Substitute [bxb] ✔

Training

"The course of true love never did run smooth."  -William Shakespeare

...

Victor huffed as he jogged, his breath coming out in shorts puffs in the cold morning air. He lagged behind all the soldiers, failing to catch up to them despite all his efforts. He wasn't known for his amazing stamina in running, clearly.

Whoever had told him that this was a good idea?!

Still, he was determined to complete his laps. He was no quitter. He'd prove to everyone and their mothers that he could be just as menacing on the field as he is with his tongue. With some extra boost to his set mind, he forced his legs to work harder, move faster, while trying to maintain his breathing, so he could at least fill in the gap between himself and the last soldier in the lineup. He can't embarrass himself, he was as much a man as everyone else, he'd prove it to them.

After all, it was his first day as an official soldier trainee.

"Aye, Victor! Buck up!"

"I'm trying!" He yelled back to the soldier who had called out to him, feeling like his lungs would give up on him any second. He shouldn't even waste his precious breath by speaking. Only one lap remained, if he shut up and put his mind and body in concentration, he could do it!

"You're not trying hard enough!"

Now if only his trainer wasn't Henry.

Don't get him wrong, Henry was definitely the strongest warrior around, and the best choice for a trainer, undebated. It was just that... on the field, Henry was absolutely ruthless. He made them do laps first thing in the morning, if you didn't eat before it was your problem. If someone joked around or spoke out of turn, he added extra laps in reward. He jogged behind the group to keep an eye on them, and if someone slowed down or stopped to catch their breath, he reprimanded them in a harsh tone. Best case scenario, a harsh reprimand is all you get. Worst case scenario, you get the infamous 'run till you drop' punishment.

Benjamin was not lying. This was not his fiancé Henry, this was Captain Henry Remy. A slave driver.

"Yes Captain!" Victor gritted his teeth as he bit back at his sarcasm, considering it would only earn him more laps. He could see the final checkpoint already, victory was in his lap, he only needed to keep moving.

Some of the other soldiers had already reached their destination, collapsing to the ground as their legs gave out. He pitied them though, as he could already feel Henry's mouth open to reprimand them further.

"Fools! If you stop moving suddenly, your legs are going to stop moving forever!" The captain yelled. "Get your butts off the ground and go drink some water."

Hm, seems like he does care, behind all his sternness.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to him, Victor reached the lap checkpoint. He didn't make the grave mistake of collapsing and instead forced his body to keep moving, heaving in breaths and with flushed cheeks. He moved to the shelter that served water and other refreshments for the soldiers and helped himself to a big glass water, chugging it down like he was stranded in a desert and had found a mirage.

"Slow down, unless you choke and die." The Captain said nonchalantly, appearing beside him out of nowhere and pouring out a glass of water for himself, drinking it in slower gulps.

"If I ever die, it'll be in your arms only." Victor responded as het set his empty glass down on the table. "The best way to go, in my opinion."

Henry snorted and downed his water. "It is highly inappropriate to court your senior, Mister Victor."

"Oh?" Quirking an eyebrow, Victor said, "Makes it all the more thrilling, then."

"I'm not easy, you know." The Captain said, a slight smile on his face.

Victor smiled back. "Good for me, I like hard things."

...

"Henry! What the hell!" Victor yelped as he was thrown to the ground by the momentum of his body trying to evade the oncoming assault. He wasn't given much time to recover before a roundhouse kick greeted him, causing him to shift back rapidly in order to avoid getting a direct hit in the face. "At least, warn me!" He got back up on shaky legs, taking a defensive stance again. "And why are you fighting me?! Let me fight one of the others- Ah!"

Apparently, a kick to the legs is enough to disbalance any person.

Henry picked Victor up by grabbing his upper arm and hauling him off the ground. "Did I not tell you? Every soldier I recruit in the army has to go through my inspection."

"Inspection?!" Victor asked incredulously. "You call this an inspection?! You're trying to kill me, you ass!"

"Oh, and a real enemy would rather make passionate love to you on the battlefield, yes?" The Captain asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Victor shook his hand off and rubbed his arm. "You could have been a little more gentle."

"I don't fancy being accused of partiality and bias."

"Oh, aren't you just charming?" Victor grimaced. "Alright, but at least teach me something first! Right now you're just treating me like your personal punching bag! How am I supposed to learn anything like this?!"

"Fine." Henry sighed. "Lesson one. Stop whining."

"Are you-?! Stop making fun of me!" Victor fumed and looked around, finding all the other soldiers very invested in their conversation, sporting looks of varying degrees of amusements. The looks made him feel a little unsure in himself, and more than a little insecure in his masculinity, if he was being honest. Although, he believed, compared to Henry, every man would feel similarly to him. His former fiancé was considered to be the perfect man, after all...

He noticed with a pinch to his heart, how he barely reached Henry's nose, and had to tilt his face upwards in order to look into those deep eyes. He knew he was no match for Henry, so why did he even keep trying?

He was shaken out of his thoughts when the said man grabbed his collar and brought him closer to his bigger body, the differences in their height and build terribly evident when put so close together. He wondered how many years of practice had earned Henry his body. It was clearly the result of all the hardships the man must have endured for the kingdom, for his brother. Compared to this man, who was he? Who knew him? What had he accomplished in his life? Sell breads? How bold of a nobody like him to even try to woo this God! Maybe that's why all the soldiers kept sniggering to themselves. Maybe even the thought of such mismatched men together is laughable. Maybe the only way he could have ever won a dream man like Henry was through a lecherous deal, and considering he had already lost that chance, maybe he should just...

A hand grabbed his jaw and forced him to come back to reality from his subconscious musings. "If you're this absent-minded on a battlefield, you'll be served as food in the enemy encampments."

Victor, for all his wit, could not utter a single word against this man, for he was absolutely flabbergasted by his own heart's revelations. Not just the whole female population of Marais, but even he himself believed Henry to be the perfect man. What has his life come to? How many times did he already lose his focus because of the said man? It wasn't just that his fighting skills were horrible, he also kept getting distracted by those eyes, those shoulders, those hands, heck, even his veins...

"And lesson two, Victor, when we're training, only focus on me."

He nodded to the words dumbly, unable to believe his treacherous heart beating wildly in his chest, for this man, definitely not Louis, nowhere near alike Louis, and yet, he still... he still...

Dear Lord, was he enamored with Henry now?!

...

HMMM. Care to explain, Victor?

What's gonna be his next route? Denial? or acceptance?

Who else agrees Henry is the perfect man?

Do we support his harsh training practices?

Vote and Comment please!