FIC: Aster
Part of my story The Concealment Charm is set in a gentlemen's dining club, Aster, run by Alphard Black. The members are a mix of muggles and wizards, and all are gay. eleish correctly identified the couple by the window as Ralph and Laurie from The Charioteer. As a reward, she got to request a fic.
She said, "I would like to see a sequel or a prequel of "The Concealment Charm".
Maybe, how two proper Englishmen like Ralph and Laurie found "Aster" and manage to be mixed up with a lot of wizards...
I was intrigued by the challenge; after all, I love Ralph/Laurie fics! I soon hit a snag, however. In my mind, Ralph and Laurie were first introduced to Aster in the most ordinary of ways-someone invited them to dinner there. They liked the place and became members. Boring.
So, I decided to try something else-the scene in Aster from Laurie's POV. I may expand this story at a later date, but for now:
Title: Aster
Author: mysid
Disclaimer: Laurie and Ralph belong to Mary Renault. Sirius and his family belong to J.K. Rowling.
Aster
"Who are you staring at, Spud?" Ralph asked in a chiding tone.
Laurie looked back at Ralph with a sad smile. He enjoyed coming to Aster with Ralph because here they could just feel normal for an hour or so. Here they were accepted as they were, for they were like everyone else here. And, for the most part, the other members were men that Laurie didn't mind being lumped together with. The ugliness and baseness of their world rarely intruded in Aster. But it was intruding now.
"Look at that boy," Laurie glanced again in the teenager's direction to indicate whom he meant. "How old do you think he is?" He was undoubtedly far too young to be legal, and he wasn't just shy of the mark by a year or two. The man who had brought the boy to Aster was skirting the edges of pederasty.
Ralph looked in the indicated direction, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took a good look at the boy. Then, much to Laurie's surprise, Ralph smiled.
"Take a good look at the man with him, Spud."
"Why?" Laurie asked even as he did as he'd been told.
The man, whose back was to Laurie, had turned his head to speak with the waiter. Laurie could now see that it was none other than Alphard Black, the founder and director of the club. Laurie couldn't see how that possibly made the situation better. If anything, it made it worse. So went any hope that the club management would tell the man that his underage paramour was not welcome.
"And now look again at the boy," Ralph instructed. "See a resemblance?"
Put that way, the resemblance became obvious. The same aquiline nose and sharp cheekbones, the same dark hair and fair skin. The boy was closely related to Black, was possibly even-
"His son?" Laurie wondered aloud.
"Could be," Ralph said as returned his attention to his meal.
Laurie knew it could be. He'd overheard enough conversations in Aster in know that several of the members had wives. Somehow he hadn't imagined that Black fell in that category. He didn't know the man particularly well, but he did know that Black owned a few clubs for gay men. He didn't seem the type to hide in marriage.
Reassured that the teenager was not here with an older lover, Laurie was willing to put aside the questions of how the boy and Black were related, and why the man had brought the teenager to Aster. Instead, he steered the conversation back to the meeting Ralph had had with his editor that morning.
During a pause in the conversation, a new arrival in the dining room caught Laurie's eye. Alphard Black's brother, whose name Laurie did not know, took the seat that the teenager had just vacated. The boy waited attentively while the two brothers spoke, and at a word from Alphard's brother, the boy left the room.
"I guess we know which one is the boy's father," Ralph said, and Laurie nodded.
"He didn't look pleased to see his son here, did he?" Laurie noted.
"At least the boy won't have to deal with the usual reason a father would disapprove of finding his son here."
"True." The man was a member of Aster; it would be a bit hypocritical of a queer father to be offended because his son might be queer as well.
-Written April 2007
.
She said, "I would like to see a sequel or a prequel of "The Concealment Charm".
Maybe, how two proper Englishmen like Ralph and Laurie found "Aster" and manage to be mixed up with a lot of wizards...
I was intrigued by the challenge; after all, I love Ralph/Laurie fics! I soon hit a snag, however. In my mind, Ralph and Laurie were first introduced to Aster in the most ordinary of ways-someone invited them to dinner there. They liked the place and became members. Boring.
So, I decided to try something else-the scene in Aster from Laurie's POV. I may expand this story at a later date, but for now:
Title: Aster
Author: mysid
Disclaimer: Laurie and Ralph belong to Mary Renault. Sirius and his family belong to J.K. Rowling.
Aster
"Who are you staring at, Spud?" Ralph asked in a chiding tone.
Laurie looked back at Ralph with a sad smile. He enjoyed coming to Aster with Ralph because here they could just feel normal for an hour or so. Here they were accepted as they were, for they were like everyone else here. And, for the most part, the other members were men that Laurie didn't mind being lumped together with. The ugliness and baseness of their world rarely intruded in Aster. But it was intruding now.
"Look at that boy," Laurie glanced again in the teenager's direction to indicate whom he meant. "How old do you think he is?" He was undoubtedly far too young to be legal, and he wasn't just shy of the mark by a year or two. The man who had brought the boy to Aster was skirting the edges of pederasty.
Ralph looked in the indicated direction, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took a good look at the boy. Then, much to Laurie's surprise, Ralph smiled.
"Take a good look at the man with him, Spud."
"Why?" Laurie asked even as he did as he'd been told.
The man, whose back was to Laurie, had turned his head to speak with the waiter. Laurie could now see that it was none other than Alphard Black, the founder and director of the club. Laurie couldn't see how that possibly made the situation better. If anything, it made it worse. So went any hope that the club management would tell the man that his underage paramour was not welcome.
"And now look again at the boy," Ralph instructed. "See a resemblance?"
Put that way, the resemblance became obvious. The same aquiline nose and sharp cheekbones, the same dark hair and fair skin. The boy was closely related to Black, was possibly even-
"His son?" Laurie wondered aloud.
"Could be," Ralph said as returned his attention to his meal.
Laurie knew it could be. He'd overheard enough conversations in Aster in know that several of the members had wives. Somehow he hadn't imagined that Black fell in that category. He didn't know the man particularly well, but he did know that Black owned a few clubs for gay men. He didn't seem the type to hide in marriage.
Reassured that the teenager was not here with an older lover, Laurie was willing to put aside the questions of how the boy and Black were related, and why the man had brought the teenager to Aster. Instead, he steered the conversation back to the meeting Ralph had had with his editor that morning.
During a pause in the conversation, a new arrival in the dining room caught Laurie's eye. Alphard Black's brother, whose name Laurie did not know, took the seat that the teenager had just vacated. The boy waited attentively while the two brothers spoke, and at a word from Alphard's brother, the boy left the room.
"I guess we know which one is the boy's father," Ralph said, and Laurie nodded.
"He didn't look pleased to see his son here, did he?" Laurie noted.
"At least the boy won't have to deal with the usual reason a father would disapprove of finding his son here."
"True." The man was a member of Aster; it would be a bit hypocritical of a queer father to be offended because his son might be queer as well.
-Written April 2007
.