Always and Forever
Years later
Panting for air as he stared up into his lover's smug face Florian gave him a not at all amused frown, finding the energy from somewhere to lift his arms and push Noir away before he could try to start something all over again. "Oh no you don't. Noel will be home soon and for that matter, did you even bother to lock the door?"
Rolling off his lover of eleven years Noir chuckled as he watched Florian scramble to his feet, hurrying over to lock the doors. Even at thirty three his lover's naked rear end was still as fine as it had been the first time they'd made love on that ship so long ago, Noir noted in satisfaction, enjoying the annoying swing to Florian's steps. His man's face had only matured slightly since the first time Noir had laid eyes on him, this having more to do with Florian's now short hair than that beautifully feminine face showing the wear of time. Personally he had had preferred it long but Florian felt that as Noel's guardians at least one of them had to make the effort to look respectable. Thankfully, that someone hadn't had to be him and he was happy to leave all that in Florian's willing hands. Shifting up and onto his elbows he made no move to dress, preferring to watch Florian get dressed instead, a reverse strip tease of sorts, Noir thought with a roguish grin.
"Do you plan to lay there all day?" Florian asked dryly, shrugging into his now very wrinkled shirt. Not that he didn't appreciate the delicious sight of Noir naked but they really did need to find those books for Noel since their ward needed them for studying.
"Just admiring the view."
"Well you can admire it tonight, now get up and get dressed." Glaring at Noir until his lover got moving Florian returned Noir's early favor by watching him dress as well, admiring the body being covered as much as his lover enjoyed his own. The devilish cad Noir had changed little since they'd first met, being as bad tempered and stubborn as ever. Of course Noir was only thirty, not time for gray hairs yet, though it would be interesting to see what Noir did with his hair then. The phantom thief had varied his hair length a few times over the decade they'd been together and it was currently just to his shoulders, loose now though he usually tied it back these days.
A knock at the door had them both cursing, Florian hurrying over to answer the door while Noir quickly finished shrugging on his shirt so that they were both covered if a bit disheveled. When Florian made a sound of horror mixed with fear Noir was at his side in a flash, demanding to know what was wrong without any concern for the fact that his shirt was still undone as well as his belt.
"The school...Noel's been hurt."
Turning on the man standing beside Laila like a wolf stares at a wounded rabbit Noir barked out orders to explain further, the man stuttering and stumbling over his explanation that there had been some sort of accident at the school and that he'd been sent to get them immediately. Since the man couldn't even tell them what had happened to Noel or how badly the boy was injured Noir told him to get lost and had Laila get the car, the three of them piling in and hurrying off towards the school to see what had happened to Noel.
The headmaster stood on the steps of his school and waited for the parents of the two boys involved in the incident, hopefully to arrive shortly as the weather was cold and he was certainly eager to get this over with. Lord and Lady Birmington didn't worry him overly, he knew their family well after all and their son was going to be fine, thank God. The infamous Count Courland was another story entirely. The man had only come to England in the fall but already he was making quite a stir, least of all because of the rumors that surrounded him and his business partner, the last remaining Rochefort of the Royal Bourbon Dynasty. He'd heard all the rumors, had been told by his teachers about the way young Master Tassel was harassed by some of the other students because it was rumored that the boy's guardians were more than just business partners. The fact that Courland was a loan shark and a self made millionaire probably didn't help matters either. All he knew was that Noel Tassel was a model student, one of the best to come through his doors in years, and that the boy spoke highly of both his guardians, the two having been friends of the boy's late father, who'd passed away in Paris when the boy was eight. Hearing a loud screeching noise the old man turned to see a car coming to a loud stop in front of the school, three people rapidly getting out of it and making their way up the steps quicker than was probably wise on steps so old and used. He recognized Rochefort right away, which would make the other man Courland, the man looking as formidable as he was rumored to be. Who the woman with them was he couldn't say but she was definitely from the Middle East and around the same age as her two male companions.
"Headmaster Trennmien." Florian called out before they'd even reached the school's headmaster, looking very pale and worried. "Noel! Is he all right? What has happened?"
"The boy will be fine." The old headmaster assured them with a smile, used to dealing with emotional parents after thirty years on the job. Noting that all three of them gave sighs of relief, though the count was quick to hide all his emotion or reaction to this turn of events, the headmaster was none the less pleased to see that Master Tassel was in good hands. The boy was a hero after all. "Master Tassel's shoulder has been dislocated, and he sustained some serious bumps and bruises, but all together he's one lucky young man."
"And how was it that our ward came to be in this condition?" Noir demanded to know, his temper flaring now that he knew that the little brat was going to be okay. Noel was definitely in for it when he got his hands on him. Worrying them like that. The little bugger.
"Saving the life of another boy actually. Young Master Birmington was four stories above Master Tassel and fell out of the window he was sitting on. Apparently one of the boy's friend's gave him a light shove in a friendly gesture Birmington wasn't prepared for and the boy fell backwards. Thankfully your ward saw him falling and managed to get under him and break his fall. Had young Noel not been there, I am sure that the boy would have been at the very least gravely injured. You should be very proud of him."
"Boy's stupid enough to hang his ass out a window he deserves to snap his fool neck." Noir muttered, much to Florian's visible horror.
"Ray." Florian hissed, looking plainly mortified. "Forgive my partner, Headmaster, he tends to deal with fear by getting angry and acting completely immature for his age."
Sending his lover a very dark look it wasn't hard to see that Noir was very tempted to unleash some of said anger in Florian's direction. Whether or not he would have was called to a halt at the sound of approaching footsteps, headed in their direction. Turning his head to see who was joining their little group Noir recognized Lord Birmington right away, even though they'd never spoken more than a few words to each other. A number of Birmington's friends owed him money though and Noir had also come into possession of a rather stunning pair of emerald earrings recently, ones that he'd chanced to lift from the Lord's mother's jewelry case if memory served him. So the foolish brat who'd gotten Noel sent to the infirmary was this man's offspring. Big surprise there. Lord Birmington was a stuffy, self important prick and Noir doubted that the boy Noel had saved was similarly afflicted.
"So your ward is the one responsible for my son's injuries, is he? There will be hell to pay, Courland, if my son isn't in one piece when I see him." Lord Birmington accused and ranted, taking the steps two at a time as he hurried over, likely to start repeating every foul thing he'd ever heard about the Count Courland, of which there was much to choose from.
"Actually he was the one that saved your simpleton of a son from breaking his fool neck." Was Noir's cold response. His eyes practically daring Birmington to take him on it was plain to everyone that Noir was just looking for a chance to unleash all his pent up emotions on the older, much weaker man.
Looking to avoid that the headmaster rushed in to explain exactly what had happened, deliberately putting a lot of emphasis on the fact that Lord Birmington's son would currently be in dire distress at the moment had it not been for the selfless act of Count Courland's ward, who'd risked his own life to save the other boy. All of it was wasted on Lord Birmington however, he didn't even bother to ask how Noel was doing, simply demanding to see his son at once to see the boy's injuries for himself.
Since he was smart enough to know that the sooner the two groups in front of him got their children, the better, Headmaster Trennmien took Lord Birmington's suggestion and quickly turned to escort them to the school's infirmary where both boys were being tended. No one talked as they walked down the hallowed walls and it was because of this that when the small group arrived at the open door to the infirmary, they all came to a halt as the sound of young Master Birmington's question reached their ears perfectly.
"But why the bloody hell did you save me?" The boy was demanding to know, practically yelling his inquiry as he stood at the bedside of his currently bedridden classmate, running an agitated hand through his pitch black hair. His left arm was in a sling and he was still pretty pale but looked no where near as bad as he would have, had he actually hit the walk instead of Noel. "I mean you hate me!" The boy continued, obviously very upset about something.
"I don't know you well enough to hate you." Grimacing Noel looked pale and incredibly young as he lay in the bed, looking at Birmington wearily as he wished for more meds to help dull the pain...and Birmington's ranting. He could only hope the git was gone by the time Noir and Florian arrived, otherwise Birmington was liable to shoot his mouth off and Noel was in no condition to do anything about it for the moment. "Now scram, will you?"
"Not until you tell me why you helped me. You could have been killed, getting in the way like that. Do you want money, is that it? Or did you save me because you figured you'd get something out of it? Maybe hang out with my friends and I? You don't have mayn friends after all."
"Oh please. I have more money than you do, moron. And for that matter, who in their right mind would want to hang out with you and those half wits you keep around you to make you look good. You're all just self righteous prigs who think because you were born with titled parents that somehow makes you better than everyone else. I know it was you and those "friends" of yours that wrote all over my textbooks and started all those bloody rumors about me and my guardians. I mean really, after all those stunts you've pulled, why on earth would you think I would want to be friends with yous, even if you were mental enough to ask me? And as for not having friends, I'm not terribly choked up about that either. The ones I have suit me and I'd rather have none at all than ones like yours."
Plainly shocked at the idea that anyone would not want to be him the boy obviously didn't know what to say. It hadn't even occurred to him that Tassel was smart enough to have figured out who had been pulling the pranks and spreading the rumors about Noel's guardians. If he'd known all about that, that made it even more confusing as to why the boy had helped him.
Realizing that he wasn't going to get rid of the other boy until he answered Birmington's question in a way that the git could understand Noel gave a loud sigh of annoyance. "Look, I know that had it been me or your best friend's falling out that window you would have done nothing but sit there and watch him or me hit rock. That's the sort of git you are. I, on the other hand, grew up with men and women who thought to teach me the difference between right and wrong, something someone apparently never bothered to do for you. I saved you because it was the right thing to do. Maybe you didn't deserve to be saved, there's no question that I'm worth twenty of you, but that wasn't my call to make. You were in trouble and I was in a position to help you out of it. End of story. Now unless you're capable of being polite when my guardians get here, which I really doubt, I'm asking you to leave. And before you get your back up know that if you do insult them in any way I will get out of this bed and I will chuck you out another window. You can do what you like to me but not to them."
"I sorta did want to meet them." The other boy admitted, shuffling his feet slightly. "I mean Courland is the talk of the town since he got here."
"He'll do worse than throw you out a window if you piss him off." Noel warned, used to people gossiping and gapping about his younger guardian, who didn't know the meaning of the words low profile. "Florian and I have the marks to prove it."
"Is he very violent then?"
"Oh he's toned down loads since the day I met him." Grinning Noel could still remember how shocked he'd been when the fierce and volatile phantom thief had agreed to allow him to stay with him and his crew. "Though half the things he yells at me for he's done about a million times himself. Florian's much more easy going. He's a pretty good dad though, he and Florian both. They made a man out of me anyway. Most would agree that they did a pretty good job, considering neither of them knew a damn thing about kids when they took me in."
"Little brat." Rolling his eyes to hide his pleasure at the off handed compliment Noir strolled into the room before Florian could stop him, deliberately fixing a scowl on his face. "So you buggered up your arm, huh brat? Guess Laila will have to whip you up some of her special concoctions to get you on your feet sooner." He added with a rather sinister grin.
"You're the one who can't handle her cooking, not me." Noel shot back with a scowl, a faint blush on his cheeks. He wasn't sure how much Noir had heard and frankly, he didn't want to know.
"Don't start, you two." Shaking his head at the both of them Florian walked around the bed to stand on Noel's other side, tenderly brushing Noel's blond curls away from his damp forehead. "You gave us all quite the scare, young man. We'll have to take you home and spoil you rotten for at least a week to recover from it."
"Like he isn't already spoiled rotten?"
Elbowing Noir in the side for that little comment Laila gave him a look that said plainly he was to behave himself or face some dire consequences. "I'll take the car back and return with the carriage. That will make it easier to get him home."
Agreeing with her Noir handed over the keys and the girl took them with a wink in Noel's direction before exiting the room after sending both Birmingtons a hard look that suggested they were in loads of trouble if they caused her men any sort of trouble while she was away.
Watching her go with a hint of disdain Lord Birmington raised an eyebrow in Noir's direction. "You trust a serving girl to drive your automobile?"
"We would trust Laila with our lives." Giving the older man a dark look to rival any of Noir's Florian held the man's gaze for a moment before turning his head to look at the other boy. The younger Birmington was looking quite uncomfortable and seemed to be struggling with the lesson Noel had been trying to give him. Well, at least the boy was thinking it over, that was something. "And I'm glad to see that you aren't badly injured, young man. I'm glad Noel was around to help you."
"Thank you, Sir." Shaking the hand Florian offered him young Birmington felt terrible, especially when he looked into the kind eyes of the man who's name he'd helped sully around school. "I'm sorry Tass- Noel was hurt helping me, it was really all my own fault." Since meeting the older man's eyes just made him feel worse he turned his gaze to the man's shoulder, hoping that that would help him get the rest of his apology out. Then his gaze caught on a mark on the man's neck and before he thought better of it he was asking, "Did something bite you, Sir?"
"Hmm?"
"On your neck, it looks like something bit you, Sir."
Knowing instinctively what the boy had to mean Florian could feel his face start to heat up as he realized just what the boy had unwittedly called everyone's attention to. Oh God, how was he going to get them out of this one? And with Lord Birmington here as well? Damn Noir and his fetish with his neck!
"Oh that was our cat." Noel pipped up, the picture of innocence as everyone turned their attention to him. "His name is Noir, after the phantom thief Noir? We got him about ten years ago while we were traveling and he really likes to bite Florian for some reason, which is weird, since Florian is the one who's always petting him and stuff. He's a really twisted cat that way. Isn't he, Florian?"
"That he is, Noel. That he is."