I am not lonely [Mystrade]

CHAPTER 87 : The rest of my life

"Darling ..." Mycroft whispered in his fast asleep boyfriend's ear.
"Hmm ..." the other man grunted, rolling on the other side and going back to sleep.
"Gregory ..." the auburn murmured again, running his thin and gentle fingers on the detective's back.
"Leave me alone ..." moaned hoarsely the policeman, sinking his head under the duvet to avoid being annoyed more.
"Vous avez un regard singulier et charmant ; / Comme la lune au fond du lac qui la reflète, / Votre prunelle, où brille une humide paillette, / Au coin de vos doux yeux roule languissamment." softly declamed the official, slipping his own head under the duvet to reach his lover's ear. "Ils semblent avoir pris ses feux au diamant ; / Ils sont de plus belle eau qu'une perle parfaite, /Et vos grands cils émus, de leur aile inquiète, / Ne voilent qu'à demi leur vif rayonnement. / Mille petits amours, à leur miroir de flamme, / Se viennent regarder et s'y trouvent plus beaux, / Et les désirs y vont rallumer leurs flambeaux. / Ils sont si transparents, qu'ils laissent voir votre âme, / Comme une fleur céleste au calice idéal / Que l'on apercevrait à travers un cristal."
"Alright ... What do you want ?" finally sighed the yarder, a little grin lightening his grumpy face.
"Happy birthday love." the elder Holmes wished him, placing a tender kiss on his lips.
"As much as I love you and I thank you for the wish, if you've awoken me just for that I swear to god I'll kill you." chuckled the inspector before kissing him back.
"Come on, I have something to show you." winked his partner.
"Oh, you want me to go out of bed ? Dreamer you." retorted the older man, shaking his head.
"Actually I even want you to dress up." added the auburn with a boyish smile.
"I'm  really going to kill you one day." grunted Greg before stepping out of  bed and making his way to the dressing room. "Any request on my outfit  ?"
"I may have chose one for you, it's on the back of the door." replied Mycroft, letting out a little laugh.
"You  are so damn lucky I love you." the detective sighed once more before  buttoning up the pale blue shirt his husband had picked for him.
"I wasn't going to let you were an old Arsenal jersey on this special occasion, that would have been criminal, wouldn't it ?" retorted the auburn, from the nearby room.
"That's my birthday, it's supposed to be my day. I should at least be allowed to dress up as I want, don't you think ?" chuckled the yarder.
"And I would have to let you ruin your sexiness just because it's your birthday ? No way." the elder Holmes laughed back.
"My what ?" wondered the policeman, surprised but still delighted by the avowal his partner had just made.
"You heard me well enough." the official refused to repeat. "You know I can't resist your alluring and entrancing body ..."
"Can you at least tell me why I have to dress up exactly ?" requested the DI, pulling his socks up.
"If I tell you it won't be a surprise anymore, would it ?" refused Mycroft as his lover was stepping beck into the room.
"Mmm ... I hate you so, so much ..." chugged the latter pressing himself against the auburn's body and wrapping his arms around his waist, his head on the other man's shoulder.
"You smell like Aldy's shampoo." the official chuckled lightly, the tip of his nose brushing through his boyfriend's hair.
"I could stay like this for the rest of my life." Greg soughed, softly running his lips against the elder Holmes' neck's skin.
"Come  on, I'm sure they are already waiting for us." finally muttered Mycroft  after a couple more minutes of standing still one against the other.
"Who ?" questioned the policeman, following the other man down stairs.
"You'll see, now shush." winked the official with a cheeky smile.

If  anyone had said to Greg that the Belgian coast in November would be  that breathtaking, he would never had believed it, but sat on the sand, nestled between his partner's legs with the auburn's arms wrapped around his chest, watching the sunset over the sea, he was literally thinking that this was topping anything he had seen in his life, Venice and India included.
The weather was clear and cold but the official had had them two cups  of warm tea and a blanket, now spread across the policeman's legs and,  having the entire beach just for both of them, they were really feeling  like they were out of this world, as cheesy as it could seem. They were staying in the Thermae Palace Hotel right behind them on the seafront, Mycroft having booked the best suite of the place, a sublime  art-deco room with the best view possible on the Ostend beach and sea  but after spending the afternoon cuddling inside the warm and  comfortable suite, they had decided to come down on the sand to enjoy  the last rays of sunshine.
They had barely said a word since they had  left London but the embrace they were sharing was feeling up for the  silence like it was every time they were feeling that the moment was too precious to be interrupted  with trivial talking. It's only once the sun had completely disappeared  in the water and the stars were clearly visible in the clear Belgian  sky that the elder Holmes shifted even so slightly so he could look at  his husband's face.
"Fancy something to eat ?" he asked in mid voice, a soft grin on his face.
"Mmm ... Aren't we in Belgium ? Waffles ?" replied the yarder, slowly getting up.
"That  sounds good to me." accepted the auburn, gathering the blanket and the  tea cups before following his partner along the beach back on the  pavement.
They dropped by the hotel reception to get rid of the blanket before making their way down to the centre of Ostend,  their hands closely interwound. The entire place was feeling completely  out of time with it's 1930s looking building and old lampposts along  the deserted embankment. It was giving them both the exquisite feeling  of being caught up in a time loop or on a film set and when they entered  the more busy  streets of the city centre, Greg nearly regretted not having stayed on  the sand. The city was beautiful and the lightening was giving it a sort  of Luna Park spirit but the other people around them seemed to have disturbed slightly the special moment they were living.
The detective appreciated the walk even so, laughing when Mycroft pointed out to him a pile of what looks like the most hideous  postcards he ever had the opportunity to have a look to in his entire  life. They soon arrived at what had been described by the front desk  receptionist of the hotel as the best café in town and took a seat  inside the art-deco place, settling themselves side by side on a  comfortable bench.
They both ordered a traditional waffle covered in melted chocolate and Chantilly and a home-made cappuccino  and while they were waiting for their order to be prepared the official  decided to entertain his lover by telling him the story of Daughters of  Darkness, an old Belgian horror film that had been shot mostly at the  hotel where they were staying.
"So it's basically the story of a  recently married couple who are going on honeymoon and check into the  hotel, waiting for a ferry to cross to England." he started, apparently  very enthusiast about the film. "They then encounter a Hungarian  countess and her secretary, the only two other customers in the hotel  who quickly become obsess with them and it turns out that it's not only  for her love of wedding but because she is a vampire !".
He was now  looking as excited as a little boy in front of a chocolate ice cream at  the idea of the sadism and murders that were to come when Gregory was  looking rather puzzled.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you love, but I'm not  sure that telling me about atrocious murders, even fictional, that are  supposed to have happened in the very same hotel we are actually  supposed to be staying at is the wisest idea ..." he smiled sadly, conscious  that it wasn't really nice to cute off his boyfriend in the middle of  an explanation that seems to fill him with pure joy and passion.
"You are right, that's probably not good." nodded the auburn, unable to hide a glimpse of disappointment.
"But  actually I'd love to see it when we will be back at home." proposed the  detective. "It's been years since last time I have seen a horror film and last time I did I may have ended up hiding in the bathroom for the entire night with a torch lamp."
"I'll be there to protect you against the vicious lesbian vampire this time." chuckled his boyfriend as they were delivered their waffles.
"I hope so." smiled the yarder, dipping his finger in the Chantilly and applying it on the tip of his lover's nose.

Greg's  head was resting on the elder Holmes' bare chest, the slow and regular  pulse of his heart and his breathing rocking gently the inspector. It  was three in the morning but he wasn't feeling asleep and was looking by  the opened curtains at the coming and going of the sea on the nearby beach, clearly visible under the full moon. He made a point to himself that everytime  he thought he had seen the best of Mycroft and had got the best day of  his life, the auburn always find a way of surprising him and once more  he aknowledged how much of a great partner he was and thought that he  probably had made the best choice of his life when he had kissed back  the younger man on his doorstep, more than three years ago now. The  elder Holmes moaned in his sleep and suddenly turned on his side,  wrapping his arms around his lover's body, resting his chin on the top  of the other man's head.
"You can't sleep ?" he asked in a whisper.
"I was wondering how did you knew of such a beautiful place." replied the inspector, his eyes still fixed on the movements of the sea.
"I used to come there every summer for a few days from the age of 22 to the time I started dating you. I would sat on the balcony with a book and spend my day reading and deducing the people going by on the promenade." explained the auburn.
"You  shouldn't have stopped for me." remarked the policeman, seizing one of  his husband's hand and placing a gentle kiss on it. "It's such a magnificent and relaxing place."
"We  could come back in the spring with Alden if you want." suggested  Mycroft, shifting his body a little more so he would be fully in contact  with the DI.
"I'm sure he would love it." Gregory nodded quietly.
"Now come here, I have some lips I desperately need to kiss." whispered the auburn.