Kyou Kara Maou Fan Fiction ❯ The Slip ❯ One-Shot

“The Slip”
By Viridian5
6/16/08

RATING: R; Gwendal/Yozak, Yozak/Conrart. If m/m interaction bothers you, pass this by.
SPOILERS: “The Man Who Cannot Be Forgiven.”
SUMMARY: There’s only so far we can go to save others.
ARCHIVAL/DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, as long as you ask me first.
FEEDBACK: can be sent to Viridian5@aol.com.
DISCLAIMERS: All things Kyou Kara Maou! belong to Tomo Takabayashi, Geneon USA. No infringement intended.
NOTES: Pre-reading by Juls, Bardsley, and Syvia.

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“The Slip”
By Viridian5
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Times like this Yozak felt thankful that he had his own ways in that didn’t raise questions and that certain members of Lord von Voltaire’s staff practiced professional blindness. He hardly looked like a proper lady right now. Hell, he didn’t look like a proper anything at the moment. A refugee maybe.

It didn’t surprise him to see a light visible from the crack under the door to Lord von Voltaire’s office this late. Yozak did his special light knock at the door and entered the room as he heard the soft “Come in.”

Lord von Voltaire’s face showed a bit of surprise at the sight of him but quickly returned to its usual impassive, stern look. “Would you like a seat?”

Maybe Yozak looked as wired-tired as he felt. “I’d get it all sooty, Your Excellency.”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I cared about that.”

“Then I thank you.” Yozak sat and crossed his legs, arranging his long, sooty skirt and petticoats. Since he’d torn them up one side to let him better ride a horse full-speed home, he showed a bit of bare leg as well as his inappropriately manly boots. “Usually I’d groom some before seeing you, but I figured you’d want the news as quickly as it came in.” He liked to present himself well more out of personal pride than appropriateness when he gave his reports, but still.

“Your lipstick is smeared.”

“My apologies.”

“You’re correct that I would want the report.”

“That terrorist group shouldn’t be a problem anymore. I burned out the head and body. Only a few splinter cells remain. The fire won’t be tracked to Shin Makoku. I had to cut it a bit close and hotfoot it out, though.”

“Hotfoot it out.” Gwendal’s mouth did a little smile. “You’re well?”

Not many Mazoku nobles would have cared for a half-breed’s condition, not even after what Yozak had done at Lütenberg, but Lord von Voltaire was decent. Well, decent aside from helping the captain get assigned to the damned Lütenberg thing, but Yozak had given up trying to figure out how all the royal half-brothers related to each other because it made almost no sense.

Putting the racial stuff to the side, Yozak and Gwendal had some simpatico views. They both loved their country even as they both disagreed with how it was being ruled, and they worked to protect it from outside enemies and inside incompetence. Not everyone would agree with their methods, but they got results.

“Nothing’s broken or burnt. A bit of bleeding, but I can take care of that without any help. But the dress is a loss.”

“A shame. It complimented your eyes.”

So it would be one of those nights? Smiling, Yozak uncrossed and recrossed his legs, letting the petticoats and skirt of his dress reveal and conceal his bare legs and lacey underthings in a smooth flowing motion. “Your Excellency is most kind. Perhaps I can get a bonus to help me replace it? After all, it was sacrificed in the line of duty.”

Gwendal got out of his seat behind his desk and came over to stand in front of Yozak’s seat. “You push too far.”

As he stood Yozak coyly put his hands behind his back. “If so, I’m open to negotiating.”

He let his eyelids flutter as Gwendal placed a gentle hand along the side of his face. The smell of horse, char, and sweat apparently didn’t bother Gwendal, and it looked like he cared as much about getting soot on his clothes as he’d cared about the chair. Liaising with other soldiers had so many benefits.

“Your skin is hot. I think you cut it closer than you’d have me know.”

Leaning into the stroking callused fingers, Yozak said, “You’re the boss.”

No-nonsense Gwendal wasn’t always in the mood. When he was if Yozak said no Gwendal would back off, but Yozak rarely said no. Right now he still had residual battle frenzy thrumming through his body along with fatigue, so he could use something that would mellow him out and Gwendal was a pretty good lay, attentive to his partner and willing to take direction when necessary.

They had an understanding here too. Yozak knew that Gwendal considered love affairs to be a weakness and too time-consuming, while Gwendal knew Yozak had unrequited feelings for the captain, not that he would tell Yozak where the captain had been sent for his long, super secret mission or when he’d return. It was strictly need-to-know, of course, and Yozak didn’t need to know. Yozak dealt with that by using his vast resources to try to find out on his own but not even his vast resources had gotten him an answer.

Gwendal’s other hand slid under the ragged slash in Yozak’s skirt and petticoats to stroke up his leg. “I wish very much to bend you over my desk and fuck you. If you have any objections or suggestions, I’m open to hearing them.”

The intensity in Gwendal’s dark blue eyes and the mental image of what he wanted gave Yozak the shivers and made him very pleasantly hard. “I’ll let you know if anything comes to me.”

“Don’t take off the dress. We’ll deal with it.”

“Our thoughts are heading in the same basic direction. This is why we work so well together.”

Afterglow made Yozak dazed and dreamy, so much so that he just sighed as Gwendal bandaged a cut that had been more serious than he’d realized. Gwendal’s people didn’t ask any questions when their lord demanded a bowl of warm water and towels in the middle of the night. Good of them. In about half a day Yozak would be racing off to some new location to pretend to be someone else, but at the moment he rested in perfect contentment.

When Gwendal finished bandaging, he had a frown on. Only an expert would know the difference from the usual perpetual frown. Eventually Gwendal said, “Lord Weller has returned. He’s here.”

Yozak didn’t know what he felt at the moment aside from it being too much. “I’ll have to visit the captain and catch up at a more reasonable hour. Before I head off.”

Would he be better by now? Julia’s death following the battle at Lütenberg had taken a lot of the light out the captain’s eyes. The best way to find out would be to see him.

See him in the morning. As much as Yozak would like to run him down now, showing up at his door at this hour like a maniac looking desperate wouldn’t be a good move. Best would be to sleep (no staying awake thinking or worrying), dress, and show up looking breezy but glad to see him.

As Yozak put on the spare set of clothes he kept in Lord von Voltaire’s office, he said, “Thanks for the thorough debriefing.”

Gwendal’s mouth twitched. “You’re as good as ever.”

“You’ll make me blush.”

“Rare achievement.”

Yozak did a little bow and picked up his folded ruined dress. “Good night, Your Excellency. I’ll see you again... when I do.”

“Good night.”

Yozak actually slept. An exciting night of arson and battle, a long hard horse ride, and a hot hard ride from Gwendal had served him well. Unfortunately, he felt very jittery as he hunted the captain down and wondered how Conrart was and how to deal with it.

“Yozak!”

The captain running across him like this worked out even better.

Conrart was smiling serenely but it didn’t entirely reach what should have been warm brown eyes. Somehow that was worse than the depression, and Yozak wanted to fix that. “Captain. Are you back for good or getting a reprieve?”

Conrart directed him into an empty room and closed the door. Need to know. “The mission is over, if that’s what you mean.”

“Actually, yeah. What was it all about?”

“I can’t tell you. Sorry. But it was important and good. It should be. Though it’ll be years before everything falls into place.”

That was something. “It’s been a while. You look,” fake “well.” The captain still wore Julia’s necklace.

“I know. I was very far from home. I’ve found some peace, though.”

Liar. “I’ve heard that peace is a good thing to have.”

“You wouldn’t know for yourself?”

There had been times before when they’d been separated for a long while to eventually meet again, so why did this reunion conversation feel so different, so distantly polite and superficial?

“You know me, Captain. I’ve never been the type to sit on my butt for long. I’m on the move, working. Besides, I’m just a regular guy so I need to earn a living to keep myself fed and in dresses.”

“Doing what?”

“Espionage, since I can pass through the human countries so easily and know the writing. Being a soldier still, just in a different way.” Like clubbing people behind the knees instead of facing them outright and letting them take a shot at him, not that he was shabby at the straight-on thing. “Lord von Voltaire is taking advantage of my patriotism.”

“You’re working for Gwendal?”

Working under him sometimes too, but.... “Is that a problem?” Yozak hoped for something from the captain here. A declaration of love would be too much to expect, but... something. He didn’t know what.

“Some of his tactics and attitudes... well, no. No problem. I’m just surprised.”

That hadn’t been it. Yozak shrugged, faking a casual breeziness he couldn’t quite feel at the moment. “We proved ourselves at Lütenberg, the two of us.” So many other people hadn’t come back alive. Yozak could see a reminder of Lütenberg every time he noticed the scar through his captain’s right eyebrow. “It gained me some points and showed him that I tend to land on my feet and I’m happy to serve my country.”

“I see.” Conrart still sounded somewhat disturbed.

“In fact, I’m shipping out again in a few hours, back to work. Can’t tell you where I’m going, but we probably won’t see each other again for a while. I’m glad I could catch you before I had to leave.”

“Yozak....”

“Because I missed you, and I didn’t know how well you were doing wherever you were so I worried....” Yozak was known in some circles for being willing to say things no one else would dare, but he refused to herd his captain in this. He needed to see where Conrart’s natural inclinations went.

That serene fake smile returned. “There’s no need to worry. I’m fine. I’m glad you gained some recognition from Gwendal.”

“If you need anything--”

“I don’t need anything.”

Didn’t need anything. The captain was fine, fine with lying to the world--worse, lying to his partner, the man who had watched his back--and keeping his secrets. Fine with keeping things on a shallow fake surface.

Yozak couldn’t help him if he wouldn’t admit something was wrong. He hoped Conrart would see it and fix it on his own, because Yozak had hit the limit of how far he could save him. Yozak had carried him away from Lütenberg and helped stop him from dying but couldn’t carry him through life and force him to live.

“I’m fine too. It’s been good catching up with you, and I’ll see you around some time. Our paths have to cross again.”

If nothing excessively stupid happened, they would have more time, while Yozak and Gwendal worked to prevent excessive stupidity. Yozak would do a strategic withdrawal here, with the certainty of fighting again another day. Pulling a win out of difficult situations was what he and the captain had always done.

“Be careful, Yozak.”

“Sure,” Yozak said as he started to walk away. “Take care of yourself.” Better than you have been.

  ***********************THE END**********************     More Viridian5 stories can be found in The Green Room version 3.0 at http://viridian.shriftweb.org/   No-frames but no-frills access available at http://viridian.shriftweb.org/index2.htm