with that wimp, and he'll figure it out?"
"Well no, not exactly," said Conrad, wincing inwardly at the thought of the young king's reaction, were he to return and learn that he couldn't escape his temperamental fiancée, even to sleep at night.
Wolfram frowned. "Why not?"
Conrad blinked at him. "Ah, well for your comfort and Yuuri's comfort, wouldn't it be best to-"
"Don't call him so casually by that name!" snapped Wolfram. "He's my fiancée, Conrad."
"Yes, Wolfram, I'm well aware of that," said Conrad.
Wolfram sulked. "Good," he said. "I don't care if he likes you better, he's engaged to me."
Oh for Shinou's sake, Wolfram, of all people to be jealous of, it shouldn't be me, thought Conrad, stifling a sigh. I'm his godfather, I'd no sooner think of him romantically or sexually than you'd think of Mother in such a manner, heavens.
"Indeed, he is," he said, patiently, "and it makes me very happy to know that he'll be married to you, someday. You're a good man, Wolfram, he's lucky to have you as his fiancée."
Wolfram looked startled, then embarrassed, then pleased, blushing a little in the dim light from the fire. "Yeah, well," he said. "I, uh ... I guess. Thanks."
Conrad smiled benevolently and resisted once again the urge to reach out and pat his brother on the knee, instead tapping the chair's upholstery with the tip of his finger. "Try not to worry about it so much, Wolfram," he said. "These things often take quite a bit of time. Josak and I served for years together on the front before we became partners, after all. You've only just met Yu-er, His Majesty, after all."
"Yeah, but Josak didn't go off missing for months on end without warning, did he?" said Wolfram, slumping in his chair. "You knew where he was, you were his commanding officer."
"Yes, that's true," said Conrad. "But think about it, Wolfram. Josak is one of the best spies in New Makoku, the absolute best I've ever had under my command. I can't tell you how many missions I personally had to order him to take, not knowing if he'd come back safely or not."
He sighed and uncrossed his legs, crossed them the other way. A few times, he came back so badly injured we didn't think he'd live, he thought. You have no idea how much those times hurt, Wolfram. I'd never have forgiven myself. Still won't, if something happens to him, even now.
Wolfram sniffed and looked back at the fire without a word. The flames seemed to comfort him, Conrad had noticed, and it was almost cute, like the security blanket to which Wolfram had clung for years as a child. He sat in silence, watching his brother brood, lost in thought.
The sound of his office door opening jerked him from his thoughts, startling Wolfram badly enough that the boy leapt to his feet, hand tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, ready for a fight.
"Whoa, calm down, 's just me," said Josak, grinning as he slipped into the office and pushed the door closed, sauntering calmly across the room, the ruffled silk robe he wore rustling against the floor rug. "Didn't mean to interrupt anything, but it's been quiet in here long enough, I wanted to make sure you two hadn't fallen asleep or something. Not good for your backs, sleeping in these chairs."
He tapped the back of Conrad's chair, as if to prove his point. Wolfram snarled at him.
"We were having a private conversation, Josak," he spat. "Do you mind?"
"Nah, not at all," said Josak. "Just checking on you two, 's my duty to make sure you're both safe, you know. 'Sides, you were talking about me, so nothing I didn't already know."
Wolfram's eyes went huge as saucers. "You were eavesdropping," he said.
"Wasn't," said Josak. "Heard my name, is all. Brought you something, too, might help."
He handed Wolfram a floppy package, wrapped in plain brown paper, and grinned. "Ordered it awhile back, just got it today, so it hasn't been opened or used or anything."
At that, both Wolfram and Conrad stared at him. Josak shrugged.
"Think you've got better use for it than I do. Go on, open it up."
Wolfram hesitated, then did as he'd been told, untying the twine knotted at the top of the package, then unfolding the paper. Inside was a nightgown, soft pink cotton with dark pink bows sewn on the front, ruffles adorning the sleeves and hem. Nearly as long as Wolfram was tall, it trailed on the ground when the boy held it up, staring at it.
"What," he said, transferring his gaze from the nightgown to Josak, "is this?"
"Nightgown," said Josak. "S'posed to be kinda short and slinky, but I'm taller than you, so I guess you'll have to go for more regal and elegant, in it."
Wolfram gawked at him. "It's ... this is a woman's nightgown."
Josak shrugged, resting one of his hands on Conrad's shoulder, gently squeezing the tense muscle he found there, his other hand plucking delicately at the ruffled edge of the dressing-gown he wore. "Not if it's on a man," he said. "You wanted to know how your brother and I got each other, didn't you? A nightgown not unlike the one you've got in your hands, there, played a role in it, just as much as sharing a blanket or a canteen."
Conrad felt his face heat. "Josak!" he said. My little brother does NOT need to know that about me, for Shinou's sake.
"Well it's either that or your underwear," said Josak, as though his lover hadn't spoken. "Give it to your mother if you don't want it. She'd look lovely in it, don't you think?"
"No!" said Wolfram and Conrad, in unison, Wolfram jumping to his feet once again, the paper and twine falling from his lap to the floor. He looked from the nightgown to Josak to his brother, then growled something incomprehensible and stormed out of the room, slamming the door as he went.
Conrad groaned. "Josak ..." he said.
"What?" said Josak. "Answered his question and got rid of him, didn't it? And notice, he did take the nightgown. Better than nothing, which is what he started with, eh?"
A sigh answered him, Conrad hunched forward, face in his hands. Laughing.
Better than nothing indeed, he thought. Oh Wolfram, don't blame me when Yuuri freaks out at the sight of you in that get-up.
Still chuckling, he stood and collected the paper and twine from the floor and extinguished the fire, threading his fingers together with Josak's as they made their way back to their bedchambers in the darkness, footsteps echoing loudly in the silence of the night.
~*~*~*~
"Aah, Captain ... ngh if your brother comes back, we're throwing him out, right?"
Conrad hummed around the head of Josak's cock, sucking hard a few times before sliding the entire length into his throat and swallowing, dragging a ragged groan from his lover. He bobbed his head a few times, then sat back, licking the very tip of Josak's erection, watching the other man through the fringe of his bangs. Josak stared back, chest heaving, his breath making the frills of his open dressing-gown ripple and flutter.
"Right?" he repeated, his voice rough and deep.
"Right," said Conrad, crawling forward to straddle his lover, rocking his hips gently as they kissed.
Back to where they'd been, an hour before, Josak nude but for his dressing-gown, Conrad wearing nothing but his underwear, the string rubbing tantalizingly between his buttocks, almost-painful enough to make him eager for Josak to strip him completely naked. Back to hard breathing and sloppy kisses, the bed creaking each time Josak bucked under Conrad's weight.
Conrad sighed and dipped his head, sucking gently at the sweat-salty skin just under the sharp line of Josak's jaw, biting down in surprise when he felt the other man's fingers, rough and dry, slipping under the string of his underwear to rub firmly against his anus, slipping just slightly inside.
Josak chuckled. "Blame your brother," he said, "if I'm going too fast for you. Kid made me wait, I'm all impatient now."
"Ngh," said Conrad, pressing back against his lover's fingers. "Stop talking about my family, Jo'. Please."
Josak blinked at him, then laughed, loudly enough in the quiet of their bedroom that Conrad startled, tense and wide-eyed as Josak bucked and sent him tumbling backwards, sprawled across the rumpled blankets.
"Apologies, Captain," said Josak, slipping out of his dressing-gown and tossing it over the back of the chair by the bed. "I won't talk about anything, then, how's that sound?"
"Good," said Conrad, reaching for him, pulling him down for another messy kiss. He groaned softly and lifted his hips for Josak to strip him of his underwear, groaning more loudly when the man took him in hand, stroking him gently. "Better," he gasped. "Much better."
Josak growled and kissed him again, pulling away and licking his lips when Conrad squirmed and grabbed the bottle of lubricant they kept in his pillowcase. "You or me, Captain?"
Conrad grinned at him and pulled him down, biting into the kiss with the kind of passion they'd had as younger men trying to quiet the terror between battles with the comfort of each other's arms. He pulled the cork out of the bottle and poured oil onto his own fingers, rocking his hips up enough to roughly shove a finger into himself.
"Me," he growled, fucking himself on his own finger. "Or both of us, if you want to help."
"Shinou," breathed Josak, his hand trembling as he held it out for Conrad to wet with oil. "Love it when you're like this, Captain."
Conrad snorted and bucked his hips, stilling at the touch of Josak's fingertips at his anus, rubbing and pushing and stretching him open, two fingers sliding in alongside his own. Slowly, they moved together, Conrad setting the rhythm, Josak spreading his fingers to stretch him. When he twisted his hand, Conrad grunted in discomfort, but on the next inward thrust, when Josak's middle finger rubbed hard over Conrad's prostate, he cried out, pulling his finger free of his body and wrapping his hand around his erection.
"Jo'," he whispered.
"Yeah," said Josak, taking over, rubbing and thrusting and stretching Conrad carefully and efficiently, mercilessly teasing the man's prostate on every inward push. "Oil, Captain?"
Conrad nodded and passed him the bottle, then pushed himself up, growling and kicking at his lover when Josak tried to press him back down to the mattress. "Over," he said, when Josak chuckled and backed off obediently. "I want to turn over."
"Mmm," said Josak. "However you want it, Captain."
Conrad rolled onto hands and knees, thighs pressed tight together. "How's this?" he said, watching his lover over his shoulder.
"Best," said Josak. "Love it when you're like this."
He pressed the head of his cock against Conrad's ass and pushed, sinking inside a good three inches before Conrad's body spasmed, tightening around him, telling him to wait. When Conrad sighed, he reached around and took the man's erection in hand, stroked the head with his palm until the muscles squeezing his cock relented, allowing him all the way inside. He buried himself in Conrad's body and swallowed hard, stroking faster, just to feel his lover groan.
"Stop that," said Conrad, gently batting his hand away.
Josak grinned. "Yes sir," he said, releasing his lover's cock, hands gripping Conrad's hips instead.
Then he began to move.
One long, slow stroke, almost all the way out. Then another, all the way in, slow and careful.
Again, not as long but faster, his hands squeezing Conrad's hips, then pressing open-palm against the mattress, steadying both of them as Josak began to fuck hard, pushing his lover forward with each thrust, bodies slapping loudly in the quiet of the room. Beneath him, Conrad panted, grunting whenever Josak rubbed against his prostate, shifting when the angle began to make his back ache.
Good, he told his lover, arching his back.
Harder, he begged, tightening his thighs.
Come in me, he ordered, reaching down to take himself in hand, his forehead scrubbing against the pillow.
Josak groaned and bore down on him, fucked him with hard, short jabs for the last tense moments before he stilled and came, his voice cracking as he called his lover's name, head thrown back and fingers digging into the mattress.
"Ngh, that ... ah Shinou that was good."
Conrad hummed into the pillow, muscles rippling as he stroked himself, covering the sting as Josak slid out of him, cock still stiff, dripping wet.
"I'm getting close," he gasped, pushing himself up, head falling back to rest in the curve of Josak's shoulder when Josak reached forward and pulled him, up and back.
"Mmm," said Josak, covering Conrad's hand with his own.
Together, they moved, long strokes like the rhythm of Conrad's fucking, nights when Josak took him inside and rode him, strong and wild and beautiful. When Josak slipped the fingers of his other hand into Conrad's body, twisting and rubbing the sensitive, slick muscle of his entrance, Conrad arched and came, biting his lip and trembling, semen spattering across his thighs.
"Wow," he sighed, slouching against his lover.
Josak hummed softly. "Better without interruptions," he said.
Conrad laughed, wincing a little as he sat up straight, cupping his hand against the inside of one thigh, catching a drip of semen. "Very much so," he said, waiting for Josak to hand him the towel they kept under the bed, helping him clean up the mess on his legs. "And just for the record, Jo'?"
"Yes, Captain?"
Conrad slid out of bed and stretched, wincing a little as he reached for Josak's dressing-gown, tugged it on. "I've always loved how you look in your nightgowns," he said. "But that's not the reason I fell in love with you."
Josak smiled, reaching out to tie his robe closed over his lover's cold-prickled skin, kissing the man on the lips. "I figured," he said, forehead resting against Conrad's, "but it's nice to hear it, all the same."
Conrad pushed him away gently and winked, limping just a little as he crossed the room to the bath, Josak's gaze on him the entire time.
It'll be the same for Yuuri and Wolfram too, Jo', he thought. Just wait and see.