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Chapter seven: Tea time
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The boy always assumed that holding hands was something that was reserved for affectionate lovers or little girls. The feel of Alois' hand firmly gripping his was extremely warm and uncomfortable. His subtlety long gone, the boy tugged at it, trying to free himself but it was no use; it was as if Alois found his resistance amusing and even felt encouraged by it. It was ridiculous.
On the way up, the young master started discussing the subject of names.
"Right! So I have to name you!"
"Yes." He replied bitterly and let the blonde dominate the conversation. He found himself too distracted by the pale hand firmly holding onto his own.
"You really don't remember it?" Alois demanded and turned to look at him with a serious look on his face. The boy blinked at the sudden tension and wished he could move a few steps away; however the hand clutching his prevented any movement.
"No." he answered sharply trying to keep his anger in check. How many times would the blonde make him say it? Alois looked at him with a bitter look on his face and turned away, continuing their journey to the bedroom. His voice was dark as he said
"Names don't mean anything, anyway. It's just what other people call you but it's not who you are."
He looked back at him with an intense look.
"Do you get what I'm saying?"
Surprised at the unfamiliar side of the young master, the boy returned the gaze while thinking about the meaning of the words. He understood and fundamentally agreed with the concept. These kinds of ideas were very familiar to him.
"A man chooses his own destiny." He said in the end.
Alois' cold eyes continued sombrely looking into his own until he broke into a smile and nodded.
"That's right! I think people should have the right to name themselves and choose who they want to be." His childish giggle ruined the wisdom of the words and the boy nearly jumped when he felt his hand being playfully squeezed.
"And that's why you're going to name yourself!"
With these words they arrived at the bedroom and the boy looked around with a decidedly unimpressed look on his face while he marvelled at the beauty on the inside. It was impossible to compare his underground cell with the master bedroom of the house- it was like trying to compare a dog house with a castle. Perhaps the most eye-catching think about the bedroom was the huge bed on their right; Alois was clearly not joking when he said that you could fit around twenty people on it.
The boy blinked as he felt his hand being released and turned to the blonde.
"Name myself?"
"Exactly! I'm going to list some names and you can pick up whichever one you like."
He frowned at the cheery answer in confusion. That was unexpectedly … considerate. This side of Alois Trancy was becoming more and more likeable however he knew better than to get used to it. He watched the older boy as ran up to his huge bed and jumped on it with surprising elegance. He ended up sprawled in the middle and rolled over until he rested on his side with his right hand supporting his head.
"Come here." Alois ordered with half-lidded eyes, as if amused.
The nameless boy wondered whether obeying the simple order was the best course of action. The request itself was straightforward and he saw no shame in fulfilling it however he didn't want to give Alois the impression that he would obey every little order.
In the end he decided to take it easy; it was better to obey while the commands were painless and without any consequences. He was sure that he would be facing much harder decisions later.
"You're too sloooow!" Alois moaned and made an exasperated face at his pet's indecisiveness. With a few quick steps and a silent sigh the boy sat down on the edge of the huge bed and looked at the blonde, as if to say 'What now?'.
"Lie down with me." Alois commanded with a smile.
"No." Came the answer almost instantly.
"Lie doooown."
"No, I don't see the point in doing it."
"Aargh, you're no fun, come on lie dooown!"
"NO…Ah, stop tugging at-"
"Just come a little closer then, I can't talk with you if-"
"I can hear you just fine, urgh! I said stop-"
"You're doing this on purpose-"
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
Both boys froze at the loud knock on the door and everything was still. Alois was clutching his west with a possessive grip and the nameless boy's hands were pressed against the blonde's chest, in the process of pushing him off. Both teens frozen in this position stared on as the door quietly opened and Claude's tall figure appeared behind it.
"I brought you tea, master."
The butler showed no surprise or emotion at the strange scene he walked on in the bed and he looked as serious and professional as ever. In his hand was a tray with two cups of tea accompanied by a matching plate full of decoratively arranged pastry. The boy's mouth watered at the sight; he was quite hungry since his breakfast was interrupted by Alois' crazy behaviour.
As if noticing his hunger, Claude walked through the door and carefully closed it behind him. The moment it was shut, Alois started to do something that the boy was getting quite familiar with; shouting at his servants.
"Claude, WHAT are you doing in here? We just had breakfast and drank your bloody tea!"
The tall man immediately stopped in his way to the bed and stood straight, emotionless as ever. The boy felt no pity for this servant and didn't plan to interrupt the young master in any way; quite the contrary, he was enjoying seeing that hateful man being reprimanded in such a childish manner. He could still remember Claude's cold fingers on his naked back as he rubbed the lotion on him. In many ways it was much worse than when he twisted his hand behind his back on their first meeting; pain was somehow much more dignified.
"I merely assumed-"
"Do I look like I care what you assumed? I don't want anyone coming in here while I'm enjoying myself with-"
Alois seemed at loss for words for a second as he glanced at the boy he was holding
"-with my new present and how can I do that when NOBODY LEAVES ME ALONE!"
The boy found himself half-grinning as he noticed that the butler tensed even more and took one step back as if to leave.
"I apologize, master."
"That doesn't change anything! I'm sick and tired of you idiots, you can never do anything RIGHT!"
Alois' accent seemed to be getting thicker and thicker the angrier he got and the boy was surprised to find that he sounded like he belonged to a lower class. How interesting. The boy wondered about the story behind it.
"Ah, you guys are making me all angry on my birthday…" Alois seemed to be slowly calming down and the boy could feel the fingers clutching his vest start to tug at it again. Not expecting the motion he lost his balance and fell down right into the master's lap. He could feel two warm hands over his back as Alois hugged him closer.
"I would inform the rest of the staff then, master."
"Yeah you do that."
Alois mumbled into the boy's hair, his breath hot on his scalp. He shifted awkwardly at the touch but didn't move or give any indication of his discomfort; he was patiently waiting for the right time to do what he wanted for two weeks now. The possessive hands around him tightened as he felt Alois nuzzle his cheek like a cat. The touch was…strange.
"Very well. I would leave you to your business now, master." Claude stated politely and elegantly turned around, one of his hands reaching for the golden handle on the door. The boy's eyes widened at the action and his fingers twitched with nervousness as he said
"Wait."
Claude's hands stopped midway and he turned to face the pair again. His eyes had a curious look on them.
"Leave the tray here." The boy ordered and took a deep breath to steady himself. He didn't know if this was taking things too far; would Alois allow him to command his servants so early in the game? After all, he was clearly not seeing him as his equal-just now he referred to him as a 'present'.
He could feel the blonde's head tilt curiously next to his at the command. Claude too didn't know what to do. There was a long silence as all three of them seemed to be frozen in time until Alois started to pet his arm with long careful strokes and said
"Well? What are you waiting for? You heard him, Claude."
The boy could almost faint from relief. He couldn't believe Alois would let him go that far on his first day. Clearly he underestimated the power of his obsession and how far he would go to satisfy it. With this a new idea formed in his head: how far would Alois allow him to go with this?
He decided that now would be the perfect time to test it.
"Alois, your butler is really annoying." He said with a conversational tone and leaned against the boy, forcing his nervous body to relax at the strange stroking.
"He is, isn't he? Always with that stony face…" Alois mumbled back as he buried his face into the boy's neck. He could feel shivers going violently up and down his body and decided never to allow him to do such a thing in the future ever again; however it would ruin the whole thing if he put a stop to it right now.
"I think he should be punished." He whispered back and Alois' head lifted up at the words. As if he could hear them from his position by the table, Claude's head also turned towards them.
"Don't you agree?"
He could feel blue eyes on him and continued to hold his ground, not allowing even the tiniest of his doubts to show. Alois' stroking stopped and his gaze was unfocused as if he was imagining something very amusing; his smile widened with every second that passed. Then his hands linked themselves from across the boy's stomach like he was holding a teddy bear and he called out with laughter
"Claude, come here for a second."