Fic - Good Company

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

My first dialj challenge fic! 

Bodie lowered himself into Sir William Rawley’s plush leather armchair with a loud, exaggerated sigh.  He looked around at the luxurious drawing room with practised indifference, taking note of the pricey antique furniture and the fusty old paintings of men dressed in military regalia perched smugly on fat, brown horses.  Milling about the enormous chamber were seven or eight of Sir William’s most special guests – all of them male, all middle aged, all slightly overweight and all bald.

 

Bodie rubbed his hand over his eyes.  What a complete bunch of arseholes.

 

He stretched his legs out in front of him, slouching down further in the comfortable chair.  His shoes were caked in a thin layer of dried mud, he noticed with some satisfaction.  He picked at his left shoe, crumbling the mud carelessly onto the burgundy carpet.  To his delight, a moment later he heard a nasal tutting sound coming from the centre of the room and then the low, disgusted whispering of two of the mouldy old farts in the corner who had witnessed his vulgarity.

 

He grinned to himself and decided to wipe at his nose with his shirt sleeve for good measure. 

 

The polite clinking of brandy glasses by the door drew his attention to Cowley, who was standing with a drink in one hand and a fat, round cigar clasped in the other.  Sir William Rawley genially puffed the thick smoke from his own cigar into Cowley’s face as he chuntered away at him, his red face beaming with satisfied delight.  Bodie picked at his nose again.  Sir William certainly had a lot to be happy about.  Thanks to CI5, he still had a son and he still owned half of Berkshire.  The aristocracy lived to fight another day. 

 

Bodie rose from his chair and sauntered around the room, stopping at a neat glass bookcase standing against the far wall.  He peered at the manuscripts on offer, all bound in different shades of green and red leather and with shiny gold typeface glittering on their spines.  He pressed his nose closer to the glass, straining to read the titles.  The Collected Sermons of The Very Reverend Charles Cooper.  In ten volumes.   Bodie shuddered.  A discourse upon the Pelagian controversy; The Compleat Writings of St Augustine of Hippo…

 

The Compleat Writings of St Augustine of Hippo?  Bodie sighed quietly to himself.  Really, what a bunch of complete and utter arseholes.

 

He spun round quickly when he saw Sir William and Cowley approaching him through the reflection in the glass bookcase. 

 

“Everything ok, Sir?”

 

“Everything’s just fine, thank you Bodie.  Young Edward will be quite safe here, and Sir William is very grateful to you for your assistance.” 

 

Bodie’s fingers were grasped firmly in a crushing handshake.  “Yes, thank you, thank you, son.”  Sir William pumped Bodie’s hand up and down enthusiastically.  “You don’t know what it means to me, you really don’t.  Only son, and all that.  We’ve always been rather protective of him, worried about him dreadfully after he moved to London.  But a kidnapping plot...”  Sir William shuddered.  “Terrible, just terrible.”  He relinquished Bodie’s hand in order to take a long puff of his cigar.  His hands were shaking as he inhaled greedily.  “You will find the last of those swines, won’t you?  The one that’s gone to ground?  I won’t be able to sleep soundly until they’re all accounted for.”

 

Bodie took the empty brandy glass from Sir William’s trembling hand.  “We’ll find him.  My partner’s on to him right now.  There aren’t that many places he can hide.”  He waggled the glass in front of Sir William.  “Can I get you another one?” 

 

Sir William shook his head.  “You help yourself, though, son.  Please, help yourself.” 

 

Bodie made his way to the drinks cabinet with relief.  A fierce, bald headed man with a moustache straight out of the 1890’s glared at him as he paced across the room.  Bodie smiled back at him cheerfully, and added a quick wink just for the hell of it.  He poured himself a healthy glass of brandy and gulped it down, eyeing up a large tray of food that had appeared on a side table.  God, he was starving.

 

He negotiated his way across the room to the food, which was sitting beautifully on the polished silver tray.  Each tiny item was neatly wrapped and daintily presented, with absolutely no indication of what any of it was.  A bundle of items made up of pinkish looking paste occupied one corner of the tray, and on the other far end was a selection of objects that were yellow and grey in colour, with dry green leaves sticking out of them.  His stomach rumbled loudly. 

 

He reached out tentatively for the yellow and grey stuff and gave it a sniff.  He was none the wiser as to what it was.  He raised the item to his mouth just as an ancient looking butler hobbled into view in front of him. 

 

“Mr Bodie?”  The man’s voice almost creaked with old age.  Bodie nodded his head and took a step forward, fully alert and ready to catch the old man in his arms if he suddenly keeled over in front of him.  “Yeah, that’s me.” 

 

“I have a telephone message for you from someone named Raymond Doyle.”  The butler sniffed slightly at the mention of Doyle’s name, and Bodie grinned to himself.  With a bit of luck, Doyle had cranked up the Brummy accent and managed to get in a few swear words when leaving his message. 

 

“Mr Doyle said that he had a ‘fresh lead’ and that he was going to be at Fat Harry’s Café at about one o’ clock this afternoon.  He suggested that you might like to meet him there.”

 

Bodie clapped his hands together and gave a wide, happy smile.  Fat Harry’s Caff.  Cottage pie, bangers and mash.  Full English breakfast, sausage and chips…

 

He grinned down at the tiny butler hunched in front of him.  “Thank you, Jeeves.  Tell Baines to bring the horses round and I’ll be orf.”

 

The butler looked up at him blankly.  Bodie sighed and stuffed the yellow and grey food into his mouth.  Fish?  Egg?  He chewed uncertainly.

 

Chicken? 

 

He swallowed it down and made his way quickly out of the drawing room. 

 

 

*****************

 

 

The sky was grey and thunderous as Bodie swung open the door to Fat Harry’s Café.  He took a moment to stand in the doorway and breathe in the fat and grease that wafted through the murky air.  At the grubby plastic tables, customers drank dark brown tea out of chipped mugs and tucked into great piles of chips, sausages and burgers that were piled up on their plates. 

 

Behind the counter stood Skinny Doris, Fat Harry’s oldest waitress, dishing out a couple of runny fried eggs onto a plate, careful to keep the ash from the cigarette dangling from her mouth from falling into the food.  Bodie smiled to himself.  Bloody lovely.

 

A quick glance up and down the stalls told him that Doyle wasn’t there yet.  Bodie perched on one of the stools at the counter and checked the time on the cracked clock on the wall.  Half past One.  Still plenty of time for him to turn up and for Bodie to get some proper food in his stomach.

 

He picked up a copy of the tea stained piece of laminated card that served as Fat Harry’s menu and licked his lips appreciatively. 

 

“Cup of tea when you’re ready, please Doris.”  His stomach rumbled once more as he read through the contents of Wednesday’s specials, scribbled on the blackboard behind the counter.  Skinny Doris looked up from the eggs, beans and chips she was now preparing and wiped her hands on the tea towel hanging from her pocket.  “Here you go, love.”  She picked up a mug from near the sink and gave it a quick wipe with the same tea towel before dropping a teabag into it and filling it with hot water.  She placed a half full bottle of milk and a crusty sugar bowl on the counter and returned to the bacon she had sizzling in a pan. 

 

Bodie slurped the tea down noisily and gazed longingly at the greasy fry up as Doris scurried past him with a plate full of food.  She returned to the counter and plucked a pencil from behind her ear.  “Yes love?”

 

“Double egg, bacon and chips, please.”  He double checked the menu.  “With sausages.  And beans.” 

 

Doris lit up another cigarette and set about cracking the eggs into the pan. 

 

Bodie swivelled around in the stool and watched the door, waiting for Doyle to arrive while Doris prepared his food.  The clock ticked slowly towards a quarter to two with still no sign of him.  

 

The smell of crisp, fried bacon brought his attention back to the counter top, where a pile of hot food was deposited in front of him along with a mis-matched knife and fork.  He picked them up eagerly and cut into the food, lifting a dripping piece of fried egg to his mouth.

 

“Oi, Bodie.”  Fat Harry appeared at the doorway, swinging his portly frame around the other side of the counter.  “Your mate was in here earlier.  The poncey one with the stupid hair.” 

 

Bodie snorted into his cup of tea.  “Yeah?  I was just waiting for him.”  He cut himself a healthy slice of sausage and dipped it in the egg yolk.

 

“He said you’d be round.  Said to tell you, he thinks they’re ‘closing in on him’, whatever the hell that means.  Wants you to call him on the radio.”  Fat Harry leaned over the counter and helped himself to a chip.  “He said it was urgent.  Said you need to get hold of him straight away.”

 

Bodie groaned and put down his knife and fork.  “Urgent, eh?”  Fat Harry nodded, and pulled Bodie’s plate towards him.  Bodie looked at the retreating food mournfully and pulled out his wallet, dropping a couple of pound notes on the counter top while Harry tucked in greedily.  “Oh, there was something else, as well.”  Harry’s voice was muffled by a mouthful of bacon.  “He said you’d pay for the pasty and chips he had for lunch.” 

 

Bodie narrowed his eyes silently and dropped another quid on the counter, opening the door and stepping out into the drizzle.  Bloody Doyle. 

 

 

*************************

 

The grey, rumbling sky had erupted into a full downpour by the time Bodie made his way down the back alleyway behind Finson Street.  According to base, the last would-be kidnapper had gone to ground and was holed up in a shit hole of a hovel opposite Number 4, which had subsequently been appropriated by CI5.  Another day, another stakeout. 

 

Bodie pulled up his collar as the rain pounded down, ducking his head down against the deluge.  Bloody Doyle, he was probably already at the stakeout, enjoying a nice cup of tea and flicking through The Sun.  Bodie winced as a large drop of rain trickled down the back of his neck.  If he got pneumonia, then Sir William sodding Rawley would be paying for his private healthcare. 

 

The sky was almost black with rain clouds as Bodie approached the back gate to Number 4 as quietly as he could, his shoes squelching wetly and icy rain dripping from the tip of his nose.  All in all, he couldn’t see how this day could possibly get any worse.

 

He was about to reach out and draw back the catch on the gate when he heard a muffled shout, and looked up to see a tall figure running towards him out of the slanting rain.  He was carrying something in his hand, a glint of metal that gleamed in the rain, and he was running at full pelt down the alley right towards Bodie. 

 

Blinking the raindrops out of his eyes, Bodie tucked himself in against the wall, listening for the wet splash of the man’s footsteps as he hurtled towards him.  As the steps grew louder, Bodie took a deep breath and braced himself.  He listened carefully to the frantic steps, launching himself away from the wall and slamming his fist firmly into the man’s face as he ran past, his forward momentum knocking them both to the ground.  Bodie landed with a splash.

 

Well, just - bollocks.

 

A pair of strong arms lifted him from the muddy puddle.  “Hey, good one, Bodie.  You got him, he’s out cold.”  McCabe prodded the unconscious man with his foot.  “Thank god for that.  Stakeout’s over, we all get to go home.  Sir William will be happy.”  He nudged Bodie in the ribs.  “You never know, you might get a reward.”

 

Bodie flexed his bruised knuckles tentatively and wiped the rain from his face.  “Will someone please tell me where the bloody hell Doyle is?”…

 

 

*************

 

“You would not believe the day I’ve had.  Honestly, I think Cowley gets some kind of kick out of torturing us sometimes.  And I don’t know where you thought you were all day, it would have been useful to have you around some of the time, you know.”  Doyle’s voice floated through from the kitchen as Bodie lay sprawled on the sofa, sipping at a beer.  “I mean, there I was traipsing all over bloody London looking for that little toe-rag, one duff lead after another, while you were living it up with Sir William and enjoying his best brandy.” 

 

Doyle poked his head round the door.  “Oi, are you even listening to me, cloth-head?” 

 

Bodie closed his eyes and snuggled down into the soft cushions.  “I’m listening.  You had a bad day.”

 

Doyle sniffed and retreated back into the kitchen.  “Bad day doesn’t even cover it, mate.  And don’t even get me started on the paperwork.  Do you know how many forms you have to fill in for…”

 

Bodie smiled happily to himself and let the familiar sound of Doyle’s voice drift over him as he was lulled into a light doze, the beer still held loosely on his stomach.  If he could only catch a few, short minutes of much needed rest.

 

He was woken up when Doyle shoved his head to one side to allow room for him on the sofa, settling himself down on one end and then resting Bodie’s head on his lap.

 

“… know Mac’s alright, but he can still be a right tosser sometimes, honestly I swear I was going to throttle him with my bare hands, and I’d only been in the room with him for half an hour.”  He plucked the can of beer from Bodie’s hand and took a sip.  “Ugh, this beer’s warm.”  There was a disgusted choking sound from somewhere above Bodie’s head.  Bodie grinned, but didn’t open his eyes. 

 

Doyle set the can of beer down on the floor, still sputtering in protest at the offending drink.  “Bloody typical, after the day I’ve had.”  His hand wandered idly through Bodie’s hair, playing with the strands between his finger and thumb.  Bodie stretched out along the sofa and turned his head so that Doyle’s fingers could make their way down towards the nape of his neck. 

 

There was a short, sharp tug on his ear and Doyle’s fingers stopped their caress. 

 

“… said, where were you all day, anyway.  I missed you.  I hope your day was better than mine, anyway.” 

 

Bodie smiled drowsily.  “Yeah, I heard you, mate.  I heard you.”  He linked his fingers with Doyle’s and rested them on his chest, just under his chin.  Doyle’s other hand resumed its rhythmic stroking of his hair, soothing him into a gentle doze once more.  Bodie dropped a sleepy kiss on the back of Doyle’s knuckles.  “Actually Ray, my day turned out pretty well in the end…”

 

 

Title:  Good Company
Author:  Foxcat
Bodie/Doyle
Archive:  You bet
My canon prompt was -In "Cry Wolf" Bodie tells us that he likes "...good company, good food, hot sun, cold beer...".
 

Comments

[probodie.livejournal.com]

Aww this is so lovely - gives you a good picture in your mind, it does. I can just imagine Bodie's dismay at having to leave his full(er than)English brekkie in order to find his wayward partner.

Thanks for sharing.

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I did feel a bit mean, dragging Bodie away from all that lovely, greasy, unhealthy food. :D

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

I love this, as you know! Your Bodie is a delight, and the details of Sir William's drawing room are so well done - the books, the yellow and grey things with leaves in them, the fusty old butler. Hee! I could see it all, and hear Bodie's inner voice chuntering away to himself all the while. The two of them on the sofa at the end is lovely too. The ultimate feelgood fic - thanks!

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. You're too nice to me. I do find Bodie quite delightful. :D And I wrote a feelgood fic? Cool. Thank you for the quick read-through as well, I know I've said it before but I realllly appreciate it.

[etain-antrim.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I love the rich picture you paint of Bodie's not-good, but not-bad day. The sweetness at the end of that day capped it off nicely.

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm pleased you liked it. I don't think I'd have the heart to ever give Bodie a really bad day. :D

[magenta-blue.livejournal.com]

You have a great eye for inserting humour in your words, and all those key little details that make fic reading so delicious - the hobbling butler, skinny Doris at Fat Harry's cafe - lovely! Also great character sketches and lines - things like:

“Your mate was in here earlier. The poncey one with the stupid hair.” Love that - really made me chuckle.

And the ending is all awww... will have to check out more of your fic - thanks for sharing it! (excuse any typing errors, I have a large gingr cat trying to rest his head and snooze on my hands - why is that comfy!)

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm glad you liked it and thank you for such lovely comments. You've made me go all smiley and silly.

I haven't written much in Pros, I'm still relatively new to the lads. There is just something about them that makes me want to take them out and play with them, though, much more so than in any other fandom I've dabbled in.

And ginger cats are just the best. Honestly, you should see the amount of red fur I dig out from my keyboard because my cat does exactly the same thing!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh I liked this - loved the normality of it all, the way the day just kept happening, just like it would in an ep, except that we got the real true glorious ending of it too. *vbg* And I loved Doyle having a complain, and expecting Bodie to listen, but at the same time not actually disturbing him, but indulging him and soothing him to sleep... just awwwww! *g* Thank you! Lovely first fic, and shall look forward to many more, I hope! *g*

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. They do keep missing out those kind of scenes in the series, don't they? Like, we all know that they snuggle up on the sofa together after a hard day at work, but the episodes always ended just that little bit too early to show us.

Thanks ever so much for such nice comments. And now I've popped my dialj cherry, I'll definitely sign up for more. :D

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Awww, poor Bodie, I was starting to get quite worried about the poor lad wasting away to nothing, never getting to eat like that. Thank you for getting him a beer and a snuggle on the couch at the end; he deserved it after the day he'd had *g*

Great story, thank you, with just the right ending.

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. It was fun to be slightly mean to Bodie here, but you're right, at the end of the day the lad definitely deserved a bit of tlc. :D

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

This was such a nice story. Great details with Sir William and at the cafe. And I loved the ending to the wet day. How sweet to have the lads together, cuddled on the sofa. Thanks!

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad you liked the details at the cafe. It just seemed to me what a proper, old fashioned, greasy spoon caff should be like. Just the kind of place Bodie would love, I think. :D

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Didn't I tell you they'd like it? *g* And it is good. It's...a sort of rainy day story, if you know what I mean. It's nice, and comforting, yet with enough accurate detail to make it real. It's like BSL said--it's a realistic look at a day in the lives of B & D. Thank you!

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, and thanks again for the lightning read-through. You are a very wise woman. :D I'm glad you think it's kind of comforting, that's really nice.

[saintvic.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed this look at Bodie's day. His varying reactions to the different places and people he mixes with show through very well. And the last section is adorable.

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I did really enjoy pretending to be Bodie in this one, and playing with him inside my head, if you know what I mean! I'm glad you liked the ending, too. Thank you.

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

Aww... this is lovely! I loved the wander around Sir Williams' drawing room - all the details wwere spot on - including Bodie's eye-rolling at it all.*g* And then there's the chuckle moment in the shop - "Your mate with the stupid hair," and Doyle leaving him to pay for his pasty. And of course, that melt-y moment on the sofa...Thank you, and welcome!!!

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm really pleased you liked it. I love Doyle, I really do, but I guess I just couldn't resist having a quick swipe at the perm! All done affectionately, of course.

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

*twirls wine glass in hand* Ah, just the right kind of story. *g* Lovely Bodie moments as he's delighted by the mud on his shoes and contemplating wiping his nose on his sleeve... and the odd sweetness of being ready to catch the butler.

I think it's just the quietness of the peace and Doyle's need to complain and Bodie's need for comfort.

Just lovely, thank you! :D

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, I'm glad you liked it. Perhaps the wine helped, eh? :D Like I said, I really enjoyed 'being' Bodie in this one for a while, especially in that first scene where he must feel like such a fish out of water. Bless him, I do love our Bodie. :D

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

Well, I did type peace instead of piece, but the story is lovely even when stone-cold sober. *g*

Yeah, you never know with Bodie if he'd have reacted like this or with total disdain. I like him responding this way though as it also pulls on that part of him that's permanently eight years old.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

I don't quite know how I managed to miss this at the time but I just picked it up after an enquiry for it on Proslib.
It's hard to believe this is your first Prosfic, it's great, full of funny detail and very true to the lads. I love Bodie's thoughts all the way through and the way the lads end up together and so content.
Thank you, I look forward to more stories from you!

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much, I'm really glad you liked it. It's not actually my first Pros fic, just my first dialj challenge fic, although I've only written 5 stories so far and only saw my first episode of Pros in May this year, so I do still feel like a newbie. I guess you could say I've fallen head over heels for the lads! Thank you very much for such kind comments, it's really encouraging. :D

Wonderful!

[ma-donna196.livejournal.com]

“Thank you, Jeeves. Tell Baines to bring the horses round and I’ll be orf.” LOL! This is your first story for Pros?! Astonishing, because you have the lads' voices tuned perfectly. I adored it and I'm still smiling contentendly with Bodie. Thanks for sharing and I do hope you'll write more for these wonderful characters. Is novel length asking too much? MaDonna

Re: Wonderful!

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Like I said, it's not my first Pros fic (It's my fifth, but who's counting?...), just my first challenge fic, sorry if that was a bit misleading. Thank you so much for your comments, I really appreciate it. I'm so glad that you felt the lads rang true, I do love those characters so much I just want to do them justice. I don't know if I'll ever have a novel length fic in me, but I certainly hope to write more for these two. Honestly, who could really resist them? :D

Re: Wonderful!

[ma-donna196.livejournal.com]

Doh! Your fifth? Sorry, I should have read the previous comments. Well, that is very happy news as I now have something to look forward to reading tonight. Again, fabulous, detailed, scrumptious writing.

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

Just doing a bit of relaxing when I came across this little beaut. How come I've never seen it before?

I **lurve* it. The detail, the banter, the butler, the aftermath, just every-bloody-bit of it.

I felt I was there, just watching it all unfold.

[foreverfoxcat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, how lovely to get a new comment on this story after so long, thanks. I'm really glad you liked it, I remember I had a lot of fun writing it. I do love our lads, they're such fun to play with. :D