Pairings: none
Category: Cocktail Friday
Warnings: Alcohol
Prompt: gwcocktailfriday~tumblr~com/post/177621465378/cocktail-friday-post-responses-on-friday (replace ~ with . )
Summary: Treize and Zechs celebrate Zech's success within the Specials of the Alliance Military.
Feedback: Much appreciated!
AC 194
Zechs climbed the steps leading to the Khushrenada manor house, taking in the regal architecture before him. Marble columns in the style of centuries-old palaces marched along the front, and an elaborately carved oaken door stood twice the height of a man at the entrance.
He lifted the ring on the old-fashioned iron knocker – cast in the shape of a lion's head – and knocked twice. Before long, a butler opened the door.
"Mr. Merquise. Mr. Khushrenada is awaiting you in the game room. Follow me."
So this wasn't official business, Zechs concluded. Had it been, the meeting would have taken place in Treize's office. He had an idea what this was about, but with Treize, you never did know what to expect.
"Here you are, sir," said the butler as they reached the doorway to the game room, then moved aside. Zechs entered to find Treize with his back to him, looking out the bay windows to the rose gardens beyond.
The tawny-haired man turned as Zechs entered the room, smiling genteelly.
"Zechs. I'm so glad you could come."
"Thank you for the invitation."
"Come," Treize said, gesturing toward a set of leather chairs facing the window. "Sit."
Zechs raised an eyebrow at the command, but decided to acquiesce to his superior officer's wishes, for now.
Treize moved over to the sideboard and opened one of the cabinets, pulling out a bottle filled with dark brown liquid. "I thought the occasion warranted something special," he said as he poured into two tumblers.
"The occasion?" Zechs asked.
"Your double promotion, of course. No one in the Specials has ever received two promotions at once." He turned, handing one of the tumblers to Zechs before taking a seat himself. "Not that I'm surprised. Not at all."
Zechs took an experimental sip. Scotch, the smoky taste told him, and very smooth. It must have been aged for a long time.
"This is excellent. Single malt?"
"Yes. It's from the Ilse of Jura, aged 30 years. Dates back to before the colonies, actually. 1973 AD, to be exact."
Zechs hid his surprise. Scotch that old was so rare it was virtually priceless. He supposed if anyone in the world would own such a bottle, the Khushrenada's were one of the few families who could afford it. They were old money, after all. Very old money.
"You honor me. Drinking this is quite a privilege."
"You deserve it, my friend. A rare drink for a rare accomplishment. A unique accomplishment, I should say. As far as I know, this is the only bottle of this particular kind in existence, so it seemed rather fitting. Don't you think?"
Zechs raised his glass in acknowledgement, then took another sip, enjoying the feel of the warm liquid burning down his throat. It was excellent, but knowing that Treize appreciated him this much was even more satisfying.
Author's notes: According to .com, Treize would be 22 and Zechs would be 18 at this time. I'm assuming that in this future, drinking laws resemble those in Europe rather than those in the US, so 18 is the legal drinking age... not that Treize or Zechs would probably care.
The gundam wiki is also where I got the information about Zech's double promotion. I'm not sure if that info comes from Episode Zero, Glory of Losers, or Frozen Teardrop, though.
The bit about the Khushrenada's being old money is my own supposition.