Fic: Love Never Dies 3 Part 2
Jun. 28th, 2009 10:27 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
emeraldreeve.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
indeedsir_backupFinding that night, Jeeves tried to determine when matters had started to improve for Julius. It been close to four months later before Julius realised that perhaps that night had been the last he would have to suffer through. For reasons that the servant had not known, Lucius had ceased asking Claudius to stay the night. Additionally, to Julius' happiness, Lucius had started a habit of arriving home early from parties. What brought Julius even more joy was that Lucius had began to shower him with attention and affection.
It had not been until the night before their wedding that Julius had gained the courage to ask why Lucius had given up Claudius. Lucius had been reluctant to tell him, but finally had said, “Between Claudius and I there was nothing but lust. When I began thinking of you, even when I was with him, I knew it was time to end it. Your offer to service me in the place of Claudius made me start to understand that it was only you that I really wanted. No one else could give me what I truly needed.”
As the two men walked, hand in hand, along the beach, Jeeves looked for another memory; finding this one easily, as Julius treasured it. The valet wanted this recollection, since he and his employer might never be allowed a wedding. Maybe the day would come when Mr. Wooster would wish to hear about this memory.
The day of their wedding, over thirty people, both Julius' and Lucius' friends had gathered to the garden. The couple had stood before a priest, holding hands. From the trees, the scent of apple blossoms had perfumed the air. A good friend of both of them, Titus, had played, “Vigil of Venus,” on the lyre.
The ceremony had begun with the vows of faithfulness that Julius wanted spoken, and had ended after the pledges of life-long commitment that Lucius had desired were declared.
Jeeves was not surprised that when the time came to speak the assertions of a life-long devotion, Julius had changed the words. Instead of promising only a life-time, he had said, “For all time and eternity, so shall you have my love.”
Lucius had altered his agreed upon words, too, declaring, “I shall love you forever and should forever end, still my love will be yours.”
There had been a bounteous feast at Lucius' family house after the ceremony, that had ended with pieces of wedding cake being served. Jeeves felt a pang as he saw Lucius feed Julius a piece of cake with his fingers. He wished that he might have this with Mr. Wooster one day.
Julius and Lucius had then been escorted by their friends to their new house; one they had chosen together. The sun had just set, and vivid in Julius' mind was the sound of the flute and the torchlight glittering on his spouse's features.
The alarm clock had been ringing for several minutes when Jeeves woke. With hasty fingers and eyes blurred from sleep, Jeeves shut it off. His vision was still not clear when he seized the pen and began to write, jotting the words down as fast as he could.
By the time Jeeves was finished, he was late starting his day, but he had account of all three dreams down onto the paper.
Once dressed, he slipped the notepad into a pocket and took it with him. As he cooked breakfast, Jeeves pondered the matter. On the surface, it was fairly obvious why he was experiencing these dreams. His subconscious was attempting to give him hope and confidence. Everything including and perhaps especially the wedding could be put down to suppressed desires of his own.
Jeeves sighed. That was really the only rational explanation, but he remembered that moment when he had believed he was Ramose; recalled the connexion with the man, and the delight he had felt when Lucius had acknowledged him. All part of a wishful dream, but Jeeves wanted it to mean everything that was implied. He mused over giving Julius the dream of Weni and briefly wondered if perhaps some future self was granting him the visions he had perceived. Jeeves dismissed this notion, too, with another reluctant sigh. The love he felt toward Weni was really only his heart giving him an outlet for the love for his employer that he could not express.
Jeeves paused in his reflections. He felt love toward Bion and Lucius, too, but always when he thought about the men, it was Weni who came to mind. Of course, it would be, Jeeves reflected wryly, because my heart is insistent on wanting to believe in fancies, and Weni was, after all, the first love. Which, Jeeves thought with amusement, was the only thing in favour of there being reality to the dreams. Of the three, Weni looked the least like Mr. Wooster.
Jeeves was still pondering the subject when he served Mr. Wooster breakfast. Despite being caught up in his own reflections, he noticed the pensive expression on his employer's face. When the expression produced the action of poking at the eggs, Jeeves cleared his throat.
“Yes, Jeeves?”
“Is there something bothering you, sir?”
Jeeves was surprised when his employer blushed. Mr. Wooster shoved the eggs from one side of his plate to the other. He replied, “Not really. Just had the oddest dream and it's rather lingering in the bean, that's all. If I became loony, would you tell me?”
“No, sir, however, I would try to guide you into renewed sanity. Would you like to talk about the dream?”
Once more, an enticing blush came to his employer's cheeks. “No, I think on the whole, best to give it a miss.”
“Have you had similar dreams before, sir?”
“You mean dashed odd, rummy thingummys no, I haven't.”
“Do you remember it well?”
“Too well, Jeeves, too well, but I intend to cast it from the Wooster lemon. Let us speak no more of it. What's the weather like?”
Jeeves began an account of the current conditions, but he had something new to consider now. He wished Mr. Wooster would tell him more of what he had dreamed. If their dreams were of a similar nature then it surely could not be a coincidence and he would be justified in believing. The valet wanted these dreams to be truth, but it was best if whatever had troubled his employer was not similar to what Jeeves had dreamt. Mr. Wooster plainly did not enjoy the dream, which possibly meant that he did not like the idea of being Jeeves' lover. This thought saddened Jeeves, but he was determined not to give up. Perhaps it was simply the newness of the notion or maybe his employer's dream was in no way related to his own.
Mr. Wooster was restless that day. He stated that a walk in the park was just what he needed, only to arrive back at the flat five minutes later. As Jeeves greeted him at the door, he said, “Am I potty?”
“No, sir. Are you certain that you would not like to talk about whatever is troubling you?”
“I'm as certain as certain can be, if certain can be said to be certain. I'm going to the Drones, old chap.”
Jeeves did not point out that Mr. Wooster had just arrived home. Once Mr. Wooster had departed, the valet slipped out to do some shopping. He was as quick as he possibly could be and was not surprised that his employer arrived home shortly after he did.
Normally, Jeeves would have gone to Mr. Wooster's side, but his employer did not ring or call for him, so the valet finished with his task. When he was done, Jeeves found Mr. Wooster on the settee with a book. Quietly, Jeeves placed a basket by his employer and silently left the room.
The “I say!” and “Jeeves!” seconds later was expected, and the valet returned to the drawing room.
“Sir?”
“This... what's this, what?”
“It is a basket, sir.”
“I can see that. It's also pears, chocolate, biscuits, almonds, and olives, old chap. It seems an interesting mix. And, I mean, I know you serve me, but this...”
Mr. Wooster gestured toward the basket. “Well, it's very kind of you, old chap. All my favourites. Jeeves, you do know that I'm not pipped over you leaving, what?”
“Yes, sir.” As he spoke, Jeeves placed a glass of wine next to the basket.
His employer gaped at him, and Jeeves asked, “Will there be anything else, sir?”
Still staring, Mr. Wooster shook his head.
Before he left the room, Jeeves glanced back. Mr. Wooster had picked up the rose he had placed in the middle of his offering and was smelling it.
Five minutes later when Jeeves looked in on his employer the man was eating olives. He had not returned to reading. Hoping that he was not disturbing Mr. Wooster, Jeeves retrieved the game he had bought earlier and took it into the room, setting it on the small table in front of the settee.
Upon spying the box, Mr. Wooster cried, “Checkers! I used to love checkers when I was in school! I don't suppose you'd play a game with me, what? Hardly one of your duties, but I'm dashed restless today. And your company is always tops.”
“Thank you, sir. I will play a game with you.”
Jeeves watched as astonishment at having his request granted was followed by such happiness on his employer's face that the valet's breath caught.
“Jolly good! I'll warn you, though. I was quite good at this game once.”
Over the next thirty minutes, Jeeves learned that his employer had been justified in warning him. He gracefully lost the first game, simply because he had not put enough concentration into the contest, believing that victory would be easily achieved.
Forty minutes later when he lost the second game, Jeeves considered the matter. He was as bad as Jason, he thought, arrogantly assuming that he would win. Jason lost time and again, because he never saw losing as a possibility despite the fact that experience should have taught him differently. With a sigh of resignation, Jeeves realised that he was viewing Jason as someone who had actually existed.
To Mr. Wooster, he said, “I will get us tea soon, but perhaps we could play one more game?”
His master studied him. “Are you sure you want to play again? I know I'm quite the dimwit, especially compared to you, but you haven't played this game much, have you?”
“No, sir. I read the instructions rather speedily before I brought the game out to you.”
Mr. Wooster smiled. “Then I'm in for it as soon as you get the hang of what's what.”
“I do hope to eventually give you some competition.”
“Believe me, old chap, you already do that. Tell me something, Jeeves, if you've never played checkers before, why the sudden hankering to play with the young master? The lemon doesn't remember mentioning the game to you.”
Because you love olives just as Bion and Lucius did, and they both loved the game, Jeeves thought. Yet again, Jeeves chastised himself. That had been his reasoning, and it was obviously correct, but it was not an answer that he could give to Mr. Wooster. Instead he replied, “An intimate friend of mine loved the game, and you remind me of him.”
“A good reminder, obviously, as it's meant that I get your time.”
“Yes, sir.”
Half-way through the next game, Jeeves realised that Mr. Wooster was deliberately letting him win. “Sir, if I might take the liberty, you could cease at any time, and I would be happier.”
Mr. Wooster glanced up from the board and said, “I suppose that's fair enough. Once you start winning, I'll never see another victory.”
“I am not so confident of that, sir.”
Despite losing the games, Jeeves felt he had won. For several hours, he had held Mr. Wooster's attention, and additionally during that time his employer had been the happy person that he remembered before they had had the dispute over the banjolele. His master had shared the contents of the basket with him, and Jeeves had noted the cheerful smile Mr. Wooster had each time the man reached for the basket. He felt that they had moved forward. Only small steps had been taken, but they were travelling in the right direction.
That night as Jeeves prepared for bed, his thoughts returned to Ramose. The dreams were comforting and as his heart seem to persist in believing that what his imagination conjured up was real; he might as well take solace in them and enjoy them. With this determination, he drifted into repose.
Chapter 4 is here: community.livejournal.com/indeedsir/691235.html
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Date: 2009-06-29 07:11 am (UTC)A good friend of both of them, Titus, had played, “Vigil of Venus,” on the lyre.
Squee! They get an epithalamium!
the torchlight glittering on his spouse's features
Squee! Wedding torches!
(Ok, I'll stop now...)
And I'm very interested in the content of Bertie's dream.
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Date: 2009-06-29 08:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 07:45 am (UTC)I hope this means we have more updates coming. Thank you for sharing!
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Date: 2009-06-29 08:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 08:21 am (UTC)Thanks for the post!
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Date: 2009-06-29 09:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 09:35 am (UTC)And I do liked their checkers play :-)
Bertie's POV for the next chapter? It would be great! :-)
And thank you for this one. Big pleasure to read, as always :-)
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Date: 2009-06-29 10:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 02:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-30 05:24 am (UTC)I'm glad you like the checkers game. When I was reading about games, I was surprised at how old a game checkers is.
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Date: 2009-06-30 12:51 pm (UTC)Yeah, the history of some games is quite amazing. Chess was used to train commanders in military strategy, I believe.
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Date: 2009-07-01 04:17 am (UTC)Game history is fun to read about.
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Date: 2009-06-29 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-30 05:29 am (UTC)I'm working hard on getting another update ready.
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Date: 2009-06-29 10:10 pm (UTC)He mused over giving Julius the dream of Weni and briefly wondered if perhaps some future self was granting him the visions he had perceived. I am thinking now that the future chap giving those visions is the valet in this vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFWeLJZirtY). Yes, I admit I would love to read a fanfic based on that master/servant -thingy. Jeremy Brett as a valet... *drools*
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Date: 2009-06-30 05:51 am (UTC)I love the vid. you gave me. It was delightful to watch. Thanks! I love Brett, and he makes a great valet. He would definitely do. :)
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Date: 2009-06-29 10:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-30 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-30 06:19 am (UTC)Were there actually same-sex marriages in Ancient Rome? I don't know much about that time period.
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Date: 2009-06-30 06:38 am (UTC)Yes, there were same-sex marriages in ancient Rome. That's one reason I chose that time because I wanted to give them a wedding.
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Date: 2009-07-03 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-04 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-05 03:04 am (UTC)