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larkawolfgirl · 1 year

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Other Fish in the Sea (KKM)

Rating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: F/M Fandom: Kyou Kara Maou! Relationships: conrart weller/tuna-chan | maidmer princess, Drag Queen Librarian (Stewart)/Tuna-Chan | Maidmer Princess Characters: Tuna-chan | Maidmer Princess, Conrart Weller, Cecilie von Spitzweg, Gwendal von Voltaire, Drag Queen Librarian (Stewart) Additional Tags: Dating, Matchmaking, Break Up, family pressure, Interspecies Relationship, novel canon, Mild Humor

Summary: Tuna-chan had a habit of getting caught in nets, but Conrad never intended to tie her down.

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“So,” his mother began, sounding overly chipper, “have you decided on a wedding date?”

Conrart’s head throbbed with a headache. This had been happening more and more of late. If he wasn’t careful, he might grow forehead wrinkles as deep as Gwendal’s. Since returning to Luttenberg, he had been spending more time with his family, although when the conversation went in this direction, he wondered why he bothered visiting as often as he did. Messaging his temple, he answered coolly, “As I have said before, we are not engaged.”

His mother’s red-painted lips pouted. “Aw,” she whined dramatically. “Why not? She would make a great match.”

Conrart sighed. Just because she was a princess and technically a fellow mazoku did not make her a great match. Besides, Conrart had no intentions of getting married in the first place. As usual, his own frown directed itself to his older brother. This was all his fault, after all, for deciding on his own that the two of them were engaged.

“I hardly even know her.”

His mother waved her hand dismissively. “Pish posh. You’ve been seeing her for what now? Four months? That’s plenty of time to get to know each other.”

Maybe for her, the queen of quick marriages. He heaved a sigh to clear his thoughts. He never enjoyed judging his mother when she at least had tried to make her marriages last. “Neither of us wish to rush things.”

“You don’t have to,” his mother said, unrelenting in the course of the conversation. “You could plan for a year or more from now. All I want is a timeframe.”

“I think all of our minds would be put at ease knowing that you plan to settle down,” his brother added.

Why did they both insist on putting this pressure on him? Hadn’t he already settled down in Luttenberg, for the most part, since beginning his relationship with Tuna-chan? Were they really that worried that he would take off to some foreign country on some whim? At least Wolfram did not give him such pressure. Although, his youngest brother did not seem to give an ounce of concern about what he did one way or the other. His lack of pressure would be more appreciated if he actually ever saw him, yet his brother was almost permanently holed up within the confines of Bielefeld as of late, presumably in order to avoid him.

Conrart forced a smile. “Yes, well, my own mind would not be.”

Gwendal’s ever-present frown intensified. “Could you not be happy?”

Could you be happy stuck with Lady von Karbelnikoff for every day of your foreseeable future? But he chose not to rub salt into that wound. “I am already happy,” he said instead. It was only a half-lie. He was, he supposed, semi-happy. He was as happy as he assumed he was likely to be.

Tuna-chan was nice. She was the most interesting person he knew. She was fun to be around. She appreciated his jokes. And best of all, she didn’t put any pressure on him. Wasn’t that enough?

His mother smiled, but he could tell she was not impressed by that answer. “Please just consider it. She would make a wonderful bride.”

She would be an interesting bride for sure. He could imagine her standing there at the altar with him wrapped up in a dam, white towel. She would need help holding it in place, so Stewart (because he honestly couldn’t imagine her trusting anyone else to help) would be standing directly beside her as they exchanged wedding vows. It was practically comical. Although, he supposed, they could marry in the ocean or along the beach shore. Anyway he looked at it, the idea seemed overly complicated and entirely unnecessary. As far as he knew, Tuna-chan’s own family did not seem to give a dorsal fin of concern about the two of them tying the knot.

Still, in order to appease his mother and brother for the time being, he said, “I will consider it.”

Squealing, his mother jumped out of her seat and hugged him. Not just any hug either, but one of her token face-in-her-bosom hugs. She was definitely pleased with the idea. He would have sighed again if he could have breathed well enough to do so.

Conrart had had enough. He liked Tuna-chan, but he did not like her enough to live with a constant headache, and he certainly did not like her enough to up and marry her. He doubted she liked him enough for that either.

While Tuna-chan had a habit of getting caught in nets, she was practically as much of a free spirit as he was. She belonged to the vast ocean and didn’t deserve to be tied down, neither to him nor the politics Gwendal seemed so intent on thrusting onto him.

Still, the idea of breaking up with her did not sit well with him. He felt bad that his reasoning was almost entirely due to the pressure of his family. The only other reason was that she was technically , not-so-technically, another species, which was something he definitely did not want to bring up since he knew it made her self-conscious.

He did not want to end on bad terms. If possible, he’d like to still see her, if only every once in a while. He figured even if she initially felt down in the waters, she would forgive him in time. Still, he wondered if setting her up with someone else would alleviate that initial sadness. After all, he never liked to see a woman cry.

Setting her up shouldn’t be hard. She and Stewart were close, closer than even Conrart and her were. They had known each other for a long time, by the sound of it, and had been swimming around each other the entire time.

Plan made, Conrart went to visit them at their home. Technically, it was Stewart’s home, but Tuna-chan boarded with him when she wasn’t off at sea. She may or may not have hinted at wanting Conrart to offer to put her up at his place, but even that felt like too much commitment to him. Or more accurately, too much of an impression of commitment. He had never wanted to give her the wrong idea about their relationship. Especially after his brother had to go and mention marriage the first time they even met.

Conrart knocked twice on the front door before opening it. “It’s me,” he called out as he stepped inside.

As expected from a librarian, Stewart’s home was littered with books. Bookshelves practically lined every wall, and stacks of books filled what spaces they could. Still, somehow the man managed to make everything appear neat and organized. There were visible wet splotches on the floor that led up the stairs. That is where he would find Tuna-chan, then.

Leaving his shoes by the door, he followed the wet trail up the stairs and to the bathroom. Knocking again on this door, he opened it. As expected, Tuna-chan was lounging in the bathtub. Her ever-stunning legs were protruding over the rim. The librarian was seated on a wooden stool pulled up close to the edge of the tub. He was reading a book that he had positioned near enough that she could see its pages.

At the sound of the door opening, Tuna-chan began to flop inside the tub causing water to splash around. It was as cute as always.

Stewart closed the book and met his eyes. “Hello, Conrart.”

“Hello, Stewart,” Conrart returned. He walked over to the bathtub and placed a hand on one of Tuna-chan’s stunning legs. Of course, it would have been more proper to touch her fins, but her legs were easier to reach, irresistible, and she never seemed to mind. “And hello to you gorgeous,” he greeted her with a flirtatious lilt.

She splashed about in response. An obviously happy gesture.

Stewart, as usual, wore a mixed expression. Conrart assumed he enjoyed seeing her happy but was annoyed that she was happy because of Conrart instead of him.

Ignoring the man for the time being, Conrart smiled at her. “Did you miss me?”

Another happy splash.

“I hope you’ve been doing well.”

“She has,” Stewart answered for her. “We took a swim at the harbor. Her father sent us an envoy requesting that she return home in a few days, though.”

That would make things easier then. “I see.” Conrart squeezed her leg. “I have been in contact with my family as well. They will still not drop discussions of marriage.”

This time her reaction was a splish. A far less enthusiastic response.

“I know,” Conrart continued, “I do not wish to marry either.” He ignored the scowl he could feel coming from Stewart. “However, I have come to the conclusion that they will not give up on the matter. Therefore, I think it would be in our best interest if we stopped seeing each other as often.”

A sequence of splishs this time.

There was a scraping sound as Stewart rose quickly enough to scoot the stool backward over the tiled floor. “Now, hold on a minute! You can’t do that to her!”

Conrart’s gaze shifted to him, becoming less pleasant in the process. “And why is that?”

“Because she has done nothing but care for you.”

Conrart let go of her leg and laughed almost mockingly. “That does not entitle her to my company.”

Stewart glared at him. “Then what does? You’re a right asshole.”

Conrart rolled his shoulders. “Maybe I am. Regardless, she does not want to marry me any more than I want to marry her.”

Stewart looked a bit at a loss at that. “Still,” he continued heatedly, “that doesn’t give you the right to just dump her.”

“Why not? There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”

Stewart growled before tackling Conrart to the ground. Tuna-chan floundered about in the bathtub trying in vain to jump out to interfere in some way. Both men ignored her, focusing solely on wrestling to pin the other down. Eventually, Conrart allowed himself to be bested.

Stewart sat on his thighs glaring with what could only be regret buried in his eyes. “I wish I’d never entrusted her to you back at the bar.”

“Why not?” Conrart asked with feigned hostility. “What else would you have done?”

Stewart shook his head. “I don’t know. I had to get out, but I shouldn’t have let her go.”

Now they were talking. “You let her go all the time.”

Stewart’s face contorted. “What are you talking about?”

“How many times have you caught her in your net only to let her swim away?”

Stewart gripped at the collar of Conrart’s shirt. “What are you even getting at? That’s always been an accident. I could never keep her against her will.”

Conrart smiled. “What if you didn’t have to?”

Stewart’s hands shook. “What are you getting at here?”

Conrart’s voice came out soft now but loud enough to make sure that both of them heard. “She chose to live with you, right? You understand the maidmer better than anyone I know. More than me, I think you would be a perfect match.”

Instantly, Stewart let go of him to cover his mouth. The man’s face flushed a deep red. “I couldn’t possibly.”

There was splashing from the tub.

“She’s happy,” Conrart said.

Stewart looked over at her with longing. “But she’s a…she’s a princess. I’m just a librarian.”

Conrart grinned. “No, you’re not. You’re also a drag queen.”

Stewart turned back to him and knocked him over the head. “You really are an asshole.”

Conrart’s head ached slightly from the blow, but his smile didn’t waver. Tuna-chan seemed very happy right now. “Yes,” he answered her, “I would still like to see you. Just not enough to give the impression to others that we are courting.” He looked back to Stewart. “That is, as long as you won’t interfere with that.”

Stewart’s face was still flushed a deep red. “I…It isn’t as if I’m courting her,” he denied.

Conrart smirked. “That’s a shame. You might want to get to it before someone else catches her in their net.”

If possible, the man’s face flushed even darker.

Tuna-chan, on the other fin, flopped about merrily. Apparently, this really had been the best outcome. She seemed happier now than he’d ever seen her. It seemed, there was a reason she had gotten caught in Stewart’s family’s nets all these times.

“Good.” Conrart wiggled his way out from under the librarian. “I will let you two celebrate. Although, Tuna-chan,” he placed his hand on her leg once more, “may we have one last official date tomorrow?”

She splashed in obvious agreement.

The colors of the sunrise glittered over the shining surface of the water. It was beautiful, nearly as beautiful as Tuna-chan herself. Conrart swam closer to her. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

She splashed several times.

Conrart snorted. “Of course.” Saying this, he leaned in.

Their mouths met with a kiss. It was a sweet, but lingering kiss. This wasn’t a kiss with implications, although it wasn’t just a kiss of sentimentality either.

Breaking apart, they both dove under the water. Conrart grabbed onto her closest fin to make sure they didn’t get separated. They dove deeper and deeper, pausing to kiss every so often. With each kiss, Conrart was granted life-giving air as well as a tender feeling in his chest.

Finally, he could see the looming underwater city. Other maidmer swam to and fro. Speeding up, Tuna-chan led him to a large castle.

Two guards blocked the way, but upon seeing the maidmer princess they moved aside. The two of them swam down a seemingly endless, empty hallway until finally entering a room. It was lavish with a giant clam bed, dangling seaweed lanterns, and coral artworks. Conrart wasn’t knowledgeable enough to know what fancy looked like underwater, but he assumed this was it.

Putting two and two together, it wasn’t hard to figure out that this was her bedroom. And by the way she was tugging him toward her bed, it wasn’t hard to figure out why she brought him here either.

Conrart wasn’t ready to settle down. He certainly wasn’t ready to marry a maidmer princess.

But Conrart was always ready to bed one.

#kkm #kyou kara maoh #conrart x tuna-chan #stewart x tuna-chan #tuna-chan #conrart weller #drag queen librarian #my writing #fanfic #fanfiction

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