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Footman in Training	By : imdirty Category: 1 through F > Downton Abbey Views: 2654 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Downton Abbey and am not making money from this story. And I'm hoping I'm doing this disclaimer thing right :)

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Thomas awoke early to sneak Price a flask of the drink he desired, but Price didn't answer Thomas's knock on the door. Thomas peeked his head inside. Price’s bed was made and his hat was missing from the hat peg.

Thomas found both Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes in Mr. Carson’s office.

“You’re up early,” Mr. Carson observed.

“I was going to go out for a walk and noticed David was missing.”

“We were going to announce it at breakfast,” Mrs. Hughes began. “There was a call very late last night that David’s father passed.”

Thomas thought of the walk to the concert where Price prophesied his father’s death. He felt badly for making light of it so close to the actual event. After absorbing the news, he said, “I’d like to attend the funeral.”

Mr. Carson sighed. “I’m down two footmen and now I’m to be without an under butler for a night as well?”

Mrs. Hughes shot Mr. Carson a quick look. “Thomas, it’s very noble of you to want to attend. I should think that would be fine. You could bring condolences on behalf of the whole house.”

“Fine, you may go,” Mr. Carson relented. “Go that morning and come back with David the next so that we don’t have to send a car twice.”

“Thank you Mr. Carson.” Thomas turned to leave, and then turned on his heel. “I’ll need to place a telephone call later to make arrangements for the night.”

“That should be fine as well,” Mrs. Hughes said on behalf of Mr. Carson.

Later that afternoon, when the staff was busy preparing for dinner, Thomas let himself into Mr. Carson’s office and called Eric’s boarding house. To his surprise, Eric was in. Eric was overjoyed to hear Thomas’s voice, but then sorry to hear the circumstances under which he would be visiting London.

“I can’t promise you a night like the last one,” Thomas said. “Not sure I'll be in the mood after a funeral. I hope you'd still let me come.”

“I’m glad you want to see me while you’re here, even as friends. In fact, I hoped we were becoming friends over our latest exchanges. The room I rent is quite cramped, I’ll ask my friend if we can stay at her flat. She’s the one who took my picture for you, so we wouldn’t have to stay under false pretenses.”

Thomas fingered the phone cord and pictured Eric sitting on the other end of the line. “I’d like a night not living under false pretenses.”

“What time will I see you?”

“I expect by lunch time. But you know how these things go.”

“Is it wrong of me to look forward to this?”

Thomas laughed. “I’d be a little hurt if you didn’t.”

Mr. Carson opened the door, and Thomas dropped the phone cord. “Thank you for your help. See you soon.”

Eric took the hint. “See you, friend.”

Thomas hung up the receiver and nodded to Mr. Carson on his way out.

The morning of the funeral, Thomas caught the milk train and arrived three hours before the service was scheduled to start. He dropped his suitcase with the doorman at Eric’s friend’s apartment building, then spent the morning walking the neighborhoods by the church where the funeral would take place. He stopped under an awning that caught his eye. “Price & Son,” it read. Not sons, Thomas noticed. There was a posting on the door about the news of Price’s father’s passing and information regarding services. Thomas peered into the shop, putting his hand above his eyes to block the reflecting morning sun. There wasn’t much in the cases; Thomas assumed the merchandise was locked up given the circumstances. But it looked like a nice little shop on what was probably a very busy street later in the day.

There was a small diner next door, and Thomas ordered himself some eggs, bacon, and coffee. He asked the waitress about the shop, and she jumped at the chance to talk on and on about old Mr. Price.

“Do you know either of his sons?” Thomas asked, biting into a piece of bacon.

“I do, both of ‘em. We all grew up together.”

“I know the older one, we work together,” Thomas said, digging into his eggs.

“Awe, Davey. You know him? How is he? We don’t see him much these days.”

“He’s well enough.” Thomas smiled at the woman referring to him as “Davey.”

The waitress ran off quickly at the sound of a bell. She served breakfast to another table, then came back to fill Thomas’s coffee mug.

“I wondered if maybe he would move back. To help his brother, you know? It’s quite the business to run alone.”

“Is it successful?”

The waitress laughed lightly. “I should say so. Davey doesn’t speak of it? Price’s is known as one of the best. I don’t know how they got on so long with just the two of them, honestly.”

A voice from the kitchen impatiently called for the waitress. “Sorry for chattering on. When things calm down, if you remember, please tell Davey I said hello. My name’s Lucy.”

“I will, Lucy, thank you,” Thomas promised. He finished his breakfast and left a generous tip on the table.

It was a bit early but Thomas decided to head to the church. There were no ushers yet, so Thomas sat himself in the back corner. The casket was at the front, white flowers placed on top. Thomas watched the casket for a while. He remembered he had tucked another of Eric’s friend’s novel in his pocket and took it out to bide the time.

Thomas was engrossed in the story and didn’t notice the church had filled up until a funeral goer sat next to him. He cleared his throat and closed the book. The organ started up shortly after that, and then the procession into the church.

Price entered wearing a well-fitted black suit, holding the arm of a very elderly woman. Behind Price was a younger, thinner, taller version of Price, but otherwise strikingly similar in appearance. The young man held the hand of a pretty red-headed woman on one side and a small red-headed girl on the other. The woman held a baby in her arm. It never occurred to Thomas that Price’s brother was old enough to be married and with family. He wondered what that felt like to Price; his brother with a happy, traditional family, and now the family business.

The church was packed to the rafters. The reverend clearly knew Mr. Price for many years and had many stories to tell, both funny and touching. Thomas stretched his neck to see Price when he gave his eulogy, though he was easy to hear across the hushed crowd. The relationship may have been strained, but it was clearly special to him. Price’s brother has a similarly moving eulogy, but broke down at the end. Price jumped to his side and finished reading the speech on his behalf. Price patted his brother’s shoulder and whispered something in his brother’s ear that made him smile.

During the burial service, Price caught site of Thomas in the crowd. As tired and grief-stricken as he was, his face brightened and he smiled before looking back to the reverend. After the service, and receiving condolences from numerous guests, Price waived Thomas over.

“Sam, this is Thomas. He’s the under butler at Downton. Thomas, this is my brother, Sam.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Thomas told Price’s brother, shaking his hand. Thomas said the same to Price’s sister-in-law, Marie.

“Thank you very much, and thank you for coming. It’s touching that Downton could give up another man for the day for David,” Sam said.

“The whole house sends their condolences, upstairs and down.”

Price didn’t take his eyes off Thomas the entire exchange.

“You’ve come all this way. You’ll join us for lunch, won’t you? We’re hosting at our house,” Marie offered.

Thomas thought over the timeline he had provided Eric, and then looked at Price. “If you want me to join?”

“I’d like that very much.”

“Then it’s settled,” Marie said.

“I’ll walk you there once I’ve finished greeting people,” Price told Thomas.

Thomas found a bench and continued his novel until Price came to retrieve him. The walk lead from busy streets to quiet, cobblestone roads. Buildings shrunk from large storefronts and flats, to townhouses and single family homes. The two arrived at a brick cottage covered in ivy. The little red-headed girl ran around the yard, chasing a boy. Price scooped her up and kissed her cheek, then led Thomas into the house.

The house was full of activity. Friends and family milled about telling stories of Mr. Price while other friends and family set up lunch. Price and Thomas carried dishes from the kitchen to the dining room.

“You don’t even get a break from service for a funeral,” Thomas joked.

“Curse my lot in life,” Price joked back, shaking his fist at the ceiling.

Thomas laughed, but wondered if Price did curse his lot. Sam’s home was small, but lovely and well-appointed. Thomas pictured Price’s tiny dormitory room, lacking much in the way of personal belongings or other adornment. It made Thomas think of his own sister’s home and her family. He never visited there, his jealousy being too much to bare.

“Stop helping and eat,” Marie told Price. “You, too,” she said to Thomas, who was fetching a bowl of egg salad from the kitchen.

The two men joined the line for food and were hurried to the front by the guests. They filled their plates and Price led Thomas to the backyard. Tables and chairs were set up, and Price selected one furthest from the house.

“Do you miss it here?” Thomas asked over his sandwich.

“This house? Or you mean London?”

“I meant London, why? Did you live here?”

Price looked at the house. “I grew up here, it’s my parents’ home. My father asked Sam to stay when he was married. Marie always helped with everything around the house, anyway, so it was for the best.”

“How old is your brother?”

“Twenty-four, why?”

“I don’t know. I pictured someone younger, I suppose. And unmarried.”

Price chewed his sandwich and nodded at guests as they came into the backyard.

“I got in early so I walked around the area. Ate breakfast at the diner next to your father’s shop.”

“I haven’t been there in ages.”

“I heard. By the way, Lucy says, ‘Hi, Davey’.”

Price laughed while chewing and covered his mouth. “Oh god, don’t call me that. I only ever forgave my father for calling me that, I don’t need to hear it again now that he’s gone.”

Thomas smiled, “No promises.”

Marie found Price and Thomas in the backyard and joined them with her lunch. “Thomas, do you have somewhere to stay the night? We could arrange something if you haven’t.”

“Oh, thank you, but I’m staying with a friend.”

Price’s face fell and he looked away from the conversation.

“*She* lives not far from here,” Thomas added for Price’s benefit.

“That’s nice. Old friends?”

“We go way back.”

Price gave Thomas a quick look and decided to accept the story.

“Well if your plans change, or you’re ever in town, you’re welcome here. Any friend of David’s, as they say.”

They could hear the baby crying in the house, and Marie excused herself to go look after him.

“So everyone in your family is just a nice, warm, caring, friendly person?”

Price shrugged. “Is everyone in your family a cold, unfeeling jackass?”

Thomas kicked Price’s foot under the table. “I came all the way here and that’s the thanks I get?”

Price stacked his empty plate on Thomas’s and rose from the table. “I really am touched you came. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you in the churchyard.”

Thomas leaned back. “Anything for you, Davey.”

“Can’t let a compliment be without deflecting it, can you?”

“I don’t have much practice with compliments, I’m afraid,” Thomas said, rising himself, taking the plates from Price.

…..

Thomas took a taxi back to Eric's friend's flat. It was late afternoon, but didn’t feel badly for his late arrival. The building was modern and there were buttons next to the name of each resident. Thomas pressed the button for “K. Christian.” The door remained locked. He tried again, and finally looked up to find Eric behind the glass.

“Patience, patience. I wanted to greet you in person.”

Thomas shook Eric’s outstretched hand. “I preferred how you greeted me last time, but this will do for today,” Thomas said.

Eric lead Thomas up three flights of stairs to his friend’s flat.

“She’ll be back in time for us to go out tonight,” Eric told Thomas.

“We’re going out?”

Eric poured Thomas a glass of water and put a kettle on for tea. “I know, you’re probably emotionally spent. We don’t have to stay out late, but there’s somewhere I want to take you.”

“It’s not a photography studio, is it?”

Eric laughed. “No, but if Kait wants to take your picture tonight, do let her. Nothing racy, I promise.” Eric motioned for Thomas to sit at the kitchen table. “Whose funeral were you attending, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Thomas placed his hat on the table and took the water glass from Eric. “A friend’s father.”

“How is your friend holding up?”

“Well, I suppose. But he seems to take everything in stride.”

“That’s an honorable quality,” Eric said.

“His sister-in-law asked me to stay with them for the night.”

“Do you want to?” Eric asked. “I wouldn’t be offended.”

Thomas placed the water glass on the table and twisted it in his fingers. “Oh no, no. I want to see you. I just thought it was a nice gesture.”

“What’s your friend’s name?”

Thomas thought about how he’d hidden any mention of Eric from Price. “It’s David.”

“Well, my condolences to David. He must be a special chap if you’d come up here for him.”

Thomas looked up from the glass.

“I’ve been begging you to come.”

Thomas took a sip of water and placed the glass back down. “Well if your father dies, I’m happy to come up.”

“Please don’t be defensive, I didn’t mean that how it sounded. But I know that look because I’ve seen it in other men. David’s more than a friend, isn’t he?”

Thomas met Eric’s eyes. He didn't appear accusatory or upset. “We’re just friends,” Thomas said.

“Alright, then let me phrase it another way-”

The kettle began squealing. Eric rescued it from the stove and poured the water into a teapot. He brought the pot and cups to the table.

“Thomas, do you want David as more than a friend?”

“Why are we talking about this?”

“Well that’s just my point. You came in the door with a look on your face that matches what I heard in your voice on the telephone, and read in your letters as of late. I know I pursued you out of lust, and I’d devour you right now if you’d let me, but I genuinely like you. I want what you want. If that’s not me, you can just tell me.”

Thomas hadn’t considered any of what Eric was asking. “I could never take up with another man in the house. What does it matter anyway, I’m here with you now, aren’t I?

Eric slid his foot next to Thomas’s. “You’re right, Thomas. You’re here now. I don’t want to ruin our few hours together. We’ll have tea, and then get ready and go out tonight. We can talk about the rest another day.”

Thomas wanted to protest, and say there was no “the rest” to discuss, but he thought of his most recent fantasies and realized he hadn’t retrieved Eric’s picture from his suitcase as frequently.

Eric changed the subject and engaged Thomas about the novels he had sent and the most recent story he published. He slowly came around to the subject of Price only to ask how the services were, and to learn a little more about the man. Thomas opened up just a little, enough for Eric to see the look come over Thomas’s face when he described what Price was like.

“So where are we going this evening?” Thomas asked when their tea was finished.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

The doorknob turned and Kait let herself into her flat. She was younger than the two men, with a light brown bob hairstyle and an upturned nose speckled with freckles. She was dressed simply but fashionably, in light summer colors and a pale blue hat.

“You must be the famous Thomas!” she exclaimed, dropping her bag and hat onto the sofa and running to him with her hand outstretched. Thomas stood and shook Kait’s hand. She stared up at him, looking back and forth between his eyes. “Eric wasn’t kidding. You’re a handsome bugger, aren’t you?”

Thomas laughed and looked away from her.

“Thomas, this is Kait. Did I mention she’s not particularly shy?”

Kait helped herself to a cup of tea from the table and joined the two men.

“I figured she might not be, considering the subject matter she photographs.”

Kait met Thomas’s eyes as she stirred sugar into her tea. They both smiled.

“Eric refuses to tell me where we’re going. Will you have some mercy and give me a clue?”

“A clue?” Kait said coyly. “Hmm. Well, we’re going somewhere-”

“No clues. You’ll see when we get there.”

“Are we getting dinner first?” Kait asked Eric, though she still stared at Thomas.

“I’d love a bite to eat,” Eric said. “You, Thomas?”

“Sure, why not. If we’re having a night on the town, let’s have a night.”

Kait cocked her head to one side, then the other. “Stay right there,” she told Thomas.

“Here she goes,” Eric said.

Kait ran to her bedroom and returned with a small camera. She extended the bellows.

“There, just like that.”

“What, me?” Thomas asked, putting his forearm in front of his face.

“No! I said don’t move!” Kait batted Thomas’s arm away and he looked over at Eric and laughed. Kait’s camera made a cranking noise. “Actually that was even better than what I was going to get. So thank you for being disobedient.” Kait put her camera down carefully. “On second thought, I don’t want to butt into your evening. You go out.”

“It’d be fine if you joined us,” Thomas assured her. He still felt awkward from his conversation with Eric and welcomed the diversion.

Eric nodded. “We should get ready then. I don’t want to waste a moment of the time I get with Thomas.”

The trio dressed and walked to what Eric described as his favorite Mediterranean restaurant. Thomas didn’t offer an opinion because it would have forced him to admit to never eating at a Mediterranean restaurant before. He was quiet as well during the meal, instead letting Eric and Kait lob conversation back and forth over their plates of unfamiliar food.

After the meal, the three took a taxi, but when they got out, Eric explained they were still blocks from where they were going. Thomas followed Eric and Kait through small streets and alleys until they came to a door with a small light above it and a man in front. He man recognized both Eric and Kait and waved all three inside.

Thomas could hear muffled music from outside. The lobby was dark, but as they moved through a hallway and past a curtain, everything came to life. The music was upbeat, with musicians playing all different kinds of brass, string, and percussion instruments. The crowd in front of the stage danced wildly while people looked on talking, laughing, and drinking. As Thomas took a closer look around the room, he noticed the couples weren’t only paired off as man and woman, but man and man, woman and woman. He looked up at Eric, who was smiling down at him.

“Kait went to get us drinks. Let’s find a table.”

Eric grabbed Thomas’s hand and guided him through the crowd. They brushed up against people in many states of dress; collars and ties undone, short fringe dresses, rolled shirtsleeves. Thomas craned his neck as they walked by one man kissing the hand of another man, then two women holding hands, and then a man with his hand on the waist of another. They climbed up a metal staircase to a balcony. Eric plopped Thomas into a chair facing the room below.

Eric laughed and stroked Thomas’s face with the palm of his hand. “God you look so cute right now.”

Thomas’s mouth was agape. “Where are we?”

“Heaven?” Eric laughed.

“Is a place like this legal?”

“What a downer! And obviously, no. That’s why there’s a man out front, and lots of dark space to get through before you get in. With warning, it’s easy enough to pretend this is an average club.”

Thomas leaned on the banister overlooking the balcony.

“I told you there are plenty of people like us.”

Kait handed Thomas a glass of whiskey over his shoulder. “He in shock?” she asked Eric.

“That I am,” Thomas answered. “How often do you come here?”

“Weekly, when we’re both in town.”

“And it’s like this all the time?”

“All the time,” Kait and Eric said in unison.

“I’m going off on my own. I’ll see you back at the flat,” Kait said, patting their shoulders as she went.

Eric placed his hand back on Thomas’s face. Thomas turned and looked at him, his eyes a bit watery. “I won’t ask for more,” Eric began, “but will you at least kiss me? Just once?”

Thomas put both hands on the side’s of Eric’s face. He kissed Eric breathlessly, eagerly, letting the moment take him like the music had taken Price just a few nights before. Price’s face flashed across the back of Thomas’s eyelids and he pulled away from Eric.

Eric kissed Thomas’s cheek and turned his head back to the club. “Whether you were thinking of me or someone else, you just kissed a man in public. How did it feel?”

“It felt bloody fantastic,” Thomas said loudly over the music. He downed his drink in one gulp.

Eric slid his hand from Thomas’s face to his thigh. “Will you dance with me?”

Thomas laughed and wiped his eye. “Who leads?”

“You do.”

The two wound their way back down the stairs. Eric grabbed Thomas’s hand and walked backward onto the dancefloor, pushing between bodies, keeping Thomas’s gaze as they went. As if on cue, the music slowed and Thomas held Eric, following steps he’d followed hundreds of times before, but never from his heart. He pressed his forehead against Eric’s, still unable to stop intermittently laughing or wiping a tear.

“How do you feel?” Eric asked, his lips by Thomas’s ear.

Thomas whispered back, “Like I’m home.”

…

Eric was true to his word and didn’t press Thomas for more than a kiss all evening. Thomas awoke up on Kait’s sofa the next morning to Kait shaking his shoulder. “You have an early train. Get up, Thomas.”

Thomas groaned and creaked to his feet, letting both Kait and Eric help him put himself together.

“We’ll walk you to the station. Don’t want you walking all groggy into traffic,” Kait said. She sat Thomas in front of a plate of toast and eggs and made sure he ate them before they headed off.

“Still drunk or just tired?” Eric asked Thomas as they walked the quiet early morning streets.

“A little of both,” Thomas said, hitting his suitcase against his shin as they walked.

“I take it you enjoyed yourself?” Kait asked.

“Never enjoyed myself more,” Thomas answered, his lips creeping into a smile as he replayed the night before.

By the time they all reached the train platform, the walk had woken Thomas fully. Kait grabbed Thomas’s shoulders and kissed his cheek. Eric shook Thomas’s hand, then pulled him in for a quick hug.

“I’m taking more pictures next time,” Kait warned Thomas. She looked from Thomas to Eric and decided to give them a moment to say goodbye without her.

Thomas put his suitcase down and looked up at Eric. “Thank you for last night.”

“No, thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you have the experience.”

“I wish I could stay. I feel a little nauseous having to go back, though that could also be the whisky.”

“You don’t have to be there forever. There are so many opportunities in London.”

“Let’s not leave on that note. I don’t have any opportunities, but I had last night and it won’t be my last one like it. That’s good enough.”

“I disagree, but we can argue about that in writing,” Eric said. The train whistled and Eric shrugged. “Guess it’s goodbye for now.”

“See you in writing, then” Thomas said, picking his suitcase up again. He watched Eric join Kait and then raised his hand as they waved goodbye. He turned to the train to see Price across the platform, watching him. Price picked up his own suitcase and walked to Thomas. They boarded together, stowing their bags, finding seats in the back of a train car together.

“I’ve had such a long few days,” Price said once they were seated. “Please, Thomas. Please just tell me if he was ‘Erin’.”

Thomas looked out the window across Price as the train pulled out of the station. “He was. And do you know what he was preoccupied with last night?”

Price looked out the window, too, unable to look at Thomas.

“He spent the whole night wondering what was so special about this ‘David’ character.”

Price turned from the window and looked at Thomas. “You mean it?”

“He thinks I have feelings for you.”

Price’s eyebrows raised. “Is he right?”

Thomas held his gloved hand to Price, palm down.

“Take it off.”

Price studied Thomas’s face for a moment, then grabbed the wrist of Thomas’s glove, pulling it over Thomas’s fingers. He looked around the train car, and finding no eyes on him, grabbed Thomas’s hand and kissed the back of it. Thomas held Price’s fingers briefly, then released them and put his glove back on.

“It doesn’t repulse you?”

“Nothing about you ever could. I like every part of you,” Price whispered.

Thomas patted Price’s leg and then leaned his head back against the seat. The motion of the train car began lulling him to sleep. “Wake me when we get there,” he requested of Price. When there was no response, he opened one eye and saw Price already sleeping, a small smile on his lips.
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Footman in Training