Voiceless

Title: Absent

Pairing: Wolfram X Yuri

Rating: M

Story Contains: Yaoi, Rape, Violence, Language, and most importantly Unrequited Love

Chapter Warnings:

Summary: Wolfram finally agrees to venture out of his room and attend breakfast, but does it go well at all, or does it end in tragedy? Alls well that ends well…right?

Chapter Number: #7

Author Note: Don’t be fooled by the last line of the summary, this isn’t the final chapter.

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“Yuri! Yuri! Wake up!” It was Greta, bouncing up and down beside him on the bed. Her antics were to happy to be caused me something bad, so he knew he didn’t have to worry. He wondered, however, what caught her attention. Was it a visitor? Something outside?

“What is it, Greta? What’s going on?” He sat up groggily and watched Greta’s smile widen more and more. The sky was still a deep indigo, but Greta was fully dressed and alert.

“Wolfram said he’s coming to breakfast! He said he’d be there!” She seemed unable to control herself, and Yuri felt the same.

“Wolfram said he was coming? Are you sure?” He blinked and thought it over quickly. “Are you sure it wasn’t a dream, Greta? It’s still pretty early.” Greta’s small face scrunched into a glare.

“No! It wasn’t a dream! He said he was going to be at breakfast! I heard him!”

“But, Greta, Wolfram can’t talk. His voice is hurt. Do you mean to say that he’s all better?” Greta shrugged and continued bounding around the bed.

“Well, he’s not entirely better. His voice is strange and scratchy, but he can still talk!”

“Did he come here, Greta? Did he come and talk to you?” Greta’s eyes lowered and her energy ceased.

“No, but I heard him talking to Gwendal in the hallway. I couldn’t see him, but I heard Gwendal call for him and then they started talking.” She sighed. “That’s how I know it was Wolfram. And he said he’d be at breakfast!” Her face lit up once again and she returned to her childish antics that seemed to help the sun rise faster.

Yuri hoped, for Greta’s sake, that Wolfram would stick to his word…and he also hope that, if it had all been a dream like he feared, an odd fluke would occur that would extract the hermit from his shell and he’d be at the meal anyway.

-----

Yuri couldn’t help but sit down at the table early. No one else was there with him except for Greta who watched the door as intently as Yuri watched the tablecloth. The door opened and Lady Celi entered, speaking happily of her surprise to see a young man up so early and then quietly commenting on how she’d hoped to have the table to herself for a few extra moments. She tried to start a conversation, but Greta’s attention was wholly focused on the door and Yuri was trying to send a signal to the real Wolfram to tell him that Greta really wanted to see him.

The door opened and closed several times to bring two of the three brothers and then the other residents of the castle important enough to have meals at the large table. Then the food came as did a spirit of unease. Greta looked close to tears and everyone else seemed to wonder why both she and the Demon King were in such low spirits.

Greta didn’t eat, and Wolfram never came.

-----

“Wolfram! Open this door, Wolfram!” Yuri pounded against it, ignoring Gwendal’s protests from down the hall. If Gwendal didn’t want him to interfere then why would he tell him that Wolfram really had stated that he would be there? Greta had been counting on it. It wasn’t fair to her that her other father would break such an important promise! Even if he didn’t know she knew. He should’ve been there. “Wolfram!”

“Leave Wolfram be, Yuri!” Gwendal thundered from over his shoulder.

“No! He promised that he would be at breakfast and Greta heard him! I won’t let him hurt her because he’s mad at me!”

“I told you that this has nothing to do with you!” Gwendal shouted. Usually he could control his anger, but for whatever reason, his self-control faltered when it came to Wolfram.

“The only reason he wouldn’t come to meals is because he doesn’t want to see me!” Yuri focused his attention on the door and started pounding on it once again. “Wolfram!” His patience wore thin and forced open the door. It wasn’t locked, that surprised him, but finding Wolfram asleep on his bed did.

He’d expected him to be at the window, looking out at whatever caught his interest, but instead he was sleeping with a look of contentment on his face, his body fully clothed and curled around his unsheathed sword. His legs were halfway off the edge which made it look like he had fallen asleep accidentally. As if he had been sitting on the edge of the bed waiting to leave and then had fallen asleep.

“He must be really out of it…He’s always been a sound sleeper, but not that sound!”

“He didn’t sleep last night,” Gwendal said firmly, looking over his youngest brother’s sleeping form. “He stood in your room until dawn when he left. One of our soldiers saw him and thought he was attempting to attack you while you were asleep. The soldier then alerted me and I confronted Wolfram. That must’ve been when Greta overheard us.”

“Wait, he was in my room? Why? What for?” Yuri groaned. He didn’t like the idea of being watched by his spiteful, short-tempered ex-fiancé. “Ah, man.”

Gwendal ignored him and moved over to Wolfram who didn’t stir. He placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and shook him, first gently and then firmly until the emerald coloured eyes opened and a pale, half-sleeping hand bolted towards the sword. Gwendal grabbed his wrist firmly and his younger brother turned to face him, relaxing only after recognizing all of the features.

“What time is it?” He mouthed, his throat too tired to form sound.

“Late,” Gwendal said, retracting his hand and stepping away from the bed. “You should be more responsible. Greta was expecting to see you.”

“Greta,” Wolfram said, his voice soft and shaky. It was then his eyes landed upon Yuri and widened in shock and betrayal. Gwendal knew he didn’t want to talk in front of Yuri! He knew yet he didn’t stop him.

“Yeah, Greta was waiting to see you, Wolfram. So you should go check on her and bring her something to eat.” Wolfram sat up stiffly with a wince, Yuri noted, and put most of his weight on the side of one thigh.

That’s when he made the connection.

~Alice Von Wonderland

Closing Note: Poor Wolfram. Or poor Greta? Either one is pitiful.

Until Next Time

R&R

Alice Von Wonderland.