Part Third
Kiba made his way through the long hallway of his family home. The air was only slightly cooler on this Saturday afternoon than it had been on the previous Wednesday, when he had gone out into the city. He had instructed the staff to open all the windows and allow the breeze to come and go through the large, empty rooms at its whim. The long sheer draperies would occasionally be whipped into a frenzy by an errant current and Kiba would fancy that it might be a ghost wandering about the home that he was glimpsing from the corner of his eye as he passed the open doorways to various rooms.
It was late morning when Kiba had woken and, unable to sleep any longer, he had gotten up and swam for a couple hours before lounging about the garden, under the shady tree again. He felt a strange anticipation run through him. It was foreign to him to feel this way. His boredom had often outshone the sun and there was very little that he looked forward to day after day. Now, however, he was faced with the prospect of the blonde boy whom he had gone out with earlier in the week returning to him. This time to be spent alone together, with only the promise of dinner having been agreed upon.
Later, he had come back inside, after musing a long time with his thoughts. He had bathed, shaved, and dressed in ivory linen trousers and waistcoat with a white silk shirt and a dusty rose coloured tie. He slipped his platinum cufflinks through the wrists of his shirt, the two emeralds in them sparkling like green fire. He then brushed his hair back into submission with the stiff brush on his dresser, studied at himself in the mirror a moment, and then took leave of the room, which was how he had found his way downstairs and was now passing the time imagining phantoms were inhabiting the rooms he was passing.
The night before, he had given specific instructions to the staff to complete and then had given them leave to abandon the estate for the remainder of the weekend. A small, cast iron table had been moved out onto the large terrace, in a corner where the low wall ran into the slope of the land and the area was shaded by large maple trees. The table had been covered with a white cloth and set with two place settings with China patterned with blue flowers and silver flatware. In the middle of the table was a large bowl filled with ferns, roses, and cherry tree branches.
Kiba finally reached the end of the hallway and flung open the front door. Stepping out onto the brick steps, he breathed in the clean, hot air. The sun was shining down and the humidity was increasing as the day crawled on. He went back inside and made his way into the front drawing room, where he would be able to hear the approach of the blonde boy's Duesenberg roadster approaching.
He lay down on one of the delicate, French settees which flanked the huge, white marble fireplace. He stretched out his arms and one of his hands brushed against a porcelain urn which stood upon the side table. He leaned his head back against the gilded arm of the settee and closed his eyes and dreamed.
The chime of the elaborate ormolu mantel clock brought him back to the present from his momentary departure from reality. He stood up, taking his silver cigarette case and lighter from the pocket of his waistcoat. He selected a cigarette from the case and lit it, breathing in the smoke deeply and then exhaling. The smoke curled up from the end of the cigarette and wreathed about Kiba's thick, dark brown hair. He began pacing around the large drawing room...its lightness pleasing his eye. The room was primarily white. All the French furniture was upholstered in white damask and the walls were paneled in dark wood with large squares opened and backed with white Chinese silk which held large paintings of people long dead and who Kiba couldn't remember their names. On a long hall table, two vases of long, white calla lilies stood, one on each end.
Kiba stopped at the fireplace and placed his hand onto the cool marble. He closed his eyes and imagined it was snow he was touching and he was immediately transported to Winter, to cold, and to the gray days of that season. He smiled involuntarily and took his hand back. He reached up and pushed slightly at a porcelain figurine of a lamb which stood on the mantel, making it stand at an angle from the clock. His eyes then wandered to the form of a bronze satyr that cavorted upon an alabaster base. Looking up, he met his own eyes in the large mirror which rose out of the mantel, its gilded frame glinting in the light of the room. He smiled at himself and lowered his eyes.
A second later, he heard the roar of the Model J's twelve cylinder engine. He stood up and looked out through one of the large, open windows, pulling back the sash so that it wouldn't obscure his view. He smiled again as he saw the motorcar come into view as it rose up over the hill in the long, gravel drive from the public road. He turned, throwing the remainder of his cigarette into the grate of the fireplace and walked out of the room to the front door. He pulled it open and walked out as the black automobile came to a stop in the drive. The door was flung open a moment later and the blonde boy emerged. He looked at Kiba and grinned.
His eyes were like the ocean and the sky and Kiba longed to gaze into them without distraction. He was wearing pale gray trousers, a gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a light blue, broadcloth waistcoat, and a tartan tie that had charcoal, blue, and white in its pattern. A gold watch chain hung across a portion of the waistcoat. He reached out his hand as he approached the waiting boy who stood near the doorway, leaning against its frame.
Kiba felt the boy's arm reaching around and pulling him into a short hug. He whispered into Kiba's ear as he did so.
"Nice to see you again, Kibes," he said, looking directly into the warm, brown eyes that were slightly higher than his own.
"Hi, Naruto," Kiba answered, suddenly feeling shy and lowering his eyes. He kept his head downturned, but looked up with his eyes, and smiled slightly. "Let's go inside."
They turned to go in and Naruto's arm wound around Kiba's shoulders. Kiba liked feeling the weight of it on him as they walked inside. Walking through the large entry hall, past the huge staircase, Kiba guided their way back to the drawing room he had been in before Naruto's arrival and he felt the arm slip from across his shoulders. He looked over to see Naruto looking around the room. He began to wander about, looking purposefully at the objects that populated the room. He would stop every so often to admire one thing in particular, to peer into the depths of a painting, or pick something up to examine it more fully. After a long turn around the room he returned to his host, who stood in the center, having been observing his guest.
"This place is a museum," Naruto said. "It's really nice. Have you lived here your whole life?"
"I have," Kiba admitted. "I was born here."
"I want you to show me more," Naruto said. "All of it. It's beautiful. Well, this room is anyway...maybe I'll hate the rest of it."
Kiba laughed at that and felt Naruto's hand take hold of his for a moment.
"What's for dinner?" Naruto asked a moment later, after letting go of Kiba's hand.
"I'm afraid I haven't really planned that far ahead," Kiba said. "I was going to go to the farm market, but I was rather lazy. Is there anything in particular you'd like? We can go to market and see…"
"Oh, the farm market would be fun to see," Naruto said enthusiastically. "Let's go there and buy some things. And I saw a poulterers on the way here, in the village. We can stop and purchase something there, too."
"All right, that sounds like a good idea," Kiba said. "Let's get out of here."
He grabbed a hold of Naruto's hand and began running out of the room. He stopped in the hallway, near the staircase. He turned to look at Naruto, smiled shyly again and lowered his eyes.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, smiling and reaching out to touch Kiba's arm.
Kiba looked into the blue eyes for a moment, smiled again, and laughed slightly.
"You're going to drive, right?" he asked.
"Sure," Naruto said, "anything you say…"
The two went outside of the house and Kiba turned to pull a large, iron key from his trousers and locked the heavy, wooden door.
"Do you always have to lock the castle?" Naruto asked.
"It appears that I'm the only occupant until Monday," Kiba answered. "And now you, of course."
"Ahhh, that's cozy," Naruto said as he pulled open the passenger door on the Model J.
He slammed the door shut and pulled a box of cigarettes from his pocket and some matches. He lit on of the matches on his shoe and lit the cigarette, inhaled deeply, then handed it to Kiba.
"That's for you," he said with a broad grin.
"Thanks," Kiba said once Naruto was inside the automobile and starting the engine. Naruto looked over and smiled, maneuvered around the curving driveway, and drove away from the house.
/ \\\ / \\\
Once they reached the farm market, Naruto pulled the car up into the grass parking area and the two exited the auto. There were three large, open pavilions which housed all the vendors. They made their way across the grassy lot and entered the first pavilion. A large crowd was milling about and made walking through the vendor stalls difficult. Kiba inched along as best he could with Naruto placing his hand on Kiba's shoulder or at his waist to either urge him forward or else to stop at one vendor or another.
"Perhaps we ought to decide what we want to eat before we spend hours wandering about aimlessly," Kiba suggested as they left the first pavilion and entered the middle one, which was considerably larger than the others the stood on either side of it.
"That seems logical," Naruto said. "We can get chicken at the poulterers. I know how to make broiled chicken. Does that please you?"
"It does," Kiba admitted. "In fact, it sounds excellent. What shall we have with it? It's too hot to have anything too substantial…."
"I agree," Naruto said. "I never have that much appetite when the weather is this hot. I'll require some lemons if we can locate any and some dill, which one of these farmers ought to be selling."
"We could get some of this nice lettuce," Kiba said. "Salad is about the only thing I can actually make. I'm not very good at cooking, I'm afraid."
"Really?" Naruto asked, chuckling slightly and taking ahold of Kiba's arm at the elbow. "And you dismissed your house staff leaving no one to cook? For shame, Kibes."
"Oh dear, I hadn't really thought of that, but it rather foolish, wasn't it?"
"No, don't worry about it," the blonde said, releasing his friend's arm. "What else should we have though? Will that be enough?"
"Do you like tomatoes?" Kiba asked. "Cook makes roasted tomatoes sometimes and I've watched her. It's extremely easy: just slice up the tomatoes, put salt, pepper, and oregano on them and put them in the oven for a short while. She usually serves it on toast as one of the dinner courses."
"All right, so we'll get some tomatoes and we can get bread in the village I'm sure. There should be a bakery. Perhaps we will need something sweet as well?"
"Oh!" Kiba suddenly exclaimed. "I did ask Cook to make a small chocolate cake. It's a very modest recipe but the cake is so delicious. It's my favorite, and it is from a very old relative from who knows how long ago. I hope you like chocolate."
"I do like chocolate," Naruto said. He had been watching Kiba rapturously describing the cake and had found himself smiling at the other's enthusiasm. "I can't wait to taste the cake."
"You'll love it then!" Kiba said.
The two continued wandering about the stalls purchasing the items that appealed to them and then going back to Naruto's car. They both stood a while by the front of the car smoking before they got in and drove to the nearby village, stopping at the bakery, they bought a round loaf of pumpernickel bread and a regular loaf of plain bread for Kiba to make toast in the morning. From the bakery, they drove down the main road, which was unpaved, and stopped at the poulterer's shop. Kiba left the buying decision to Naruto here as he was unfamiliar with such purchases. In the end, the blonde requested two split breast pieces of chicken which were wrapped in several layers of brown paper and tied with a length of string.
The two returned to Kiba's home, took all their provisions inside and downstairs into the large kitchen, which was below ground level. The long room had an enormous, wooden island in the middle over which hung a massive iron rack that was hung with every imaginable shape and size of copper pots and pans. Along the far wall, there were four large basin sinks which sat beneath high windows that caught as much light as they could from the outside. The floor and walls were covered in terracotta tiles. Naruto looked around as Kiba began to open the various parcels he had accumulated on their excursion.
"Where is the oven?" he asked.
"Oh! It's in the next room," Kiba said. "It would be too hot if it were in here. We have a gas oven lately installed, which is kind of amusing...we used to have gas lights and there was a wood burning oven down here. Now there's electric lights and a gas stove."
"I see," Naruto said as he walked to the next room, turned on the oven to heat, and returned to the prep room. "Chicken will take up to an hour to roast, so take your time with the rest.
"It feels strange to be down here with just you," Kiba remarked. "This room is usually filled with people doing all sorts of cookery. It seems eerie for it to be so empty."
"That's your fault," Naruto teased. "You made everyone leave."
"Do hurry and get your hens ready, Naru," Kiba admonished, changing the subject. "I'll make you a martini if you behave."
"Oh, will you now?" Naruto inquired. "Just one?"
"Hmmm, perhaps several," Kiba said, laughing a little. "Or a whole pitcher if you're especially well-mannered…"
"We'll see if I can control myself," Naruto said. "Would you mind handing me that frying pan hanging above your head, please?"
Kiba glanced up and took hold of the pan, lifting it off its hook and walking closer to Naruto to hand it to him.
"Have you any cooking oil?" Naruto asked.
"Oh dear," Kiba said. "You're going to discover how woefully incapable I am in the kitchen, aren't you?"
"No," Naruto said. "There ought to be some around though. Is there a pantry?"
"Actually, I think there's a grease pot by the stove," Kiba said after thinking a minute. "Will that do?"
Naruto selected a large, wooden spoon from a crock that sat near the basin sinks and walked into the next room in search of the grease pot. He returned a few minutes later with a spoonful and went back to preparing the chicken for roasting. Kiba watched in amusement as Naruto worked.
"I turned the oven on also," Naruto said absently, "when I was in there, I mean."
"Ahhh," Kiba said. "Good thinking."
"Might there be salt and pepper?" the blonde asked a minute later.
"That I do know," Kiba said, smiling as he went to a small, wooden cupboard that was on the far wall. He opened one of the doors and took out two stone bowls. One was filled with salt and the other with pepper and each contained a small wooden spoon. He placed them down onto the tabletop before Naruto.
"These are Cook's treasures," he said. "She's undeniably obsessed with them. Somewhere she has a small metal chest filled with peppercorns and a block of salt. No one is allowed to touch them and she grinds up small amounts herself in a stone bowl each morning. She guards it like it's gold, too."
"Really?" Naruto asked, looking up and then dipping a finger into the salt to taste it.
Kiba gasped.
"What?" Naruto asked.
"She'd have your hide if she saw you taste her sat in that manner!" Kida said, chuckling. "She only uses the spoon to get it out…"
"Good thing you sent her away," Naruto said, grinning and making Kiba laugh again.
/ \\\ / \\\
Later, out on the terrace, the two had finished eating and were still sitting at the table. Kiba had gone down into the wine cellar and found a bottle of Beaujolais, which they had drunk with dinner. He poured out the remainder into their glasses and put the empty bottle back down onto the table top.
The food, the effect of the wine, and the hot evening were all conspiring to make Kiba feel lethargic and Naruto noticed this from across the table. He smiled to himself, thinking how cute Kiba looked as he seemed to be falling asleep.
"Hey!" he said loudly, rousing Kiba. "Let's go for a walk. You're going to be asleep soon if we don't do something."
"Oh, sorry," Kiba said, lifting his wine glass up to finish what was left. "I could show you around the garden I suppose. It's quite nice."
"Sounds good," Naruto agreed and stood up, finishing his own glass of wine with a last gulp.
Kiba led the way across the terrace and down three broad steps onto the lawn. They walked around the back of the house for a while, toward the East wing of the house.
"That's the library," Kiba said, pointing to the large square coming off the main house. "There's a stone terrace on the roof of it where my bedroom is."
"Really?" Naruto asked, glancing sideways at Kiba. "You'll have to show me…"
A slight smile played across Kiba's mouth at this but he made no reply, only wondered to himself at the blonde wanting to see his bedroom.
They continued onward, past the fountain and the iron gate, and toward an area where rows of neatly manicured box hedges stood. Kiba led them down the main avenue. The hedges were tall and the setting sun cast an orangey glow to them. A large stone basin was placed in the middle of the avenue of hedges and they two walked around it. The avenue ended at the foot of a small hill which led up to a wooded area. There were two stone pedestals on either side of the exit and sets of three stone steps had been set into the hill at certain intervals leading up into the woods.
Naruto grasped Kiba's hand and pulled him back slightly, keeping him from going forward any further. Kiba looked up, his brown eyes curious. Naruto's eyes met them and he admired the sunlight shining upon half of Kiba's face, the other half shaded from the sun due to the angle he was standing at.
Suddenly, Naruto pulled Kiba to him, encircling him in his arms and kissing him.
"It's been so long," he murmured, "it's been so long…"
"Only three days…" Kiba breathed, kissing Naruto's face and mouth and wanting to devour him.
"That's far, far too long," Naruto said as they slowly sunk down to the grass, their arms fully entwined, continuing to kiss each other.
"It is, isn't it?" Kiba said. "I missed you so much…"
"I know," the blonde said. "Nobody loves you, Kibes, the way I do…"