(Untitled)

[bertiewwooster]

The next morning I awoke, as per usual, to the sight of Jeeves towering over my somnolent bod, bearing in his hands a tray with tea as well as a plate of the old h. and e.  Now of course, as you know, Bertram has awoken to this sight, or any slight variant thereof, for many a year, so it ought not to have been anything particularly noteworthy.

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[jr_ganymede]

"It is a quarter til nine o'clock, sir. It is a sunny day, but with signs of nimbostratus clouds coming in from the southwest. We may have some light rain by lunch-time..."

Jeeves trails off a moment, face blank as he stands at the bedside in perfect stance. Perhaps he is deep in thought.

"If I may ask, sir, to the reason you were calling for me earlier? It was a few hours ago this morning, but when I entered you appeared to be asleep."

[bertiewwooster]

'A quarter to nine, Jeeves!' I ejaculated. 'Why the deuce are you going about waking me at a time like this? I bally-'

I was whacked about the noggin suddenly with the rest of what Jeeves had said, and stopped speaking abruptly. A few hours ago, I was asleep, and the Wooster onion busy cooking up the queerest dreams for- oh. Oh, that couldn't be it, surely? I spared a glance down at my lap, under the breakfast tray, feeling a little rush of heat as a certain portion of my anatomy rushed to assure me that that was indeed the case. I fought the blush which longed to make itself visible upon my dial and laughed airily.

'I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest, old thing. What was it the chap said about dreams?' I thought for a moment. 'Well, I don't know, but they're rum things, aren't they? Who can tell what they mean, after all.'

I'm afraid the meaning of my own nocturnal v. was all too clear, but Jeeves need not know that.

[jr_ganymede]

A slight downward quirk of the mouth. Jeeves inhales and tries again.

"If I may be so bold as to contradict you, sir... perhaps it is not my place, but I feel if you were to discuss what has been bothering you the past few weeks, it might help to alleviate your mind from the problem at hand. I assure you that whatever you divulged to me would remain in the strictest confidence." And now it's a matter of do-you-trust-me-or-don't-you. Smooth, Reginald.

[bertiewwooster]

I forked a pensive bite of h. and e. into my mouth and chewed, forestalling the moment when I would have to speak. I trust Jeeves, of course; I trust the man with my life and more, but there is no way I could ever allow him to find out about my regard for him. Surely he would turn in his notice and then where would B. Wooster be? No, I could not.

I looked up at Jeeves, putting on a bit of a wistful smile. 'It's nothing, Jeeves, honestly; I've just been feeling a bit off, what with chums and relations all stampeding to the sound of nuptial bells and the brouhaha which accompanies such events.'

I squirmed somewhat under his gaze, made uncomfortable both by my increasingly insistent physical problem and my unease in lying to the fellow. I knew that it was just the feudal spirit in him wanting to help the young master, but there was nothing I could do about it.

'I am sorry, Jeeves,' I said around another forkful of victuals. 'If I could tell you, I would.'

[bertiewwooster]

Now hmm, no, that was not at all right. Not at all according to plan. Not to say that I had really a plan as such, but it certainly didn't equate with the idea I'd had in my melon. In any event, Jeeves's words sounded dreadfully final. Indeed, if anything, he sounded the same way he did when he'd briefly left my employ over the fiasco with the banjole, and that made me decidedly nervous. There was nothing to be done about it though, at least not the way I saw it.

That tiny voice in the back of my head was piping that something about the way Jeeves had phrased those words was curious- to dwell on that which I cannot control- but I dismissed it. Like as not one of those psychologists Jeeves was so fond of could have explained it away as a manifestation of my unconscious or my subconscious or my nonconscious or something, but I fancied it was most likely nothing more than a bit of wishful thinking

[jr_ganymede]

And it's no comfort at all when you conceal things from me, Jeeves does not say. It would be incredibly rude even for an equal to say something of that nature, let alone a servant. Jeeves knows this better than anyone. It is all the more frustrating that he knows exactly what Bertie isn't saying. The physical evidence is concealed beneath the breakfast tray, but it's also clear in every stutter and octave rise in Mr. Wooster's voice.

And it is becoming something of a strain not to give in and be the first one to move. It is an alluring idea indeed, to simply lean forward and capture the man's mouth with his, to break the proverbial ice and perhaps even pin Bertram to the bed, to... no. These thoughts cannot be indulged in. The risk of giving something away is too severe. Back to the conversation.

"I am very relieved to hear it, sir. I hope you find your breakfast enjoyable... if you'll excuse me." And out he shimmers.

[bertiewwooster]

'Ah... right ho.'

But I was left speaking to the empty air, as Jeeves had already oiled out of the room. I sighed, lifting up the breakfast tray a little to peer at the unsightly bulge in my trousers. With a groan, my head met the headboard of my bed.

'You,' I silently informed my body, 'are a bally traitor. You could at least work with a chap, couldn't you?'

There was, of course, no answer, and I finished off my meal in another few moments before arising to dress in the clothes Jeeves had laid out.