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[KKM] Guessing Game (1270words)
Title: Guessing Game
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Character/Pairing(s): Greta, Yuuri, Wolfram, Gunter, Conrart
Rating: G
Warning: CONRART'S SENSE OF HUMOUR
Summary: Gwendal knits an animal accurately, Greta loves it, and Yuuri doesn't know what it is. (For the To The Moon writing prompts.)
"So what do you think?"
Greta was bouncing on her toes with excitement, the material of her dress swirling around her knees as she held up the patched up and knitted stuffed animals toward Yuuri's face.
Yuuri gave a nervous laugh, bringing a finger to scratch at the side of his face as he tried to make sense of what animal it could be this time, along with a way to keep in his daughter's good graces without shoving his foot in his mouth as he so often did. "It's... it's impressive! I really like the, uh, webbed feet! It's — it's so cute!"
"Isn't it?" Greta gushed alongside him, more genuine in her enthusiasm. She twirled around with the brown knitted creature in her arms, and then declared, "Gwendal made it for me! He did it so perfectly this time, too, it looks just like what I wanted!"
Oh. Yuuri's shoulders slumped in relief. That explained it. He wouldn't have to identify the animal at all. Gwendal was notorious for knitting creatures that looked like one species when it actually represented another.
"I'm going to name her Molly." Greta declared, and then raised her stuffed animal up for Yuuri again to examine, to which he awkwardly pet the thing and nodded at her with a smile to show his approval.
He kicked out under the table at Wolfram's foot when his daughter skipped away, leaning over the table precariously over the assortment of tea and pastries as he whispered, "What was that thing supposed to be, anyway?"
"Hm. How am I supposed to know?" The blond sniffed haughtily into his drink, posture perfect despite the (very bad) example the demon king was setting. "I think it's supposed to be a creature from your world. From that book you got her for mid-winter."
"Christmas." Yuuri corrected absentmindedly, and then drew back again, this time with his fingers cupping his chin in thought, the other hand supporting his elbow. "Wait, so it's not just something I've never seen here? I don't think Gwendal would be very happy if I just called it a duck."
"We have ducks." Wolfram protested, looking slightly offended by the idea that they wouldn't, for some reason. "That thing was not a duck."
"Yeah, but you guys also have weird animal crosses here!" Yuuri stated, feeling justified from the memory of killer goalas and sand bears. Not to mention vegetarian sharks.
"We. We have animals here, yes, but they're not 'weird' -- how many times do I have to tell you, this is your home now, Yuuri!"
Yuuri ignored that statement and Wolfram's bristling demeanor. The other brought it up often enough, but Yuuri still had a hard time integrating New Makoku as home (yes, he did think of it as home, it was just that he thought of his mom's house more as home, and that included his streets and neighbourhood and school and country and, well, world in general).
"Maybe I should ask Gunter." Yuuri muttered to himself. That sounded like a good idea — Gunter knew just about everything, anyway.
"Hey, are you listening to me, Yuuri?" Wolfram demanded. "I'm trying to tell you — hey, don't just leave in the middle of tea! You didn't even set your utensils down properly yet — didn't Gunter teach you that you need to cross your knife and fork if want to leave the table?"
—
"I'm afraid I don't have a clear cut answer for Your Majesty." Gunter stated, wringing his hands and visibly wilting under the imagined disapproval that Yuuri was most definitely not projecting. "Gwendal makes many such a contraption, and I'm afraid I've yet to identify any of his animals correctly -- ahh, I'm so sorry your most faithful servant has failed you in this task!"
"It's okay." Yuuri told him simply. "I don't think any of us can guess Gwendal's knit animals."
"Perhaps if you have a description for me?" Gunter tried, eyes wide and adopting an expression that Yuuri would never have expected to see from his tutor when they first met. It had, however, gotten rather commonplace in the past few months as the beautiful demon continued to wail and submit to fits of melodrama and histrionics whenever Yuuri was around.
"Uh..." Yuuri scratched at his cheek again, looking up at the ceiling in attempt to remember better. "It’s some kind of a weird duck… beaver thing."
He looked back at the tall demon and gestured with his hands the approximate size, continuing, "Very brown. It's -- yeah, it's definitely a weird duck-beaver thing."
"I can't think of any creature in this kingdom that might resemble that descriptor." Gunter told him, making doe eyes. "Perhaps just asking Gwendal himself...?"
Yuuri made a choked noise at the thought. While he doubted his chief of state would actually be offended someone mistook his creations, Yuuri would rather see him happy when (and if, he supposed) someone actually guessed correctly.
Then there was the fact that Greta claimed Gwendal actually knitted an animal perfectly this time.
"I think I’ll just go ask Conrad." Yuuri said hastily, and made his escape.
—
“It’s a platypus.” Conrart informed Yuuri before the latter even had the chance to ask. The brunet soldier smiled gently. “That’s what you wanted to know, isn’t it?”
Yuuri gaped for a moment, then two, before flailing his arms wildly. “How do you do that?” And even more than that… “Wait, how did you even know I was here?”
Because he had been trying to sneak up on his knight (it was part of his training! Conrart had disapproved at first because he had been worried that Yuuri would actually manage to invoke a violent instinctual response, but Gwendal overrode the protests by claiming that if Yuuri could actually sneak up on him, then maybe any would be assassin would actually get the better of him, to which the soldier could not dispute) with very little success, having barely managed two steps into the stables on his tiptoes.
“I always know where you are, Your Majesty.” Conrart said, as mysterious as ever, and Yuuri frowned intensely at him for a long, long moment, settling hands on his hips in a way his mother often did when she disapproved strongly about something. “...Yuuri.”
“That’s better.” Yuuri relented, cheered by the use of his name. “But— wait, what’s a platypus?”
“A creature from Earth. It looks a lot like a cross between a duck and a beaver.” Conrart paused to smile down at him. “So you see, Gwendal really did manage to make something that looks very much like how it’s supposed to.”
“No way.” Yuuri breathed, and then grinned. “Good for him!”
“Greta’s been telling everyone about his success.” Conrart told him, “And while Gwendal has been attempting to depict other creatures accurately…”
The hanging statement told Yuuri everything he needed to know. It seemed the stoic man was still at an impasse with his knitting.
“W-well, maybe just being able to do one thing is good enough for right now!” Yuuri encouraged, feeling the need to celebrate the tiny success rather than focus on other failures. “We can get him to make more of those things — if Greta liked them so much, maybe a bunch of the town kids will, too?”
“Of course.” And Conrart’s smile was back. “Maybe we can give him another kind of challenge, too.”
“Oh? What kind of challenge?”
“Get him to make a plaid-ypus.”
Yuuri slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned.
Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou
Character/Pairing(s): Greta, Yuuri, Wolfram, Gunter, Conrart
Rating: G
Warning: CONRART'S SENSE OF HUMOUR
Summary: Gwendal knits an animal accurately, Greta loves it, and Yuuri doesn't know what it is. (For the To The Moon writing prompts.)
"So what do you think?"
Greta was bouncing on her toes with excitement, the material of her dress swirling around her knees as she held up the patched up and knitted stuffed animals toward Yuuri's face.
Yuuri gave a nervous laugh, bringing a finger to scratch at the side of his face as he tried to make sense of what animal it could be this time, along with a way to keep in his daughter's good graces without shoving his foot in his mouth as he so often did. "It's... it's impressive! I really like the, uh, webbed feet! It's — it's so cute!"
"Isn't it?" Greta gushed alongside him, more genuine in her enthusiasm. She twirled around with the brown knitted creature in her arms, and then declared, "Gwendal made it for me! He did it so perfectly this time, too, it looks just like what I wanted!"
Oh. Yuuri's shoulders slumped in relief. That explained it. He wouldn't have to identify the animal at all. Gwendal was notorious for knitting creatures that looked like one species when it actually represented another.
"I'm going to name her Molly." Greta declared, and then raised her stuffed animal up for Yuuri again to examine, to which he awkwardly pet the thing and nodded at her with a smile to show his approval.
He kicked out under the table at Wolfram's foot when his daughter skipped away, leaning over the table precariously over the assortment of tea and pastries as he whispered, "What was that thing supposed to be, anyway?"
"Hm. How am I supposed to know?" The blond sniffed haughtily into his drink, posture perfect despite the (very bad) example the demon king was setting. "I think it's supposed to be a creature from your world. From that book you got her for mid-winter."
"Christmas." Yuuri corrected absentmindedly, and then drew back again, this time with his fingers cupping his chin in thought, the other hand supporting his elbow. "Wait, so it's not just something I've never seen here? I don't think Gwendal would be very happy if I just called it a duck."
"We have ducks." Wolfram protested, looking slightly offended by the idea that they wouldn't, for some reason. "That thing was not a duck."
"Yeah, but you guys also have weird animal crosses here!" Yuuri stated, feeling justified from the memory of killer goalas and sand bears. Not to mention vegetarian sharks.
"We. We have animals here, yes, but they're not 'weird' -- how many times do I have to tell you, this is your home now, Yuuri!"
Yuuri ignored that statement and Wolfram's bristling demeanor. The other brought it up often enough, but Yuuri still had a hard time integrating New Makoku as home (yes, he did think of it as home, it was just that he thought of his mom's house more as home, and that included his streets and neighbourhood and school and country and, well, world in general).
"Maybe I should ask Gunter." Yuuri muttered to himself. That sounded like a good idea — Gunter knew just about everything, anyway.
"Hey, are you listening to me, Yuuri?" Wolfram demanded. "I'm trying to tell you — hey, don't just leave in the middle of tea! You didn't even set your utensils down properly yet — didn't Gunter teach you that you need to cross your knife and fork if want to leave the table?"
—
"I'm afraid I don't have a clear cut answer for Your Majesty." Gunter stated, wringing his hands and visibly wilting under the imagined disapproval that Yuuri was most definitely not projecting. "Gwendal makes many such a contraption, and I'm afraid I've yet to identify any of his animals correctly -- ahh, I'm so sorry your most faithful servant has failed you in this task!"
"It's okay." Yuuri told him simply. "I don't think any of us can guess Gwendal's knit animals."
"Perhaps if you have a description for me?" Gunter tried, eyes wide and adopting an expression that Yuuri would never have expected to see from his tutor when they first met. It had, however, gotten rather commonplace in the past few months as the beautiful demon continued to wail and submit to fits of melodrama and histrionics whenever Yuuri was around.
"Uh..." Yuuri scratched at his cheek again, looking up at the ceiling in attempt to remember better. "It’s some kind of a weird duck… beaver thing."
He looked back at the tall demon and gestured with his hands the approximate size, continuing, "Very brown. It's -- yeah, it's definitely a weird duck-beaver thing."
"I can't think of any creature in this kingdom that might resemble that descriptor." Gunter told him, making doe eyes. "Perhaps just asking Gwendal himself...?"
Yuuri made a choked noise at the thought. While he doubted his chief of state would actually be offended someone mistook his creations, Yuuri would rather see him happy when (and if, he supposed) someone actually guessed correctly.
Then there was the fact that Greta claimed Gwendal actually knitted an animal perfectly this time.
"I think I’ll just go ask Conrad." Yuuri said hastily, and made his escape.
—
“It’s a platypus.” Conrart informed Yuuri before the latter even had the chance to ask. The brunet soldier smiled gently. “That’s what you wanted to know, isn’t it?”
Yuuri gaped for a moment, then two, before flailing his arms wildly. “How do you do that?” And even more than that… “Wait, how did you even know I was here?”
Because he had been trying to sneak up on his knight (it was part of his training! Conrart had disapproved at first because he had been worried that Yuuri would actually manage to invoke a violent instinctual response, but Gwendal overrode the protests by claiming that if Yuuri could actually sneak up on him, then maybe any would be assassin would actually get the better of him, to which the soldier could not dispute) with very little success, having barely managed two steps into the stables on his tiptoes.
“I always know where you are, Your Majesty.” Conrart said, as mysterious as ever, and Yuuri frowned intensely at him for a long, long moment, settling hands on his hips in a way his mother often did when she disapproved strongly about something. “...Yuuri.”
“That’s better.” Yuuri relented, cheered by the use of his name. “But— wait, what’s a platypus?”
“A creature from Earth. It looks a lot like a cross between a duck and a beaver.” Conrart paused to smile down at him. “So you see, Gwendal really did manage to make something that looks very much like how it’s supposed to.”
“No way.” Yuuri breathed, and then grinned. “Good for him!”
“Greta’s been telling everyone about his success.” Conrart told him, “And while Gwendal has been attempting to depict other creatures accurately…”
The hanging statement told Yuuri everything he needed to know. It seemed the stoic man was still at an impasse with his knitting.
“W-well, maybe just being able to do one thing is good enough for right now!” Yuuri encouraged, feeling the need to celebrate the tiny success rather than focus on other failures. “We can get him to make more of those things — if Greta liked them so much, maybe a bunch of the town kids will, too?”
“Of course.” And Conrart’s smile was back. “Maybe we can give him another kind of challenge, too.”
“Oh? What kind of challenge?”
“Get him to make a plaid-ypus.”
Yuuri slapped a hand over his eyes and groaned.