No help from that corner, obviously. It wasn't particularly surprising, all things considered, as he had worn Günter out completely. "The young are so vigorous" indeed, he thought, remembering his lover's comment when they'd finally stopped for the night.
With a sigh, he crawled out of bed and pulled on a pair of pants and loose robe. Much to his surprise, Yuuri was waiting for him in the outer room, looking uncomfortable. He jumped a little when he heard Gwendal's footfalls and blushed brilliantly. "Gwendal, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
"Don't wake Günter up." Yuuri's mouth snapped shut and he looked even more embarrassed. Taking pity on the man, he sighed and slowly sat down in the nearest chair of his sitting room, glancing at the closed bedroom door. His thighs were shaking a little. He hadn't done any sort of that activity for so long and having done it so many times…he was still exhausted. "Was there something you wanted, Your Majesty?"
"I just wanted to know how you were doing." There was a pregnant pause as Yuuri shifted on his feet and obviously looked everywhere but at the exposed skin beneath Gwendal's robe. Looking down, he noticed the sheer amount of hickies and loving bite marks left behind in Günter's…enthusiasm. "How long…have you two…you know?"
Gwendal shifted a little, debating how to answer. His king had asked him a question and he was duty-bound to answer; however, it was also a question about his personal life, which he was not fond of sharing to anyone. Personal was exactly that: personal. "How long have Günter and I been together?" Yuuri nodded, obviously relieved that he didn't have to elaborate further. Again, Gwendal took his time to answer that, because it wasn't the easiest response. After last night, it had almost felt that he and Günter had been unconsciously courting for more years than he could count and at the same time, it felt so abrupt and yet comfortable.
"It's a difficult question to answer, Your Majesty." He watched as Yuuri sat down, intrigued despite himself, as he listened. "Günter and I…we have a very long history together, ever since I was a child. I'm so…used to him that I can't imagine him not being here. Whenever I look over my shoulder, I'm not surprised to see a hint of white or lavender. We were friends before lovers, and he was someone that I'd come to trust above all else. You could say we've shared just about every experience together except for things that are left purely for couples."
This was getting to be harder than he'd thought. He wasn't used to explaining things of this nature, especially to someone who was still, basically, a child. Someone who still didn't fully understand the world he ruled. "I'd…never thought of Günter that way, to tell the absolute truth."
"There must have been a turning point, though, right?"
It almost seemed like Yuuri was asking this for a specific reason, as if he was trying to find out some truth he still didn't understand. It made him take pity on the young man, as he was still a boy and probably in the midst of noticing such things as romance by now. "You could say so. I don't think that things would have changed were it not for our trip out to Hertzog's manor. We…" He shifted uncomfortably, not really wishing to mention some of the details that he'd wanted to hide, but forced himself to continue. "We decided that the best course of action was to fake being lovers. There were a few incidents, but no overwhelming incident that suddenly made me rethink everything we'd ever been. I guess it started with my observation of his behavior and it never stopped when we got back. I paid closer attention to him and just started thinking about him in different lights."
"When did you tell him what you felt? It was you that took the first step, right?"
"Actually no," he replied, much to Yuuri's surprise. "Günter told me how he felt when he came back after the plague had been stopped and gave me time to really think it out. When I realized the pangs that I'd felt, the tightness in my chest at odd times, when I thought about him was love, it didn't really feel like such a big thing anymore. What I had felt was abrupt at the time of his confession was no longer abrupt. In fact, I started to feel surprised that I'd BEEN surprised by it, as if it had been there all along, but I'd never recognized it. It was…natural."
He had nothing more to say and shifted again as Yuuri merely sat in silence and observed him. His expression was blank, almost, not like the teenager he was, and he began to wonder if somehow he had answered a question his king had not been able to figure out how to ask. "Why did you want to know?"
Gwendal's question seemed to drag him out of whatever had caught him and Yuuri blushed deeply. "I just…well, you know…" An eloquent eyebrow told his king that no, he didn't know. The teenager sighed at having to explain something that he obviously didn't know how to. "I've just been wondering about a lot of things lately and I was curious."
Something about his expression said that wasn't all there was to it, but Gwendal wasn't one to pry, especially about such sensitive matters. "Is that all, Your Majesty?"
"Huh?"
"Is that all? It's really quite early and I've…had a long night." Automatically Yuuri's eyes dropped to the kiss marks on his neck and chest that could be seen and they both turned an interesting shade of red.
"Uh…yeah, I'll, um, go now."
His liege beat a hasty retreat and he was about to get up when he felt soothing hands on his shoulders. Lavender hair surrounded him as Günter leaned down to kiss the side of his forehead from behind, and whispered in his ear, "That was quite beautiful, Gwendal. Really, you're so adorable."
Gwendal cleared his throat, willing his blush away and turned around when the heat left his back. Günter smiled at him and crooked a finger as he backed into the bedroom and slowly began to untie his belt. "There are many years to make up for, love."
"Are we planning on making them up for it in one day?"
Günter smirked. "We can't get it all done in one day, but I'd certainly like to try."
Though he tried to appear stern, he couldn't help the instinctive smile on his lips as he stood up and closed the bedroom door behind him.
END