erastes

made my word count.

WITHOUT ANY CHEERING CENTURIONS. *glares at missing cheerleaders*

I am still one day behind, but i WILL catch up.

Apart from the pockets of quieter, staid drinkers around the bar, David's table was the centre of attention with song and laughter, and David unmistakably the flame that drew the others to him shining in the dim and smoky atmosphere like a alchemists flame. With a pang of jealousy, Tobias felt a cold feeling of deja-vu sweep through him, for he had been through this all before, with Hal.

He had neglected Hal, and he had lost him to other men's beds; he felt something akin to physical pain when he realised that he had been doing the same to David. In his desire to get settled and secure with his patron he had been working harder and longer than he needed, always going out with his employer, even when there were others to do so. This zeal had not gone unrewarded, Lord Albury had been more than gracious and had increased his pay, as well as giving him an account at a swordsmith and a clothier, for the Lord loved his men-at-arms to be smartly dressed in a fashion that was foreign in its influence. However, looking at David, laughing and joking with a set of new friends, Tobias realised it was about time he stopped working quite so hard, and spent a little more time on what was important, before he lost it. This place, dark, dingy and filled with young wastrels and silent unfriendly men, was not the background for a man like David, with his looks he deserved to be at court, or at least in Tobias' opinion.

Ironic that there was now no court, nor likely ever to be another.