QOTD: What's your favorite gay(boyxboy) movie/ series that can be watched online for free because I'm broke lol.
⏤
❝Coiled in my velvet sleeve it lay.
And like a serpent, hissed❞
•George Eliot.
Revenge is best served by Reuben.....
Reuben's Bedchamber ꨄ︎
Reuben's valet, Oliver Berrycloth, assisted him into a powder pink linen dress shirt.
It was only right for every gentry or noble person to be assisted by their valet or ladies-maid when being clothed, but Reuben Griffith loathed the act. He had convinced himself his sight issues were the reason why he was catered and clothed for.
“Is there no piano lessons today, young master?” Oliver asked, lip twisting into a small smile as he began arranging Reuben's dark shoulder-length curls with the copper hewitt comb he held.
Reuben was nearly done with being clothed, only needing to be assisted into his breeches, since he was now in his cotton knee-length undergarment.
“There is, however, I am not even slightly interested ...I might visit the library later instead,” Reuben gravelly replied, brows furrowed in a frown.
“If I remember correctly, young lord, Duchess Augusta has banned you from visiting the library,” the lithe middle-aged man reminded, as he tied the onyx cravat around Reuben's pale freckled neck.
“I haven't heard her say anything of that sort.”
“But she forbade you from reading, is that not what is done in a library?” Oliver knowingly cocked a brow.
“I am not in the mood for your sass, in fact, she is at Lady Prudence's in West Buckland, I couldn't care less what she demands.”
Mr Berrycloth was always patient with Reuben, even though he was mostly irascible and hostile. He had known the young man since he was only a newborn, and had watched him age into the young man he was now. A once curious boy full of dreams and hopes, had it all stolen away from him by a distressing disease that fell upon him and as a result, had him lose one eyesight and eventually was to lose the other.
Reuben wasn't the boy he knew anymore; he had become distant and bitter. Oliver was sure that if Reuben hadn't convinced himself that his pending blindness was the end of his world, then maybe he could return to being the joyous little flower boy he once knew.
“I still follow her orders, even if she isn't present,” Oliver readily informed.
“But she isn't my father, she is harmless! I see I have been foolish to have ever thought you were my accomplice,” the ill-tempered man grumbled underneath his breath, to which Oliver couldn't help but smile.
“That I am, but I would also like to keep my head,” Oliver chuckled, touching his neck in jest.
“Oh, Oliver! I do not understand anyone in this manor. I am not supposed to read, yet I must attend piano lessons?!”
In the course of his cavil complaints, they heard blithe laughter coming from the parlour room below.
“What is all that ruckus? I will go have a look,” Oliver wondered, face slightly scrunching at what he considered a disturbance. “Briefly excuse me, young master, while I see to it.”
Reuben slowly sat on his bed when his valet left. He raised his right hand before him; five fingers appeared as seven when he drew it back to examine it, but came into focus once he brought it closer to his face. His left eye's vision had worsened since months ago. It was true, he would in the long run lose his left eyesight as well, even if it took years.
Reuben was relieved from his daunting thoughts when his door was open.
“It is Obadiah Webb, master Reuben, he has returned from his trip,” Oliver announced.
“You don't say! Where is he now? I would like to see him immediately,” Reuben quickly stood from his bed, lip quirked in an eager smile which had Oliver smiling as well.
“He and lady Elizabeth are conversing in the parlour.”
“Of course they are,” Reuben muttered to himself, unsettled and a bit affronted.
Reuben would not have had anything against Obadiah Webb and his sister's relationship if it wasn't a secret, and would be approved by his father. Lord Alfred would never accept any of his daughters wed a man who wasn't of nobility or had an enormous fortune. Obadiah didn't meet that standard, for he was just a common lecturer.
“What was that?”
“Nothing ..., tell him to see me in my bedchamber once he is unoccupied.”
“He has already informed me⏤.”
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, interrupting Oliver.
“I believe that will be him at the door,” Oliver chuckled lightly.
Behind the door stood a smirking Obadiah Webb, clothed in a pale apricot tailcoat and a high top hat adorning his head with his cigarette pipe hanging loosely between his lips.
“Obadiah!”
“Ah, Reuben!”
The two young men tightly embraced, swaying from side to side as they did so, with elated smiles plastered on their faces.
“I will leave you two to it,” Oliver smiled at the display of the good friends before excusing himself.
Obadiah Webb and Reuben Griffith have been well acquainted for several years now, though Obadiah was a few years older than Reuben. Their friendship was born from Reuben's close friendship with Obadiah's cousin, Thomas Gridley. Mr Webb was amongst the very few people who could make Reuben Griffith genuinely smile.
❦︎
Reuben and Obadiah were still in Reuben's bedchamber. Oliver had brought in a tray of wine and rice biscuits since the two young men desired to dine alone and not surrounded by people at the dining hall.
Obadiah Webb was now seated on Reuben's velvet bed with a glass of wine in hand, and with his pipe joined with the wine-filled decanter on the breakfast table before him.
Reuben hadn't indulged in his yet. In all honesty, Reuben wasn't much of a drinker, and the fact that it was only now noon didn't help. He was rather looking out his window with his cane tightly in his grip. Reuben could not quite make anyone out since his bedchamber was two-story buildings high, yet he was still at ease whenever he watched bodies move, even if they appeared disfigured.
“What has gotten your attention, so much so that you aren't a good enough host to drink with me,” Obadiah teased, with his tailcoat unbuttoned and top hat now off his head. His cravat, however, remained tied; that would be preserved for when he was in the privacy of his own bedchamber.
“ ... I'm simply watching the servants,” Reuben muttered, gaze flickering to his friend.
“They entertain you?” Obadiah inquired, amused.
“No, they certainly do not. Why do you sound so exuberant?” Reuben observed with a huff.
“A wonderful lady has my heart, Reuben, what can I say? It is only right to be filled with happiness.”
“Your secret relationship with my sister isn't going to do you nor her any good,” Reuben glanced out the window once more, his frown returning.
“Is a secret what you'd call it?”
“Only I and Alice know of it which makes it a secret, anyone else who might know isn't of importance.”
“Adelaide saw as once.”
“Saw you once what?”
“Kissing ..., she saw us kissing,” Obadiah whispered, falling backwards into the bed and grinning widely.
Reuben's head jerked so quickly that he felt his neck strain, utterly staggered by his words. “You kissed! Adelaide saw you?!”
“Yes, that is what I said,” Obadiah teased, a delightful smile twitching at the corner of his lips.
Obadiah Webb was never one to behave so childishly, but Reuben knew it was because he had just been reunited with the woman he loved so dearly after they had been apart for several weeks.
“You do realize how furious my father will be once he finds out, do you not?!” Reuben harshly whispered, as if the walls truly did have ears. If it did, Reuben did not need it hearing anything.
“Absolutely livid, he might even have me electrocuted,” Obadiah chaffed, laughing a little.
“This isn't funny, you are a dead man if this ever gets out.”
“Adelaide has known for months now and hasn't uttered a word⏤well except for telling your sister to court an actual nobleman that is.”
“How do I not know of all these things?” Reuben lowly groaned to himself in frustration, absentmindedly scratching at the mullion.
“Perhaps it is because you are always cooped up in your chamber sulking.”
“Oh, shut it.”
“Why, my dear friend, Is that not the truth? Do you have anything going on in your life that I am not aware of?” Now propped on his elbow, Obadiah asked with a lopsided grin.
Reuben went silent as his veined hand twisted at the head of his silver-tipped cane. “Except for my father deeming me a shame, nothing much.”
“Your father loves you.”
“Yes, yet he is ashamed of me.” Obadiah couldn't say otherwise. Once a golden child and only son dearly loved, Reuben's relationship with his Father changed as soon as his eyes began to fail him.
“Enough of that, surely your father isn't the only thing happening in your life, I'd be saddened by that.”
“Stop your teasing, it isn't helping anything,” came the petulant whine.
“My intention isn't to tease you, Reuben, we are bosom buddies, after all, aren't we? I hate seeing you this blue.”
Reuben could not help but smile softly despite himself. His friend's remark was said in a tone that Reuben believed should only be reserved for naive and foolish children.
“Maybe something has been happening ...,” pondered Reuben as he chewed on his bottom lip.
“Now, that is what I like to hear, so what is it? I hope it is of good nature.” Obadiah sat back up, curiosity filling him to the brim.
Reuben thought for a bit, trying to recall anything that had happened besides his usual dull routine. Sudden and unpleasantly, the new footman flashed across his mind.
“It is not pleasant, far from it really, there is this footboy who just gets on my last nerve”
“So the usual,” Obadiah laughed, taking his pipe off the table and to his lips.
“No, he is different.”
“How so?”
“He has no respect for me, I believe it is because he saw me being chided by my mother at his arrival, he now thinks I am not one to be feared.”
“One to be feared! Do not be so vain Reuben, you sound dramatic. Maybe instead of being your science lecturer, I should teach you moral education instead,” Obadiah teased, puffing smoke out of his pipe.
“But it is true! Can you believe he had the audacity to call me a brute, and in the presence of lady Gwenllian,” bitterness crept onto Reuben's face.
“The French lady now residing in Wiltshire? I thought you did not fancy her.”
“That is beside the point, he made a mockery of me, not once, but twice!”
“I quite frankly like him, someone finally stood up to you,” Obadiah shrugged, smiling.
“Oh, but he doesn't know what is coming to him, Obadiah. You see, I am going to make his life in this manor hell, he'd leave to whichever filthy hole he crawled out of,” Reuben assured, expression hardening.
“He came to Wellington for work, surely you aren't heartless enough to send him away in such crisis we are in, especially a crisis weighing heavier on the poor, simply because you believe your pride has been bruised,” Obadiah frowned in disapproval.
Sympathy briefly disarmed Reuben, but he was quick to mask and conceal it. “He could be a footman in another manor for all I care, in fact, he should work for pudgy ol Lord Vincent, that would be the cherry on top.”
“I hope you aren't going to be foolish as to take this too far, not everyone is as fortunate as you are, Reuben.”
“As you said so yourself, I am just a locked up bored blind young man, there isn't much that keeps me this entertained.”
☘︎☘︎☘︎☘︎
Revenge is best served by Reuben lol...what do you think he plans to do?.
Though bitter, Reuben is still very immature😅