Never-Finished Fic: Details (Eroica, Klaus/Dorian)

[rsadelle]

"Major." Eroica's tone and demeanor were so different, calm and concerned, that if he'd been in disguise, Klaus wouldn't have recognized him. This wasn't the degenerate fop, the professional thief, or the flirtatious noble. This, Klaus surprised himself by thinking, was the man who loved him.

"What do you want?"

"Major," Eroica said again. "I think you should sit down."

Klaus glared at him and snapped, "What?" The Alphabets, he noticed, were very carefully not looking at the two of them.

"Klaus," Eroica said gently, "it's your father. He's passed away."

Klaus's glance swept the room and landed on Z, two meters behind Eroica. "Z?"

"Yes, sir," Z answered. "The call came from Switzerland a few minutes ago."

Klaus swore. "Damnit, I can't--"

"No," Eroica agreed, "but I can." His eyes bored into Klaus's. "My team and I can make all the arrangements by the time you get back."

"I don't want the stingy bug anywhere near Eberbach," Klaus warned, which was as good as an agreement.

"I'll leave him at home with a pile of last month's newspapers."

Klaus hesitated for a moment longer. It was either this or rely on Conrad, with the attendant handwringing and veiled admonishments. "Fine," he relented. "Go. I trust," he added, "that I don't need to give you a key."

Eroica smiled at him. "No, that won't be necessary."

Klaus dismissed him with a wave of his hand and called to Agent C for his update.

***

Klaus was hiding. If asked, he would've said he'd only stepped out for a smoke, and never mind that he regularly smoked inside. But no one was asking, and Klaus made it a habit never to lie to himself. To others, yes, but to himself, never.

"Did you meet Lord Gloria?"

Klaus scooted down the bench and further into the shadow of the shrubbery to avoid notice of whichever guests had wandered out onto the patio.

"I did. Very handsome."

"Mmmmhmmm. Gay, of course," the woman's voice held a tone of regret.

"Of course."

"Do you think?"

"What?" Whatever the other woman was suggesting, this one wasn't getting it.

"Well, he's supposed to be some friend of Klaus's, but no one's ever met him."

"You think he and Klaus?"

"I heard he even made all of the funeral arrangements." The woman's voice dropped in confidence.

"Well. That makes him even more interesting."

The two laughing women moved on, back into the castle, and Klaus had the patio to himself again. For a time, anyway; Eroica eventually came looking for him.

"I wondered if you'd simply left," Eroica said as he settled onto the other end of the bench.

Klaus grunted. "It's my duty to stay."

"Of course."

"Thank you," Klaus said after it looked like Eroica wasn't going to say anything else. "You did a good job."

Eroica smiled slightly. "I'm a gay man who survived the 80s. I know how to plan a funeral." He'd turned to face Klaus as he said it, and Klaus could see some of what that survival had cost him.

"How did you?" Klaus asked, suddenly curious.

"Luck, I suppose." Eroica shrugged. "And I've always been something of a romantic. I haven't," he assured Klaus, "ever had that many lovers." He shrugged again. "I've tested clean every six months for the last twenty years."

Klaus lit a cigarette to give himself something to do.

Eroica sighed and settled himself more fully onto the bench. He seemed content to sit in silence. It was even comfortable. Things were much easier when Eroica wasn't causing trouble.

After a while, though, Eroica stood. "I should go back in."

Klaus dropped his cigarette into the ashtray he'd brought out with him. "I'll come with you." He took the ashtray with him and deposited it on a table on the way back to the main part of the house.

He knew exactly what some of the relatives were thinking when they came in together, and he didn't really care.