Hello, everyone. One more story on gorgeous hunky gay guys.
-Elenia
Lieutenant Rafe Firehawk arose from his cot where he had been writing a letter. It was time to go check on the disposition of his men. His Captain had told him there would be an announcement tonight that he was to pass on, so he wanted to be there early.
He pulled his boots on and headed out of the officers' barracks. As he walked he reflected on how nice it was to actually be in a barracks for once, rather than camped out on the field. This time their battalion had gotten here first, and so they had priority on the barracks.
He went inside the front room of the soldiers' barracks, and found his four sergeants playing cards there. They started to get up, but he waved them back down. "At ease, boys. How're the men?"
His senior Sergeant, Sergeant Graham Warwick, spoke, smiling. "They're doing fine, sir, but hoping to get out in the town." Graham had been his best friend from childhood and just about managed to show Rafe some respect in front of the others. Rafe returned the grin.
"Captain's on his way. I get the feeling he's on the way to give them some leave, actually."
Graham nodded. "Sounds good, sir. I must say I could use some myself."
"We all could, Sergeant."
"Pardon me for saying so, but will you be taking any, Lieutenant?"
Rafe shook his head ruefully. "I'm afraid not, Sergeant. No doubt the Captain will have work for me." Just then he noticed the Captain coming in, and said, "Officer in house!"
The five men rose and turned and snapped out sharp salutes. The Captain returned it, and said, "At ease, men."
Captain Julian Tiberius was a man to be reckoned with. No one, not even Rafe, knew much about his past – he was a career soldier and most of the people in the room had joined up because of the war. But he was a powerful warrior and a brilliant tactician. He had promise in the ranks.
He was a big man, but moved with a surprising grace. Long blond hair and a jaw to crack iron completed the look, but he smiled easily and was a very good leader. He was probably ten years older than Rafe, and showed a distinct fondness for his first lieutenant – Rafe had served under him since the beginning of the war, starting out as a private.
Rafe on the other hand was dark-haired and dark-eyed, but not much smaller. He had been raised on a farm after all, or more correctly, a vineyard. The man that had been almost grown before the war had had the finishing polish put on him by the constant fighting and marching everywhere. He was twenty-five years old and no longer an innocent farm boy. Every day he realized more and more that the world was an incredibly large place.
"All right, men. Carry on." The Captain gestured to Rafe and they stepped just outside.
"I think you know why I'm here, Rafe. We're in town and the town guards can do the guarding for a night. Let the men have a night of leave. But listen – I want civilized, decent men out there, and you pass that on."
"Yes, sir."
"As for you, Rafe, I don't think I can let you go. We have some work to do. I want you to report to my room tonight, at say, 10 PM. I need to go over the new troop roster with you."
"Yes, sir. I'll be there, sir."
"Right. Carry on." And the Captain was gone.
Truth be told, Rafe didn't mind. He took his responsibilities very seriously and he knew Graham and his other sergeants would keep the boys in line.
He had hoped for a little alone time with Graham, though. Graham and he had not only been childhood friends, they had shared everything with each other – money, food, entertainment, and most of all women. And there had definitely been times where they hadn't even bothered with the women. After all, it was a farm and available willing women were sometimes in short supply. As a result they were very close indeed.
Oh well.
Lieutenant Firehawk went back inside and relayed the orders to the Sergeant. "You're going to have to make it clear they must get in on time. Anyone who doesn't will be on PT, right? And I don't want to hear of anyone bothering the townsfolk."
Graham nodded. "No problem, Ell Tee," he said, in his affectionate, insolent manner, and sauntered back in. "Oi! You men! You've got some leave but I want you to hear this from me before you go. If I hear one of you sodding idiots causing trouble out there it's me you have to deal with!"
Rafe listened to his berating them for a minute or two longer, then, grinning, returned to his own barracks. Graham had fit right into the role of sergeant and obviously loved it.
It was gone 8 PM now, so he took a long bath – ah, the pleasures of a bunkhouse – then finished his letter, before nodding to the other three lieutenants in his battalion and heading out.
He found the Captain's quarters easily enough; it wasn't far from his room but a little more segregated. He knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Rafe stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "It's me, sir."
"Ah, Rafe. Come on in. Have a seat. I'm just finishing up on this correspondence."
Rafe took a seat in front of the desk, The room was small, but surprisingly cozy. A fire was burning in the hearth. The room included a small desk and two chairs as well as the Captain's bed, still narrow but somewhat wider than his own. And of course he had it all to himself – Rafe still shared a four-man room with the others. If Rafe achieved the next promotion he would be given quarters like these, at least when they were available.
But Rafe wasn't sure if he wanted to be Captain. Look at the responsibility, after all. Under Rafe was A Company – 48 men, including himself. Under the Captain were no less than four such companies, or almost 200 men.
Captain Tiberius finished what he was doing and sealed it up. "All right, Lieutenant. On to the next thing. We're getting replacements for the men we lost at Pharos Pass. A lot of them are new, though, fresh out of training. I want you and the other lieutenants to make sure they split them up somewhat evenly, dividing the veterans amongst the new ones. Try to make sure all of your corporals are veterans."
For a while they just discussed troops, deciding whom to move where. They then went to some discussion of the veterans and who to promote to sergeants in the other companies. The other three lieutenants had already given Rafe their recommendations to take to their Captain, and the Captain after looking them over, approved them all.
Afterwards he sat back. "I'm sorry to take you off leave, Rafe. I'm sure you wanted to go, too."
