April 1947: Care to go to China? For the Cupbearer

[mrwaverly]

"Bastard!" Alex cried out as his shirt cuff button was neatly sliced off. He and his lover, Ganymede, were in the gym practicing knife fighting with Nepalese style kukri blades. Though the ones Alex was using were standard army issue for the Gurkhas serving in the British army. They had slightly less reach and were just a bit heavier than the ones G was using. "That was a good shirt."

Alexander was wearing a white shirt and gray slacks. He was out of military uniform and working now for the SIS after the victorious end to the war. His lover was currently giving him a refresher course in knife fighting. The sleeve of his shirt was hanging loose now around his wrist. It was the second button to go in this little game they were having. The first was the top collar button of his shirt. "You're determined to get me naked, aren't you?"

Comments

[the_cupbearer]

"I might have taken a slight exception if they were trying to do anything else," Ganymede murmured, body pressed to Alexander's from shoulder to knee, unwilling to let them be parted just yet.

"I never fight fair, my love. The only fair fight is the one you lose." And speaking of...Ganymede brought his hands up to Alex's waist, fingertips deftly pulling his shirttails free and wiggling under them, exploring his lover's skin. "So about that getting you naked," he said, mouth skating over his partner's neck as he spoke.

[mrwaverly]

"Perhaps it would have seriously shortened the war if they had," Alex chuckled. "I know you're a horribly dirty fighter..." He dropped the kukri on the floor. "You've got me partly undressed already. You going to finish the job?"

[the_cupbearer]

"I never leave you undone, do I?" Ganymede asked, flicking open the buttons up the front of the shirt and sliding down as he kissed a trail in the opposite direction. "You must think me so mean, asking questions like that."

Ganymede could never be the kind of tease that didn't follow through on his promises; it might take him a few hours, but it would happen. He laid his own blade down, letting it fall to the mat as he slid open Alex's belt. "Have I tired you out so much already? You never let me do all this outside the bedroom." Aside from the memorable time at a formal party where they'd been caught, Alexander had very little of an exhibitionist streak, and had only engaged in a hurried exchange in one skinny, dark doorway in Bombay years ago.

[mrwaverly]

"No..." he looked around nervously. Luckily this was a private gymnasium. "You never do." And the door was locked. Still, this wasn't something Alex did very often or at all. Every once in a while though, he liked to surprise his lover.

[the_cupbearer]

"I'll take care of you," he murmured, reassuring Alex as Ganymede rubbed his hands over his hips, not taking overly much time before sucking his lover's cock into his mouth.

He loved Alex and wouldn't make the man terribly uncomfortable, but sometimes he found the slight nervousness worth the risk, especially since haste made Alex less painstakingly gentle. "You're beautiful, you know that."

[mrwaverly]

"You always do," Alex said as G sucked him. He succeeded in making Alexander nervous. And of course, his lover would give G what he wanted.

"So you tell me," he chuckled. Alex had never thought of himself as particularly beautiful. Boyishly handsome, perhaps...

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede was good at giving people pleasure; it was a set of skills he'd learned at great cost, but they were worthwhile every time he applied them, and he'd never found those skills lacking. Even when Alex was nervous at their surroundings he could bring him to climax, and did while he had the chance, swallowing neatly.

He was still gently rubbing his hands up his lover's thighs when he stood again, loving the look on Alexander's face as he came back to himself after the high of an orgasm. "So I tell you, indeed. And I stand by it," he said, giving the man one last kiss. "Deadly, smart, and beautiful. And mine, quite happily for me."

[mrwaverly]

Ganymede was amazing at it. Alexander felt his knees almost buckle when he came. "I'll take that as a compliment," he said softly. "And very happily yours. We should get cleaned up." They could take a shower in the gym's locker room.

[the_cupbearer]

"What's your hurry?" he teased, smile gentling as Alexander spoke; Ganymede himself was happy enough to wait until that evening to get the return of his affections, well aware that his lover was not going to start anything in public.

"You're getting better with that kukri, too. You didn't slice me once this time."

[mrwaverly]

He picked up his discarded knives, "Thanks. I'll take that as a compliment as well. I've got something important to tell you." Alex put his blades back in their sheathes. He had hoped for a little more privacy to tell his lover this, but he couldn't keep it in any longer, "I've been assigned to the post of section chief of the Hong Kong bureau."

[the_cupbearer]

"Oh?" he asked, bending to pick up his sword, eyebrows lifting.

"Alex, that's wonderful news!" Ganymede said, smiling; he was genuinely happy for his lover moving up in the ranks. "I'm glad, you deserved a promotion. Will you be overseeing them from here?" he questioned, head cocked just a bit.

[mrwaverly]

"Thank you. Uh... No. I'd be moving to Hong Kong," he said, giving G a moment to let it sink in.

[the_cupbearer]

Saying that felt like being kicked in the ribs would have been a massive understatement; Ganymede felt his heart squeeze painfully and his expression softened, smile vanishing.

"You alone?" he asked quietly, and despite all hope to the contrary began steeling himself for the inevitable affirmation. Ganymede couldn't fault Alex for going, and he wouldn't begrudge him anything, but the cold wash of sadness had already set in. "It's a long way away."

[mrwaverly]

"I hope not. I was rather hoping you'd come with me," Alex told him. "It is a long way away. But if you don't want to go to China, I'd understand."

[the_cupbearer]

As quickly as the doubt had come over him, confusion replaces it for Ganymede, and he stares. "You want me to go to China with you?"

It would be a change; he hasn't been that far east in decades, centuries perhaps. "I certainly don't want to stay here alone without you, Alex. Not after losing you during the war."

[mrwaverly]

"Of course I want you to go with me. I don't want to be without you, either," Alex admitted. It would be a huge change. "And half the world away again. Nǐ huì shuō pǔtōnghuà ma?"

[Do you speak Mandarin?]

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede shook his head. "It... Zhè shì yīduàn shíjiān, dàn wǒ jìdé dà bùfèn shíjiān," he says. "Why, do they speak only that there?"

[mrwaverly]

"They don't only speak that there. Hong Kong is a British Crown Colony so quite a few people speak the King's English there. I imagine I'll have lots of dealings with people from mainland China where the most spoken dialect is Mandarin." Alex explained.

[the_cupbearer]

"You'll likely have to deal with people speaking all kinds of dialects," Ganymede says. "Mandarin, Cantonese, Sichuan...all of them. But you're smart with languages."

He kissed Alex quickly, winding his arms around his partner's waist comfortably. "When do we leave?"

[mrwaverly]

"In a month. Just in time for the blooming of the cherry blossoms, I should think," Alexander said with a grin. It would be nice for a change. He had been getting antsy just hanging around in London since the end of the war.

[the_cupbearer]

"Have you told your parents?" he asked. "We'll have to get Dizzy used to it sometime."

[mrwaverly]

"Not yet. I figured we could have dinner with them Thursday night and give them the news," Alexander said.

[the_cupbearer]

"Oh, you're willing to risk Freddie's wrath again?" Ganymede asked dryly, moving away towards the showers.

Thursday came sooner than later, and Ganymede, masquerading as Gregory again, came with Alexander to the family's home for dinner. Everything went relatively well until the announcement was made, at which point Freddie had to gloat that Alex would have to, quote, grow up and get rid of his boytoy.

To which Ganymede took an exception.

"Excuse you, you sanctimonious prick, I'm no one's toy," he said.

[mrwaverly]

"Fredrick! That was completely uncalled for!" his mother protested.

"I'm sorry, Mother, but someone in this family had to say it!" Freddie was saying. "Oh, right, no one would because Alexander is everyone's favorite little ponce."

"Freddie, you really are an asshole. You're the one who needs to grow up!" Alex stood up. "Really, I'm grateful for the opportunity to go to Hong Kong since it means I won't have to be in the same country with my dick of a brother."

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede could have chosen to ignore the comment out of Freddie about Alex. And he might have, in another time or place. But now was not that time or that place, and Ganymede was more than tied of Freddie's attitude. Christmas had startled him, but now he was angry.

He was out of his chair and turning, arm cocked back before Alexander had finished getting the words out of his mouth, before he flicked his fist out and connected with Freddie's face. His hand slid to grasp tightly around the man's throat, his back pressed against the doorway. "I have warned you before," he said, voice dangerously low and soft. "All I have to do is squeeze."