I will be your
man
Author: wanderingsmith
Started july 17, 2021
Summary: "It had not occurred to me that there could be other
situations where a gentleman must be forceful."
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I ain't got no money, and nobody'd be daft enough to
pay me for this. As it is thought, so let it be said; you make the toys, I
play with 'em..
AN: I might have tweaked the soppy last line.. but Nyruserra
said I wasn't allowed....
"From the moment I saw you, my lips, hungered, for your lips."
Hubert stumbled on nothing as he heard the new waitress -who he could hardly
see behind the bar- speak almost aggressively. Both catching his footing,
and smoothing his no-doubt obvious expression, he was nonetheless unable not
to stare as René reacted with shuddering delight to the words.
The woman was so different from the cheerfully-forward miss Yvette, it
seemed an odd mix of tastes for one man to have.
He set aside the wistful thought as René turned to him, wafting such a
delicious scent that Hubert's mood immediately lightened, even more so as
René poured himself a drink along with Hubert's; an occasional habit that
made his heart warm every time.
And though it was mildly annoying to have René join the list of people who
apparently assumed that fancying men made him feminine in any way, the fact
that he said it with such completely casual friendliness... Well. It was not
the first time that he had shown such acceptance, and it was without
question a large part of the reason Hubert could not help but care for him.
Along with his smile, on the rare occasions he was so cheerful as to truly
smile like that, a tease of Hubert's discomfort with feminine anatomy though
it was, in this case.
As René started to step away, Hubert had an odd thought, feminine anatomy
having been in discussion, "René," he waited for the man to step back toward
Hubert, and frowned thoughtfully, suddenly second-guessing René's cheer,
"May I ask... why have you never tried to seduce Helga?" Certainly he knew
the man was as much a fan of her feminine attributes as captain Geering had
been.
René's eyes opened wide, a touch of -perfectly understandable- fear in his
cringe, "Seduce Helga?? ...I am far too fond of my own skin to risk
insulting private Geerhart, lieutenant!" Hubert waited as René stilled, as
though having had a strange thought. Eventually he continued idly,
"...Lieutenant, you may not believe this, but I do not remember the last
time I attempted to seduce someone."
Hubert did not have time to finish digesting *that* information before the
colonel appeared and so rudely nodded him away from the bar.
He was ruminating on strange theories of human behaviour, watching the bar
from the table by the window where the colonel would eventually settle and
expect Hubert to be, when the Eyetie captain appeared.
And though he was both terribly jealous of his accosting René so familiarly,
and then rather hurt that the man was apparently so insecure as to not trust
himself to so much as approach Hubert, once Hubert got away from the odious
man by taking over the piano, his previous thoughts returned, with yet more
evidence to ponder.
He was, admittedly, not truly playing; thoughts too far away to do more than
tap a few melancholy chords here and there. But Monsieur Leclerc was not
attempting to claim the instrument, and René did not generally mind if
Hubert stroked the ivories to soothe himself.
Still, when René's hand settled on his shoulder, he briefly worried he had
overstepped the freedom René had been so kind as to offer him when he'd
first heard Hubert liked to play.
But then he saw the cognac appear before him and felt René lean close to his
ear, unable to help shivering as the man spoke gently, "Do not let that
Eyetie get to you, lieutenant."
More than a little shocked at the tender care from the so-often distant man,
Hubert tipped his head up with a grateful smile that he suspected trembled,
and whispered, "Thank you, René."
Smiling back, René winked and squeezed his shoulder, and then stepped away
to attend to a new customer, leaving Hubert staring at him in wonder.
After that, the music flowed to his fingers, his previous thoughts slipping
to the back of his mind, and he was smiling with true pleasure when the
commotion on the stairs interrupted everyone's evening. Seeing the captain
tumbling down, Hubert made his way over to help René deal with the
situation; however unfond he was of the man, he was a fellow officer. A
gentleman must render aid. Even to insulting Eyeties.
It was so very worth it to hear René's warmly confident "He won't", with
another of his practically *fond* looks leaving Hubert smiling helplessly as
he reassured the foolish captain.
No, no René, I would never.
---
Hardly an hour after René had finally got back from managing to pull down
their flying waitress 'Dressed as a nun and suspended from a giant kite
of a radio antenna meant to contact England' Gruber walked into the
café and, spotting René at the bar, walked over rather firmly, not bothering
with his usual bright smile and hail, neatly turned out and every inch the
professional lieutenant. When he did speak, standing at rest in a way that
would have marked him a soldier even without the uniform, his voice was
quiet enough not to be any sort of general announcement, though there was no
attempt to lean close for an intimate conversation as he often did, "René. I
need to speak with you," he nodded to the door to the back room,
"Privately."
René tried to swallow the automatic panic, wondering if their antics in that
field had been seen and he was now to be shot 'Again', "Now,
lieutenant?"
Gruber nodded without a change of expression, the consummate officer that
René only rarely saw. Which, for all that any German being 'serious' was
extremely worrisome 'Pretty much the same could be said for Michelle
being serious, mind you', still mostly left him feeling less jittery
than when the man flashed bedroom eyes and that inviting smile. ' *That*
made him feel as though something were being asked of him that he could
surely never provide.'
Gruber was setting his hat and gloves on the back room's table as René
stepped in after him, and then waited for René to close the door before
speaking, standing straight and looking René in the eye, still eerily calm 'Strangely
distant, as a matter of fact...'. "René, my mother raised me to be a
gentleman, and I've always done my very best to be as respectful and honest
as she would have wanted."
René nodded, relaxing somewhat, since this did not *seem* the introduction
to threats, "I think she would be proud, lieutenant."
For just a moment the lieutenant's serious mien was broken by a flash of
pleased smile at René's words, eyes brightening just like when René made the
mistake of approaching the piano while he was singing. Then he caught
himself and actually returned to the serious officer, much to René's
surprise. With a calm nod of acknowledgement for the words, he continued
what sounded rather like a script to René 'He had, no doubt, been an
actor at some point', "Of course, there are situations where it is
simply not possible. There is no gentlemanly way to attack enemy lines."
René grinned, picturing Gruber trying to think of one, "No, I'm afraid there
really is not, lieutenant."
"Quite, but I still did my best to not be a brute, even in this war." The
calmly serious look took on a dose of offended pique, though not aimed at
René, "Not to be the kind of animal your mother in law expects Germans to
be."
René very nearly reached out to pat his arm in reassurance, only hesitating
with the realization that the man was suddenly much closer, dark eyes in
those even '*Perhaps* movie-star-like; at least a few years ago...'
features so close that René could see the thin rim of hazel left around the
wide pupils.
"It had not occurred to me that there could be other situations where a
gentleman must be forceful."
As he took the last step between them and slid his palms to René's jaw,
Hubert saw his eyes widen, but René did not so much as tense, which was,
truthfully, shocking, even with the conclusions Hubert had come to, the
previous evening, about his romantic behaviour. "I should have made it
clear, my dear René, that I truly desire you, and care for you." When Hubert
gently encouraged him to tip his head and then leaned in to press his lips
to René's, those wide, quite unafraid, possibly even eager, eyes slid shut.
And his lips parted under Hubert's, entirely welcoming.
He had dreamt of this moment so often, had dreamt it happening in so many
ways, from the slowest and tenderest of innocent touches of introduction, to
utterly uncontrolled wildness that led straight to naked, sweat-slick
passion. And though he had rarely imagined himself initiating the contact,
René's so-willing response to his boldness made it easy to be as shamelessly
brazen, without so much as a by-your-leave, as he had planned, slipping his
tongue eagerly along those plush lips, pressing his mouth to René's, trying
to coax him into parting them further.
Moaning softly to feel René's tongue coming to meet his, Hubert took another
step forward and used his hips to push René's back against the door. And
again the response was eagerly passionate, René groaning and pressing back
into him as those lovely hands slid to Hubert's shoulders, stroking and
grasping through his frustratingly-thick tunic with the same desperation
that had their lips bruising each other, now, and their tongues competing to
possess deeper. Not naked abandon, certainly, but a mutual hunger that he
knew would fuel his dreams for a long time to come.
He had almost forgotten that they were nothing but a thin door away from the
café when he felt René tip his head back, against Hubert's hands, and Hubert
immediately raised his lips, though he did not shift his body from its so
very satisfying press into René's lush form that had drawn him for so long.
When René did not immediately say anything, gulping air as Hubert tried to
calm his own panting breath, Hubert relaxed, simply watching the man,
extremely pleased to see the splash of red on his cheeks under his
still-closed eyes, and the extra swell to his lovely lips. A little awed to
be here, to have his René truly in his arms, to feel his hands still
restlessly stroking Hubert's back, as though he too had been hungry for too
long, Hubert whispered softly, "I apologize, René. I had not realized you
needed me to step forward and take charge. It is not something that comes
naturally," he smiled as René's eyes slid open, "Though I assure you I am
perfectly capable." And so very willing.
"Oh.. yes. I- I see that..."
The hesitation might have concerned Hubert, except that René's eyes had not
left his mouth, and the slow slip of his tongue over his lips showed every
sign of pleasure.
And then a hand slid up to Hubert's nape and tipped him back forward into
another heated kiss.
The unadulterated relief he felt at having won so much from his gamble made
Hubert's knees weaken and he melted into René's warm body with a happy moan,
gleefully returning to nibbling those lips to be even plumper, wondering if
he would see René licking their sweet swell through the evening ahead...
This time Hubert was the first to need oxygen and raise his head, his heart
skipping to hear René's moan a protest. Of course, the café was still inches
from them, and just before the dinner rush had perhaps not been particularly
good timing for his operation, not that Hubert was about to regret anything
that had led him into René's arms. But he knew they would have to end this
tryst before someone came barging in and raised a fuss.
He made himself step back, and tidied René's collar and tie, smiling softly
at the man giving him a wondering look, "You are so lovely, my René. It will
be even harder, now, not to stare at you like a schoolboy with a crush." Of
course René reacted with a huff and a roll of the eyes, but Hubert only
began to worry when René's aroused expression became tinged with an odd,
tired, cynicism.
"And... what do *you* want from me?"
...It took several heartbeats for the cold wash of shame to be stopped by
stubborn reason.
He had not misread the man, he was almost certain. René *had* reacted with
desire to his advances.. Hubert had *not* 'forced' himself on an unwilling
man! That... That had to be a reaction to the others that had understood
before Hubert had that they needed to step forward to gain René's attention.
And then apparently demand things from him. As he had indeed often heard
miss Yvette do, to say nothing of Madame Edith. And likely there were others
that Hubert had simply not been witness to.
Hubert smoothed his thumb under René's eyes, feeling wistful at the weary
look there, knowing he could not make the man's life less complicated -only
more so, unfortunately-, "Want? I... want," he raised himself on his toes to
touch a feather-light kiss between René's eyes before leaning their
foreheads together to meet René's slightly less grim, faintly amused, even,
gaze, "Whatever affections you can spare me." Even his simple friendliness
had already made Hubert's time in France so much lovelier than he'd hoped it
could possibly be.
No matter how he dreamed, greed had been worn out of him long ago. One
learned to survive on what was offered; especially in war.
AN:References:
1) I assume gruber hears mimi (s4e03), followed by the
lipstick scene
2) michelle's (s5e11) analysis of rene's utter inability
to choose for himself
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes and vowed to him that I'd
loved him from the first moment that we met. Naturally, he fell
immediately in love with me the (original, before I decided it was
too mysterious, sigh) summary (You're a kite, dancing in a hurricane)
was from Bond, of course, brought into play here because that is how
René's affections seem to me: triggered by other people (mimi, michelle,
louise) desiring him, rather than by his own choosing. and therefor he
is pulled this way and that by what they want. even edith and yvette and
denise, they all insistently tug at him and he tries to please (except
edith, lol); until the next tug comes.
Mr. White: You are a kite dancing in a hurricane, Mr. Bond. -Spectre
title is from a favorite song Richard Marx - Now & Forever for fun :)
Bertorelli
s4e03 I heard about you
s4e03 whatever you do
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