FIC: The Trouble with the Truth [Jeeves & Wooster]

[darktrent182]

TITLE: The Trouble with the Truth
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jeeves, Bertie Wooster, Tuppy Glossop, or Bingo Little, or any of the other characters mentioned in this story, with the exception of Paul Hannigan and Margaret Kettleworth, who I invented. P.G. Wodehouse was the genius who created them, and I'm only borrowing them. No profit was made from this story, and it was written for entertainment purposes only.
FANDOM: Jeeves & Wooster
WORD COUNT: 2,656
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: After some rummy business with a truth serum, things come to light between Bertie and Jeeves.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Third in the impromptu Jeeves/Wooster series. How very strange! Much appreciation goes out to gaffsie and woffproff for reading this over and offering suggestions. Inspired by an icon in dryadwoman's possession, as well as talking with her. Semi-beta'd, but any glaring errors are my own doing. *^^*
CHRONOLOGY:
1. Untitled Bertie piece
2. On Mister Wooster
3. This Entry.

***

It had been two days since the business with the truth serum had concluded, and that night, I was having a victory celebration of sorts, having entered a darts tournament at the Drones Club. Jeeves opted to stay home, spending the night with a relaxing book, and I daresay, we both rather deserved it.

Three days previous, I'd received a telegram, inviting me to Ditteridge Hall to celebrate the engagement of Honoria Glossop to some poor chap whose name I can't remember now. I had been planning on politely declining and remaining at home when I then received a telegram from Aunt Agatha, ordering me to present myself to Margaret Kettleworth, who would be attending the party, for the purposes of marriage. Dutiful nephew that I am, I went, and I daresay, if I never see Ditteridge Hall again, I would be dashed relieved.

Not only did I have my hands full trying to extract myself from Margaret Kettleworth and dealing with Tuppy's roving eye landing on her instead of my dear cousin Angela, but Jeeves discovered that a chemist from America by the name of Paul Hannigan had been there to talk to Sir Roderick Glossop, to discuss a business transaction of some sort. Little did we know that Hannigan was up to no good, having brought some truth serum with him from his laboratory, and now, after all was said and done, Hannigan was arrested, Tuppy was back to Angela, and most importantly, Bertram Wooster was a happy bachelor again.

Now, what with everything going on so quickly, and a number of misunderstandings happening, I hadn't exactly been able to figure out everything that had gone on, but I had been hoping for a bit of a wind-down before I tried to tackle what exactly had happened. And that, happily enough, included a darts tournament.

"I say, that was a bit of a wheeze," I said cheerfully, presenting the Wooster form to Jeeves, and allowing him to fix and fiddle to his heart's content.

After emerging from the bedroom one morning with my collar lopsided, and Jeeves' immediate physical correction of the state of things, I tried to be a bit more messy in how I dressed. Not the best of stylistic choices, I'm sure, but if it meant that he would touch me, I should rather think I'd paint my face blue or some other silly color and let him have at.

"Sir?" Sure enough, Jeeves was looking over my soup-and-fish with a critical eye, and his hands reached out, taking a firm grip of the lapels and adjusting accordingly, making sure the seams ran along the shoulders and so forth.

"You knowing about that whatzit, the... that bally concoction Hannigan cooked up." I tried to jog the old boy's memory, and in a moment, he remembered.

"Mister Hannigan's truth serum, sir?" Jeeves' hands moved, straightening the old wing collar now.

"Yes, that's it." I graced him with a lordly smile. "Rather rummy, that whole business. Why, if Tuppy had downed the mixture and Angela had asked him what he thought of Margaret Kettleworth, I daresay the engagement would've been off in a flash."

"Indeed, sir," Jeeves replied.

"I say, do you know happened to the whatzit, Jeeves?" I asked him curiously, the brow furling -- if that's the word I want -- as I did so. "Everything was so bally confusing, I hardly know how I got out of there without losing my marbles and whatnot."

"I was able to discover where Mister Hannigan had kept the batch he had brewed for the occasion, and I was able to pour the majority of it down the drain, sir. Regrettably, the rest of it had been already mixed with most of the gin that Mister Glossop had purchased for the evening."

I blinked. "I say, what?"

"If you'll pardon me, sir, but I learned the previous evening that Hannigan had tainted the newly purchased gin with his truth serum, with the expressed purpose of learning delicate secrets of the guests and later on, using such information for blackmail purposes."

"I say, what an absolute rotter," I said. "How did you discover that the whatzit was in the gin?"

Jeeves looked at me for a moment, and then coughed once. "I must confess that the night before, I poured myself a small nightcap from the bottle Mister Hannigan had offered as a present to you after you were safely abed, sir."

I goggled at him, rather looking like a landed fish, or so Jeeves tells me. "You drank it?"

Jeeves rather coughed like a sheep that's eaten the last of the grass, and kept his gaze on the front of my dinner jacket. "I did, sir, though I will admit that it was not intentional. It was not until I had discovered the off taste to the gin that I discovered something was amiss."

"I say, are you all right?" I asked, rather more than a little concerned for Jeeves' continued well-being. Not that I don't worry about it when he hasn't drunk anything suspicious, but if I had heard that Hannigan chap correctly, the truth whatzit had never been tested before. "Should we call a doctor?"

Jeeves shook his head, his hands moving to my bowtie. "That will not be necessary, sir. Other than a regrettable compulsion to speak my mind concerning the truth and my personal opinion on certain matters, I am well."

"Compulsion? You mean, you can't stop yourself from telling the truth?" I frowned.

"When a question is put to me, I find it most difficult to lie." Jeeves' eyes didn't leave my little white bowtie, and for a moment, I was rather jealous of the attention it was getting.

"So, you quaffed a bally mixture quite by accident, and now you can't lie to save your life."

"I believe I could lie under those circumstances, though it seems unlikely that my life would hinge on my ability, or lack thereof, to lie," Jeeves said. "Perhaps the recipe needs to be altered to produce complete truthfulness from the subject."

I snorted. "Just as long as you don't go 'round testing untried concoctions to make sure they work."

"Yes, sir." Jeeves nodded, still not looking away from my bowtie. If the bally thing had been straightened one more time, I daresay the little thing would've worn away under Jeeves' fingers.

"Remind me why you do this, Jeeves?" I frowned at him, wishing that he would look up at me.

"True love, sir."

A moment later, his eyes looked up to meet mine, and I daresay that had been the first time I'd ever seen Jeeves look surprised. His eyes had widened a little, nervous and blue, though the rest of him didn't look any different.

"True love?" I blinked, not expecting that as an answer.

Jeeves nodded, though it looked like he was pained to do so. "Yes, sir."

"Why didn't you--" I stopped myself, realizing something. "That serum whatzit's still working, isn't it?"

"Indeed, sir." Jeeves cleared his throat and return his attention to my bowtie.

"But it's been more than a day."

"It would appear that the recipe yielded a particularly strong mixture, despite its deficiencies."

Questions buzzed about my head, but the Code forbade taking advantage of a man under the influence. I couldn't say where it said that, exactly, but it was the spirit of the thing and all that.

Silence stretched between us, rather like... a long, silent thing. Jeeves fiddled with my tie, and I stood there and let him until I bally well couldn't take it anymore.

"Jeeves."

"Sir?"

"You love me?"

"Yes, sir."

"Romantically?"

Jeeves cleared his throat and straightened the lapels, a hand drifting to my front pocket and tucking in the handkerchief there. "Passionately," he murmured, not meeting my curious gaze.

I nodded once. "And I'm sure you've known how I feel about you."

"It was not difficult to deduce, sir, if one knows where to look."

I nodded again. "I see."

And then there was more bloody silence.

"Jeeves--"

"Begging your pardon, sir, but if we could find a new topic of discussion, I would greatly appreciate it." Jeeves turned to the dresser and picked up a brush before returning and having at the no-doubt invisible lint on the back of my jacket.

"Jeeves." I turned around to look at him, and the words at the tip of my tongue disappeared like so much... something-or-other.

Jeeves turned his attention to the shoulders of my suit, and brushed at them briskly. "Sir?"

"I..." I frowned, trying to think of something to say. "You can stop brushing at my shoulders."

"Very good, sir. Will that be all, sir?" Jeeves asked, giving me a politely curious look.

"No, dash it, that will not be all." I folded my arms across my chest and attempted to buck myself up more than I felt at the moment. "I love you."

It was a curious thing to see Jeeves' jaw firm up.

"And you love me, am I right?"

He paused for a moment until the words came out, as if he couldn't stop them. I rather think that serum stuff is more powerful than Hannigan thought. "Yes, sir."

"Then why not embrace the young master, clasp him to your bosom and so forth?" I demanded, opening my arms wide and feeling positively adrift in confusion.

"It would not be proper, sir."

"Not proper?" I blinked. "You mean to tell me that we've just confessed our feelings for each other, and you're not going to..."

Jeeves shook his head. "No, sir. I will not."

"Surely, it can't be because of our differences in social standing," I scoffed. "All my friends are marrying waitresses and showgirls and whatnot."

"It has been a consideration, sir." Jeeves admitted with a nod. "However, our similarity in gender is of utmost concern."

I frowned. "But we love each other."

"Be that as it may, if polite society were to discover either of us indulging in deviant practices, they would take a less than favorable view on the both of us."

"Then we'll make sure no one jolly well finds out," I replied. "Simplicity in itself."

Jeeves shook his head. "I am of the personal belief that if we were to engage in such... activities, it would be more than likely that one of us will forget himself during a moment of excitement and expose the scheme."

He couldn't have meant... Why, of all the bally nerve! He might have been my valet, but some things had to be stopped in their tracks.

"Now, I say!" I protested, "I've been known to let a few things slip in casual conversation, but I bally well know when to keep my mouth shut."

"My apologies, sir," Jeeves apologized, and rightfully so. "Begging your pardon, I was not referring to you."

Now that was dashed surprising. "You? Slip up? Why, you're the soul of discretion."

Jeeves cleared his throat, glancing away for a moment. "Thank you, sir."

To say that I was dashed confused and more than a little hurt was an understatement. Here we were, he still brushing off invisible lint from the young master's person, and I staring at him in the vain hopes of trying to figure out what the deuce to do, and the doorbell rang.

I very nearly jumped, but Jeeves took it in his usual stride, heading for the door and opening it. After a moment or so of chatter, he opened the door wider and turned to me. "Mister Richard Little, sir."

"There you are, Bertie," Bingo strolled in, all smiles and good cheer. He was in love again, the poor blighter. "Come on, then. We'll be late for the opening round."

"Be with you in a mo, Bingo." I managed a smile at him before eying Jeeves and motioning with my head to see him in the kitchen. "I just need to have a word with Jeeves before I head on out."

"Can't it wait until later, Bertie? Emilia's going to be there, and I don't want to be late," Bingo protested, but I shook my head.

"Just a quick word, won't take but a moment." I headed into the kitchen without waiting to hear another objection, and after a few moments, Jeeves followed me in.

"You wished to have a word with me, sir?" Jeeves asked politely, as if everything that had happened in the sitting room hadn't happened at all.

I nodded, ready to stand firm. "Yes, I did. Before I head out, I want a kiss goodbye."

Jeeves frowned, appearing puzzled. "A kiss goodbye, sir?"

I nodded again. "Yes. A quick one will do the trick, I should think." I moved closer so as to receive the kiss without too much trouble.

"I must respectfully decline, sir," Jeeves said calmly.

" 'Respectfully decline'?" I parroted. "Jeeves, you told me not five minutes ago--"

Jeeves shook his head with a jerk, eying the door.

Remembering that we weren't alone in the flat, I lowered my voice. "You love me. Surely a little kiss wouldn't be out of line."

"It would be inappropriate, sir."

"I say, what?" I protested softly. "Jeeves--"

"First and foremost, I am your valet," Jeeves told me firmly. "Whatever we may be to each other outside of the roles of employer and manservant--"

"What rot!" I protested. "Tchah and fie, even! You're just too... too bally scared to do anything!"

"If I'm scared, sir, it is because I do not wish to disturb what groundwork we have laid together." Only Jeeves can sound so calm and so angry at the same time.

"Jeeves, it's a kiss. A bally, little kiss." I could tell I was losing the fight already. When Jeeves stands firm, there's no budging him.

I stepped back, not realizing I'd moved in so close to him, and sighed. "All right," I told him quietly, not even having to fight to keep my voice down. Turning to the door, I reached out my hand to push it open when Jeeves' voice stopped me.

"Wait."

I looked back at him.

Jeeves looked at me with a sort of rummy regretful look hovering over his features, rather like a see-through scarf of some sort.

He reached up a hand, gently stroking a lock of hair back from the young master's brow, and moved in.

Sucking in a quick breath, I closed my eyes and waited.

I felt the brush of lips against my forehead, and when I opened my eyes, I looked up at Jeeves with a rummy sort of frown. "Jeeves..."

"If you tarry longer, sir, you're going to be late."

"At this point, I don't bally well care." At Jeeves' cocked eyebrow, I lowered my voice. "If you're not going to give me a proper kiss goodbye, I shall have to take it myself."

"Would you truly force yourself on me, sir?" Jeeves' tone was cool and even.

"I..." I frowned before sighing. "No, I wouldn't. Wouldn't be right, and all that. But, dash it, Jeeves," I tried to appear firm. "Can't you give me... something? Anything?" My resolve failing, the last word came out quieter than I'd meant it to.

Jeeves looked at me for a long moment before he sighed once, a light breath puffing against my face. He reached up a hand to touch my shoulder, and then my cheek. "Against my better judgment, sir..."

And then he leaned down and kissed me. It was just a brush of lips on lips, but I felt as though I'd been struck by lightning.

When Bingo burst in a few moments later, demanding that we head out already, we were going to be late, he wanted to tell me about Emilia, I took my coat from Jeeves in a sort of daze and headed out of the flat without a word.

END

Comments

[hmcgirl.livejournal.com]

OMG I'm digging this story so much. Conflicted Jeeves, frustrated Bertie... and the kiss!! Yay! New chapter soon?

[darktrent182.livejournal.com]

I can try my level best, but it might take a while. Real life and all that horribleness. *shiver*

Glad you were entertained, though. :D

[mad-march-hare.livejournal.com]

*looks around*

Okay... where's the rest? Come on, there's more, isn't there? Please, tell me there's more! I need to know what happens!

*chains you to computer* There! You aren't going anywhere, dearie, until you cough up a happy ending! Toot sweet! Chop chop!

Seriously, though, this is a wonderful story. The voices are very believable and the idea of a truth serum is, may I say, a decidedly unique touch. Bravo! More, please, and soon!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*blush* Thanks for the comments! It's good to hear that I'm being original, and that I'm doing well with the characters. This is my third fic with them, though I have an idea for an AU in the works. :)

As for the next chapter, there's stuff percolating in my head, but I don't know when I'll be able to get it out next. *^^*

And, as per usual, I'm glad that you were entertained. :D

[rosamundeb.livejournal.com]

Sweet... very sweet! *S*

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

::beams most happily:: Thank you!

[day221b.livejournal.com]

Bally heck! More please.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*bows humbly* I'll do what I can, but thank you for the comment. :D

[chairman-wow.livejournal.com]

I'd like to note that you utterly own my soul right now.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Dude, I own a soul now?

*blinks and looks around for a place to keep it*

Hee. Glad that you were entertained. ;) *bows humbly*

[(Anonymous)]

This is just adorable. So looking forward to the next instalment!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Dude, I attracted either a non-LJ person, or someone who forgot to log in! Hello, person! *waves cheerfully*

Glad that you were entertained! :D

[weaselwoman13.livejournal.com]

I am absolutely adoring this angsty little series; do keep it up!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Hurray! Always a good thing to hear. It's hard to write angst without it going overboard into total crap. And thank you for the comment! *bows humbly*

[woffproff.livejournal.com]

Woot!!!!! I see you did figure out a way to make the backstory work. I'm very proud of you! Great job!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

I did indeed, though I had to toss a few lines that I rather liked. Alas, the editing process.

Glad to see you were entertained, even after having read the original version. :D

*pets Sugar kitty*

[cicerothewriter.livejournal.com]

Good stuff! I look forward to the next bit.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*bows humbly*

In the words of Jeeves, "I endeavor to bring satisfaction." That is, if I'm quoting him correctly. *facepalm*

Glad you were entertained!

[dryadwoman.livejournal.com]

Awwwww!!!!! TWRU WUV!
Thank you so much!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*blush* You're welcome!

::is secretly happy she reduced someone to raving fangirl-ese::

And the icon! The icon that semi-started it!

*points at Teh Icon*

[captainpellew.livejournal.com]

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!!!!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*blink*

*wide eyes*

I hope this doesn't mean that you're going to whip out the axe, right?

*fears Spode*

[smokingthings.livejournal.com]

as if none of the stuff that had happened in the sitting room hadn't happened at all.

That's a double negative.

I am enjoying this story more and more. You're doing an excellent job of keeping them in character, especially Jeeves. More, please :)

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

ACK! Thanks for catching that! *fixes*

And thank you for the comment! *blush*

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

Waaah! Oh, I like this very much. I'm new to reading Jeeves and Wooster slash, because it all seemed rather improbable... until I'd watched a few more episodes :) I think you do a great Bertie voice, and I just loved the utter restraint of it all. Lovely!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*bows humbly* Glad you liked. "The utter restraint of it all" sounds like it has a nice ring to it. Did you mean that Jeeves was restrained, or the whole thing wasn't incredibly over-the-top? *curious*

[kimyoo-films.livejournal.com]

Very nice...cute and warm and cuddly and frustrating. lol

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

It is frustrating. Jeeves is too much bound up in his ethical code to unbend, it seems.

But I'm glad you liked it. :D

[moribundlust.livejournal.com]

Bertie wasn't the only one left breathless, tee. Loved it.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*blink* Oh! Glad you loved it. *bows humbly*

[innocentsmith.livejournal.com]

I really like the quandary Jeeves is putting Bertie into with "would you force yourself on me?"--because of course Bertie's far too deeply honourable to do such a thing. *wibbles* Silly Jeeves. And of course I love the "tell me why you do this?" answer, and the tenderness of the forehead-kiss.

Quibble: "Heather" was extremely unusual as a first name - almost unheard of - till it exploded into popularity in the 1970s. I found it a little distracting here.

BTW, after reading the last installment I wandered over to your fic journal and was very impressed by some of your George/Melchett. Very glad to have you popping up here, but do continue with that series--I really want to know what happens after the last!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Dear Lord, thank you for the quibble. I had been trying to think of a girl's name that hadn't been used in the series, and I came up with Heather. Do you have any suggestions? I want to change that as quickly as possible, but I have no idea what to change it to. *facepalm*

*blush* Thank you for telling me what you liked about it. I rather liked the things that you mentioned, to be honest. The forehead-kiss is something I've seen in fics where one of the pairing is trying to tease the other, though it's usually when they're already together. Here, it seemed more poignant.

As for Jeeves' question of Bertie forcing him, I think it was more he was saying that to sort of wake Bertie up to the fact that while it might be romantic to passionately kiss the girl who's been protesting, it's not entirely kosher. That, and with Stephen Fry as my mental image of what Jeeves looks like, Jeeves could defend himself very well against Bertie if Bertie even tried. *^^*

You read my George/Melchett? *surprised, pleased look* Wow! Thank you! I have a number of ideas for that series, but the brain sort of stalled on me. It took dabbling in J&W to kickstart it again, but it's been mostly this series! Ack!

But thank you for your comments, and especially for your quibble!

[stargazy.livejournal.com]

As you might know, I'm not a huge fan of J/W, having read the books before I saw the TV series, but I'm still enjoying your story! Your Jeeves is very convincing. It's just what he would do, in the circumstances.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Ohhh. I know that there are some people on indeedsir who aren't Jeeves/Wooster fans, but I do appreciate that you're willing to read it, despite it not being your preference. I'm glad I'm doing something right if you're willing to give it a read. *bows humbly*

[gaffsie.livejournal.com]

Great job on the backstory! It makes sense, in the way that a J&W story can be said to make sense. ;)

I really enjoyed reading this installment - it was very cute.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*bows humbly* Thank you. :D

And yeah, it took talking to woffproff to figure it out, and I had to cut some of my favorite lines, but those're saved in the chaff file, so I might be able to use them for later. :)

Thank you again for giving it the once-over and such. :D

[sarren.livejournal.com]

Hey, still loving this series! I love the whole fiddling with the clothes thing!

My quibble is

I'd gotten an telegram

which is American English. (even though the rest of us use it now) I can't imagine Bertie using it then. Wouldn't he just have said 'received' or something?

If I"m wrong, I apologise, but it totally threw me out of the fic for a minute.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Oh! Okay. I hadn't realized that. *fixes*

Thank you for catching it. :D

Very glad to see it didn't throw you completely out of the fic. *^^*

[melchy.livejournal.com]

When Jeeves stands firm, there's no budging him.

*giggles like a schoolgirl*

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Dude, Exhibit A is his veto power over Bertie's wardrobe, though Bertie doesn't realize it yet.

Exhibit B is his veto power on Bertie having a mustache.

You have a gift...

[karaokegal.livejournal.com]

for finding the angst in the most unexpected places.
I adore the Oscar Wilde reference in the 2nd part. (Especially perfect because of the Stephen connection.) You have the voices down to a T.
Good stuff.

Re: You have a gift...

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

*bows humbly* Glad that you liked it. :D

[montycrowley.livejournal.com]

I thought I could wander away from the computer for a few days and nothing much would change. I was certainly wrong. This fic is masterful, dear, though I must protest at the shortness of the interludes that frame this particularly beautiful chunk. So congratulations -- I expect to see more VERY soon.

Thanks so much for the link to the episodes, by the way. I owe you one.

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

I have a post on my personal journal that I've been updating when I get new episodes, so if you want, you can Friend me and I'll Friend you back, and you can have access to it.

Also, have you seen "Standing Firm" yet? Might want to take a gander at it. :D

[maenaine.livejournal.com]

Squee!

[leaper182.livejournal.com]

Squee!

::would use picture of a jumping hamster, but does not have one::

[willdew.livejournal.com]

*shakes head* They don't make 'em like Jeeves anymore.

The restraint is smouldering, isn't it?! Good job, you. And thanks for friending me so that I could read this. <3

[wickedblackbird.livejournal.com]

:-) aww - that's adorable. bravo! ::applauds:: i quite enjoy the way you write.