Chapter 2

Yuuri watched as Wolfram put a dab of the hot milk onto his wrist. After making sure it wasn't too hot, Wolfram picked Yuuri up. Yuuri struggled against it for a moment, but stopped when he caught the scent – it did smell good, and he was actually pretty hungry.

"There we go," Wolfram chuckled. "Just settle down at eat. Gwendal's right. You do look hungry." Wolfram dipped a finger in the bowl of milk, and brought it to Yuuri's lips. Yuuri poked his tongue out of his mouth and liked it off. It tasted sweet, and he realized how hungry he really was. He nudged Wolfram, trying to get more out of the blonde.

Wolfram raised an eyebrow. "You seem plenty old enough to drink out of a bowl to me." He placed both Yuuri and the bowl on the floor. "I'll go get you some meat or something from the kitchen. Don't make a mess."

Yuuri bounced over to the bowl, and began lapping up the milk eagerly. Wolfram watched him for a few more moments before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Yuuri continued to lap up the milk Wolfram had prepared until the stubborn blonde returned. He knelt down, setting a small plate with small, diced chunks of meat on it. "Here. Eat up," Wolfram encouraged.

Yuuri found that eating the meat was harder for him. Then again, his jaw muscles weren't developed yet in this body – and the fact remained that eating too much of it would probably make him sick, anyways. He remembered reading that somewhere.

After eating about half of the food, Yuuri was full. He sat down on his haunches, now satisfied. Wolfram took the plate away, setting it aside for later. He knelt down, scooping Yuuri up. "How old are you, anyways? You can't be more than a few months old, Yuli. Where's your mother?"

Back on Earth, Yuuri thought dryly.

Wolfram shook his head. "Hmph. How pathetic. Talking to a dog."

Yuuri barked at him in an annoyed manner.

Wolfram glanced down at the black dog in his arms, before flashing it a small smile. "Hmph. Well, come on. Let's go find Yuuri. I'm sure that wimp will think you're cute."

Yuuri whined quietly as Wolfram disappeared out the door. This was going to be a long day.

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Wolfram was getting annoyed. Well, more than annoyed. Where the hell had his fiancé disappeared to?

Yuli wiggled around in the blonde's arms, making quiet whining noises. "For Shinou's sake, Yuli, what's gotten into you?" he grumbled.

Yuli barked, and kicked out. His leg caught on Wolfram's forearm, and the puppy jumped out of his arms, falling to the floor. Wolfram fumbled, trying to catch him.

Yuli landed nimbly, as if he'd planned the whole thing. He barked at Wolfram once, and then sprinted off down the hall. Wolfram made a scoffing noise of annoyance, and chased after him.

Yuuri took a left. If he was right, the lab that Anissina was working in was around her somewhere—

He yelped as he tripped over a pair of boots. He shook himself off, looking up innocently.

A loud scream practically broke his eardrums. He whined in pain, covering his ears with his paws, putting his head as close to the floor as he could.

Eventually, the screaming subsided to just a few pants of terror. He looked up, and saw his "Tutor From Hell", Gunter, literally on a chair, trying to stay as far away from him as humanly possible. Well, this was a change. And Yuuri couldn't say he disliked it, either, though he could do without the screaming.

Wolfram caught up a few moments later. "Gunter?"

"Wolfram!" Gunter looked down at Yuuri, a frenzied look on his face. "Get that… that… thing away from me!"

Wolfram glared at Gunter, and scooped Yuuri up. "What do you think you're doing, Yuli?" he hissed. "Bad dog!"

Oh. Great. I can't even be a good dog, let alone Maou, Yuuri thought dryly.

Yuuri barked at Gunter curiously.

"Afraid of a little puppy like this, Gunter?" Wolfram asked wryly, holding Yuuri up, moving closer. Gunter moved away, making a quiet squeak. "Come on. He's harmless," Wolfram scoffed. "Besides, he acts too much like Yuuri do bite or anything of that nature."

Gunter took a few deep, shaky breaths – and then sneezed three times in rapid succession. "Get that thing away from me," he groaned miserably. "I'm allergic—" He sneezed again.

"Oh, well, too bad. I sort of like him, and I think Yuuri will, too. So Yuli isn't going anywhere," Wolfram stated protectively. He tucked Yuuri back under his arm. "We'll be leaving now."

Yuuri looked over his shoulder as Wolfram stalked away from Gunter. Once they were out of the silver-haired magician, Wolfram set Yuuri down, and crouched down, a serious expression on his face. "Yuli, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Gunter. He hates dogs, and he's allergic. I was sticking up for you back there, but I won't always be there to do that. So be a good boy and leave Gunter alone, alright?"

Yuuri had never known Gunter was afraid of – or allergic to – dogs. Nevertheless, he wasn't in the mood for a repeat of the past few minutes. He rested his head on Wolfram's knee, looking up at him with innocent eyes.

"…I almost feel like you understood that," Wolfram sighed. "Huh. Weird."

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Yuuri followed Wolfram around as the soldier went about his normal daily routine, mostly because he didn't know what else to do with himself. Normally, he'd be in lessons with Gunter right now, but he couldn't very well do that while in the body of a dog. Not having the spastic advisor attacking him with hugs and nose bleeding over him was kind of nice, too…

Yuuri was a little surprised. Wolfram did more than he had thought – he must have spent at least three hours training with a sword in a corner of the courtyard, working on his footwork and aim with a dummy (onto which he'd drawn a crude likeness of Gunter, often mumbling "Yuuri is my fiancé" under his breath). After he decided he'd done enough of that, he jogged three laps around the castle (after the first, Yuuri had taken to just waiting for him at the front gate, confident that Wolfram would return), and did a rather large range of other exercises (he had to double-check when he counted Wolfram doing over a hundred pushups, and had thought he'd been out in the sun for too long).

Then again, Wolfram was a soldier. It made sense.

Wolfram was currently spending time with Greta. They were knelt down in front of Cheri's garden, pointing out the different flowers, weeding, and watering. Yuuri was surprised at how gentle Wolfram was with her. He was a good father. Yuuri found himself wishing that he was able to spend more time with his daughter – most of his time was spent behind a desk, going through paperwork, in other countries as Shin Makoku's representative, or at lessons. He wanted to be able to have this sort of one-on-one time with Greta, just like Wolfram.

Greta picked Yuuri up gently, and placed him in her lap. "Wolfram, when did we get a puppy?" she asked chipperly.

"I found him this morning," Wolfram shrugged. "He was chewing on my boots over in the South wing."

Greta laughed. "Silly," she teased, picking Yuuri's front paws up and placing them on her shoulders. She rubbed noses with him. "Boots aren't for chewing."

"I'm going to have to get a new pair now," Wolfram sighed. "Again."

"What happened to the old pair?" Greta asked, wondering. She continued to stroke Yuuri's fur, and Yuuri felt himself begin to slip off into sleep. It felt so good…

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Wolfram paced back and forth inside their bedroom. Yuuri watched from the floor next to the bed, whining quietly.

Wolfram froze mid-step, and then changed direction again.

Yuuri was getting dizzy.

Wolfram swore under his breath. "Where the hell is that wimp?" he growled. "He wasn't at dinner, and no one's seen him since this morning…"

Wolfram heard the doorknob turn, and spun towards it. "Where the hell have you—Oh… Conrad…"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Conrad chuckled. "We searched the whole castle. He's not here. We sent a messenger to Shinou's Shrine. Apparently, the maidens sensed a surge of his Majesty's Maryoku this morning, but that's all. He's probably home right about now, so don't worry," Conrad said gently.

"Hmph. Why would I worry about that wimp?" Wolfram asked indignantly. "He's always leaving without telling anyone! I'm used to it."

Conrad smiled at his younger brother gently. "If you say so, Wolfram," he relented. "I'm sure His Majesty will be back before you know it."

"Get out of my room," Wolfram grunted.

Conrad shook his head, smiling, and closed the door behind him. Wolfram was always like this… too stubborn to admit his own feelings. He'd be better in a few days – perhaps sooner, now that he had the puppy to keep his minds off of things.

Yuuri watched as Wolfram readied himself for bed, stripping down and donning his girlish nightgown. He peeled the covers down, lay down, and pulled them over his shoulders. Yuuri watched from the floor, wondering if Wolfram was the type to allow animals to sleep in the bed.

Yuuri heard a soft sound come from under the covers. His ears pricked, and he moved cautiously forward.

He tensed, and then jumped nimbly onto the foot of the bed. Wolfram didn't move to push him off, so he stalked quietly closer.

When he finally saw Wolfram's face, he found that moving was next to impossible.

Wolfram's eyes – which Yuuri knew were a brilliant green, but were now just a bland shade of gray – were overflowing with tears. Yuuri crept closer after a moment, a quiet noise building up in his throat – something like a coo.

Wolfram pushed him away gently. "Go away," he muttered. "I'll be fine. I'll deal with it like normal – go to bed, Yuli."

Yuuri stubbornly pressed forward, past Wolfram's arms. He reached Wolfram's face, and gently pawed at the blonde's chest. Wolfram glared at him with a 'give up' expression.

Yuuri leaned forward and licked a tear off of Wolfram's cheek, trying to comfort the blonde the only way he could think of. He hated to see anyone crying – especially someone as pretty as Wolfram.

Wolfram froze at the contact, but allowed it. After a moment, Wolfram's hand descended onto Yuuri's head, gently stroking the soft black fur. Yuuri moved closer, curling up into a small ball, his head against Wolfram's throat.

Wolfram placed a hand on top of Yuuri, and curled into a ball, holding Yuuri's small body against his in a both protective and desperate embrace, as if he would take comfort from any source he could.