Ficlet: "Strawberry Cathedral" (Ted/Anthony, PG)
For the gorgeous orlanstamos whose Ted Tonks owns my soul.
Title: "Strawberry Cathedral"
Pairing: Ted Tonks/Anthony Goldstein
Rating: PG
Warnings/Kinks: Art History, crossdressing communists, James Bond
Ted shook his head, watching the boy with quiet amusement. He moved in short scurries, eyes wide, from column to window to side aisle. Ted knew he had been in countless cathedrals throughout Britain but this one was different somehow. That they were the only two inside in the early morning hours, assured of no interruptions for this visit certainly helped. They had free reign, to move, to study, to touch without fear of reprimand. Ted had been here before, in his youth, but had spent too much time in churches to be particularly interested in this one.
But something was definitely holding his interest. Anthony’s exuberance. Something of youth mixed with excitement and all liberally doused with a true passion for the art that surrounded him. Ted wondered if the distance of not being raised in the church made its art more powerful. An irony in that if it did.
Ted watched as the young man trailed delicate fingers down the incised lines on one of the columns then grinned back at him. Chuckling, Ted walked to him.
“Find something you like?”
Anthony grinned back. “It’s a chick column.”
Ted raised his eyebrows, “Hmm?”
“A lot of the stonework were done by workers who only copied the drawings of plans of their masters. Bad stoneworkers called chicks. Some of them couldn’t read. Like this one.” Anthony tapped at the stone.
There were lines carved into the stone that looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t see why. He wondered if they were ancient runes used to replace the intended image? Could it have deeper meaning? Perhaps the key to an ancient mystery that would take them into the crypts to find clues? He started to get excited by the thought.
Anthony giggled boyishly. “Thinking too much, OO7. It’s Latin. Just backwards.” And with that, he pointed to the opposite side of the small aisle, where the mirror image of the column was, complete with a very legible inscription.
Ted laughed, his cheeks flushing at the simple solution. “I was distracted.”
Grinning, Anthony raised his eyebrows. “Don’t seen any girls in bikinis or cross-dressing fascists.”
“Communists. They were cross-dressing communists, but no, none of those.”
“Was your shoe ringing?”
Ted rolled his eyes. “That, Mr Goldstein, is the wrong secret agent. And no, to all of it. I was distracted by strawberries.”
Anthony blushed, colour washing lightly over his cheeks and down his neck. “Oh.”
Ted stepped closer, dragging his knuckles over Anthony’s cheeks and smiling at the curve of lips his touched caused. He bent his head and murmured softly, “Yeah. Oh.”
Feedback will be kissed in a House of God.
Title: "Strawberry Cathedral"
Pairing: Ted Tonks/Anthony Goldstein
Rating: PG
Warnings/Kinks: Art History, crossdressing communists, James Bond
Ted shook his head, watching the boy with quiet amusement. He moved in short scurries, eyes wide, from column to window to side aisle. Ted knew he had been in countless cathedrals throughout Britain but this one was different somehow. That they were the only two inside in the early morning hours, assured of no interruptions for this visit certainly helped. They had free reign, to move, to study, to touch without fear of reprimand. Ted had been here before, in his youth, but had spent too much time in churches to be particularly interested in this one.
But something was definitely holding his interest. Anthony’s exuberance. Something of youth mixed with excitement and all liberally doused with a true passion for the art that surrounded him. Ted wondered if the distance of not being raised in the church made its art more powerful. An irony in that if it did.
Ted watched as the young man trailed delicate fingers down the incised lines on one of the columns then grinned back at him. Chuckling, Ted walked to him.
“Find something you like?”
Anthony grinned back. “It’s a chick column.”
Ted raised his eyebrows, “Hmm?”
“A lot of the stonework were done by workers who only copied the drawings of plans of their masters. Bad stoneworkers called chicks. Some of them couldn’t read. Like this one.” Anthony tapped at the stone.
There were lines carved into the stone that looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t see why. He wondered if they were ancient runes used to replace the intended image? Could it have deeper meaning? Perhaps the key to an ancient mystery that would take them into the crypts to find clues? He started to get excited by the thought.
Anthony giggled boyishly. “Thinking too much, OO7. It’s Latin. Just backwards.” And with that, he pointed to the opposite side of the small aisle, where the mirror image of the column was, complete with a very legible inscription.
Ted laughed, his cheeks flushing at the simple solution. “I was distracted.”
Grinning, Anthony raised his eyebrows. “Don’t seen any girls in bikinis or cross-dressing fascists.”
“Communists. They were cross-dressing communists, but no, none of those.”
“Was your shoe ringing?”
Ted rolled his eyes. “That, Mr Goldstein, is the wrong secret agent. And no, to all of it. I was distracted by strawberries.”
Anthony blushed, colour washing lightly over his cheeks and down his neck. “Oh.”
Ted stepped closer, dragging his knuckles over Anthony’s cheeks and smiling at the curve of lips his touched caused. He bent his head and murmured softly, “Yeah. Oh.”
Feedback will be kissed in a House of God.