complaininginthedark:

(For @ibonekoen who prompted~)

When he had first met Miranda it had been a cool summer evening. The light was low, dusk in full swing, and she was dancing with one of the young soldiers attending the ball that evening. A pretty young man with fair hair and a cheeky smile. She laughed with the soldier, and Thomas thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And, he thought, she was somewhat aware of her beauty; not that she was vain or conceited, but she knew that a turn of her head or a certain flash of a smile would make a man pay attention to her.

Thomas may have preferred to spend the night with her dancing partner, but he wasn’t immune to the charms of a beautiful woman.

He spoke to her as the evening wound down and learned her name, where her family was from, what she thought of the evening. She was unimpressed with his flattery which wasn’t a surprise. So he ceased and spoke to her as he would any other friend and she responded in kind. Love followed quickly.

Years later, in bed beside her, he thinks about the new person entering his life.

His first thoughts upon meeting James had been “please God let this one be for me”. The man was beautiful; strong jaw, clear eyes that focused on his so strongly he felt a shiver, straight back and broad shoulders… Thomas had to look him up and down several times to take in the whole breadth of him. He heard the humour in the man’s voice as he spoke, tried to reconcile this witty and wilful man with the title of Lieutenant and wondered just how hard it had been for him to rise to that station.

James teased him on that first meeting and Thomas was delighted. He had talked nonstop about James when he returned home, and Miranda saw his own feelings before he truly recognised them. Then she had teased him too.

It seemed Thomas had a type.