#yuriluke

What’s this?? Another WIP??

“I’m fine,” Yuri insists.

Luke just rolls his eyes as Yuri tries to hold back a cough, to no avail. It is wet and long and gross. When Luke pushes Yuri down onto his soft, silk-covered bed, Yuri finds he doesn’t have any strength to resist him.

“Isn’t he the worst sick person?” Flynn says from the door.

“Not sick,” Yuri says.

“Well what do you call this then?” Luke says as he passes Yuri another tissue. Yuri sneezes into it once, twice, and before long the sopping mess is more snot than tissue. Luke hands him a waste basket to toss it into.

“Allergies.”

“You don’t have allergies,” Flynn says.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Yuri argues.

“I’ve known you since you were five, Yuri. You don’t have any allergies. Not for lack for trying-“

“All right,” Guy cuts in. “Come on Flynn. Let’s let Yuri get some rest. We can go do some sword practice. Weren’t you saying your captain showed you a new move?”

Thank Lorelai for Guy, Luke mentally notes to himself. While Flynn and Yuri are great friends, the best of friends, they are the kind that goad each other into doing really dumb things. Like trying to prove to the other that Yuri is so not sick really guys don’t sit around when they’re sick. And soon.

“Here,” Luke says, handing Yuri the glass he keeps by his bedside. With Guy’s raid of the kitchen, it’s filled with orange juice.

Yuri grumbles, but takes it, downs the whole thing in one go. It almost clears his throat out and for a short while he breathes normally again.

“Stay here,” Luke says. “Until you get better.”

“I can’t,” Yuri says. Even though he is no longer “that homeless orphan boy”, he is now “that failure of a White Knight”. He’s no more welcome in the Fabre household now than he was before. It’s just that Duke Fabre knows his face on sight and he can occasionally bribe his old squad mates into letting him in through the front door.

“No one ever comes in here,” Luke says. “You’ll be fine.”

“Really?” Yuri coughs out. Luke pours and hands him another cup of juice and this one, Yuri nurses. “Doesn’t your dad come sometimes?”

“Not as long as I am where I’m supposed to be.”

“And where are you supposed to be right now?” Yuri asks.

“Here, duh. It’s like four in the morning.”

“It is?” The last thing Yuri remembers was eating lunch…yesterday apparently.

“Yeah. Normal people are asleep now. Sick people should be asleep right now.”

The more he lies there, in Luke’s soft and expensive bed, the harder he is finding it to protest. He’s never slept on sheets so smooth and clean.

“Scoot over,” Luke says, poking him in the side.

When Yuri shifts, Luke quickly snuggles in after him. At first, Luke’s hands and feet feel like ice, but after the initial shock, they feel so soothing. Yuri comes to the realization that he is uncomfortably hot and moves to push some of the blankets down.

Luke stops him, just snuggling closer.

“You’re gonna get sick,” Yuri slurs out, half asleep.

“I don’t get sick,” Luke says. “Not like some people who don’t know not to sitout in the rain all night.”

And sure enough, a few days later, Luke is as active as ever, despite having lain alongside Yuri’s disease-ridden body for several days. Which is just unfair, Yuri thinks, still sniffling, as Luke shoves another glass of orange juice into his hand.

Luke is alive.

He’s still shaking, and has been since the Tower. Yuri understands.

Luke is alive and sitting right next to him.

He’s almost silent, turning the Jewel of Lorelai over and over again. He startles when someone speaks too loud. Yuri sits next to him, trying to be a reassurance, trying to ground him.

They are in the very back of the Albiore’s cabin. Guy and Flynn are in front of them, talking in hushed voices and fielding anyone who tries to disturb them. Tear and Natalia each look upset, but they don’t offer much protest.

Luke is alive. He has the devil’s luck.

Yuri takes one of his hands and holds it tightly. Luke looks up at him, forces a smile, and goes back to staring into space. But his hand does squeeze Yuri’s and Yuri takes it as a small victory.

He has a feeling they are going to be needing it.

Guy, Anise, Tear, and Natalia all seem so happy. They seem a bit confused by the depressing silence in the back of the Albiore.

Jade, as always, is hard to read. But Yuri thinks Jade is still worried. Perhaps worried by the same thing that Yuri is.

Yuri almost wishes Patty was there. They had had to leave the girl back in Yulia City. Jade wasn’t sure how close to replica her structure was and didn’t want to risk it. Patty had protested, but Luke had also made a quiet request and she had given in.

Patty had the ability to make Luke smile, no matter what. She seemed to understand him in ways Yuri never could. She was a fellow replica, though she had not been created to replace someone.

But she isn’t there and Yuri is.

Yuri hadn’t thought of what he’d say to Luke after. Neither of them had even thought that there might be an ‘after’. Yes, they still needed to stop Van and release Lorelai, but that had always been a distant goal. In his mind, Yuri’s immediate future had ended with Luke.

And then it hadn’t. Luke was alive and they would move forward together.

The devil’s luck, Yuri thinks. And what did the devil usually ask in exchange?

The thing is, Yuri doesn’t have good luck. Even when he’s riding high, he knows to prepare for the inevitable fall that is sure to follow. And it always, always follows.

Luke keeps staring at his hands. He’s alive and staring at his hands and lost in his own head. Yuri can’t think of anything to say to pull him out of it.

Then, suddenly, the feeling of Luke’s hand in his own is gone.

It’s a split moment, not even a second. Had it been in any other situation, Yuri would have brushed it off.

Jade is, unsurprisingly, awake already. If Yuri hadn’t slept in the same room as the man more than once, he would almost believe Jade didn’t sleep at all. Jade has a cup of coffee and the newspaper. He doesn’t acknowledge Yuri as Yuri makes his way to the kitchen.

Peony had offered to have their meals brought to them, but Yuri enjoys cooking. It’s relaxing, something he finds himself needing more and more often these days.

Luke had refused Peony’s offer before Yuri could himself though.

“No thanks,” he’d said. “Yuri makes the best omelets!”

Yuri can’t help but grin at the memory. It would be omelets for breakfast today then!

One by one, the rest of the gang trails in. There’s a pattern to it, and Yuri cooks accordingly. Jade first of course, but Guy is always close behind him. Then Patty, Flynn, and Tear. Ion and Anise always come in at the same time, and the royals are always the last ones awake.

Natalia’s almost done with her breakfast when Yuri realizes the dish he set out for Luke is getting cold. Yuri picks up both Luke’s plate and his own and heads back to their room.

But Luke isn’t in their room, or the bathroom. Yuri starts to search the other rooms.

It turns out there is a small sitting room at the other end of the suite, opposite the kitchen and main living area. Luke and Repede are both there, but the sight makes Yuri pause.

“What on earth…”

Repede is wearing a little pair of wings on his back, next to a quiver. He’s also wearing what can only be called a diaper, though there is a hole cut in it for his tail. Yuri would have expected his friend to be annoyed about the goofy outfit, but Repede seems positively chipper.

“Now Repede!” says a voice.

Yuri watches as Repede takes an arrow from the quiver and hurls it in his direction with his usual pin-point accuracy. It smacks Yuri’s fore-head, dead center, and sticks.

“Bull’s-eye!”

“You are so lucky I didn’t drop this,” Yuri tells Luke flatly. Before his boyfriend and his dog get any more ideas, Yuri sets both plates on the table.

A table covered in a pink tablecloth. A vase of pink and red roses sits in the middle, and beside it sits a pink stuffed dog.

Yuri blinks.

Luke ignores the omelet – ignores it! – and throws himself at Yuri in a hug and a kiss.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” Luke says.

All the pieces finally connect and Yuri’s heart sinks. Their first Valentine’s Day as a couple and of course he forgot.

He must have been silent too long, because Luke is looking up at him worriedly.

“Yuri, you okay?”

“Yeah,” he says, trying to shake it off. “Happy V-day, Luke. Let’s eat.”

“Ooh, what did you make?”

Repede disappears (Probably to go take that costume off. Cupid, Luke? Really?), leaving Yuri and Luke to enjoy their breakfast alone. Luke is telling Yuri about a weird dream had involving Jade, Asch, and a banana suit. The chairs are close together so Luke is basically leaning into Yuri the entire time, and it almost takes the edge off.

“Oh,” Luke says as they finish the last of the omelets, “that’s for you, by the way.”

He hands Yuri the pink dog. It’s wearing a pink eye patch over its left eye.

“It’s Repede, see? Except I had to use an eye patch because I couldn’t find a dog with a scar.”

It’s kind of cute, in a demented sort of way.

“Sorry,” Yuri says.

“What’s wrong?” Luke says. “You don’t like it?”

“No. It’s not that that.”

Luke’s head is resting on Yuri’s shoulder and Yuri rests his own head on top of Luke’s.

“I do like it. But I didn’t do anything for you. I forgot.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Luke says with a laugh. He takes Yuri’s hand and twines their fingers together. “I kind of expected it, honestly. Flynn warned me. He said you used to forget your birthday before we started forcing those parties on you.”

Yuri flushes a bit. So he’s not great with dates. It wasn’t important. Before.

“Let’s just go out and do something,” Luke continues. “I got Anise and Natalia to convince Jade to agree to a day off. And I hear the waterfalls are kind of romantic.”

Yuri is trying to figure out how to nicely put his boyfriend off the idea. When he looks down, he sees Luke looking up at him, a teasing smirk on his lips.

“Yeah, no. Sparring?”

“Hell yeah! Let me grab my sword!”

Luke dashes off, as though Yuri doesn’t also need to go back to their room for his own weapon. Yuri picks up the stuffed dog. He can’t help but smile at Luke’s ridiculousness. Nonetheless, when he goes to grab his sword, he tucks the dog deep into his bag.

54. Tower

Yuri is waiting for Luke when Luke finally gets back to their room. He doesn’t say anything as Luke takes off his coat and boots, slowly, as if to delay the inevitable. Repede lifts his head to watch but also keeps his silence. When Luke finally slides into Yuri’s waiting arms, he’s shaking.

67. Playing the Melody

“Whatcha playing with a stick for?”

When Yuri glances over his shoulder, he finds Luke standing not one foot behind him. Foregoing the lecture on personal space – again - Yuri says, “It’s not a stick.”

Luke points at the admittedly stick-looking piece of wood in Yuri’s hands with an air of condescension that he’s started to pick up from his father.

“That. Is a stick.”

“Well it won’t be for much longer,” Yuri says, carefully cutting into the wood with his small knife. “Don’t you have lessons or something?”

“Yeah. Etiquette lessons,” Luke says. He throws himself onto the street behind Yuri, back to back, undoubtedly ruining his fancy clothes. “Like anyone is going to let me out of the manor long enough to use them.”

Yuri hums in agreement, both because Luke isn’t exactly wrong and because he remembers the lessons Flynn’s mother tried to give both of them and he can understand Luke’s pain.

Like a homing pigeon, Repede appears as soon as Luke has settled down for a thorough petting session. When Luke leans forward to give Repede the attention, Yuri misses the feeling of warmth against his back.

It does make his task easier. He blows the extra wood chips out of the now-hollow tube and begins to cut the holes.

These actions – choosing the wood, hollowing it out with the knife – are instinct for Yuri now. Sometimes he sells his flutes – a few extra coins never hurt and some people seem to think they’re ‘charming’. It gives Yuri a chance to calm his mind. It also takes his mind off the hunger.

A few more years and he can join the army. Flynn is aiming for the Royal Guard. Yuri has his sights set on the White Knights. He pretends the red-head cuddling with his dog has nothing to do with it.

When the flute is finished, Yuri plays a few experimental notes. They never sound quite the same from flute to flute – the differences in the shapes of the sticks and the placement of the holes causes that. But they ring out nice and clear. One of his better ones.

Repede whines behind him and when Yuri turns to look, he finds that Luke is completely still, staring at him.

“What?” Yuri says slowly. “I didn’t think it sounded that bad.”

“Do that again!” Luke says, leaning across Repede.

Yuri plays a short little tune of his own invention, one that he would sometimes play for Flynn or some of the other street orphans. Luke watches with rapt attention. Yuri isn’t sure he is even blinking.

“Let me try it!” Luke says as the final note trails off.

Yuri can’t help but laugh at Luke’s first attempts. To be fair, he isn’t doing too bad for someone with no musical instruction whatsoever – academic studies are more important apparently.

“Why isn’t it working?” Luke says, trying to blow directly into the flute and getting only whooshing air for his troubles.

“You don’t blow into it,” Yuri explains. “The air goes over the holes. Like….” The man who had taught Yuri how to make the flutes called it ‘making out with the flute’ but oh, Yuri was so not going there. “Like this.”

He takes the flute to demonstrate.

When he hands it back, Luke’s form is perfect. He almost gets something resembling a note out because he still needs to work on his airflow, but it is a huge improvement.

Yuri is about to move onto breathing but he catches a glimpse of blonde and orange.

“Keep it,” he tells Luke, pressing the flute into Luke’s hands. “We can work more later. But you’d better get going if you don’t want Mother Hen catching you.”

“It’s time for dinner anyways,” Luke sighs. He waves, catching Guy’s attention.

Later, exchanging a few coins for a meager loaf of bread, Yuri thinks back, remembers the sight of Luke’s lips curling around the flute’s mouthpiece just so…