#ashcombe

izzy: i am a normal american transfer student and i am coping beautifully also izzy: what if communal showers were designed by the devil. what if neckties were a hate crime. what if my roommate was good at rugby. what if he fixed my tie. what if he picked me safe toast. what if he smelled like rain and cigarettes and outside. what THEN???

ASHCOMBE chapters 3 & 4 are coming this week to AO3, which means the boys are about to enter the dangerous stage known as “forming tiny rituals and pretending that is normal.”

[go read previous chapters?]

☁️ ASHCOMBE by housemasterwilkes ☁️ Rating: Explicit (later chapters - not yet. we're still wholesome.) Archive Warning: Underage Sex (also laters. you've been warned / summoned, whatever's your cup of tea.)

Category: M/M

Fandom: Original Work Words: 9,010 (finished around 170k) Chapters: 3/33

The two of them froze and stared at the door in horror. There were few people who would knock on the shop door when it was closed, even fewer that would be pleased to see what they were doing.

"Hide it" Christopher mouthed to Tom.

Tom didn't need to be told twice. He reached forward and grabbed the makeshift canon and dragged into the back room.

Whoever was outside knocked again.

"Coming!" Christopher shouted, just as Tom disappeared into the backroom.

"Hurry up then." A familiar feminine voice said.

Even though it ruined his plans he couldn't help but smile when he realized who was at the door.

"Liz, it's great to-" He said as he opened the door wide and his stomach dropped when he saw who had accompanied Liz to the shop.

Ashcombe, the king's warden, and the one investigating the recent string of apothecary murders.

Someone who would definitely toss two dumb boys into the stocks if they were caught making gun powder, and making illegal cannons.

Christopher straightened his back, and the bowed. "Lord Ashcombe, what a pleasant surprise."

"Good evening boys, Is your Master home?"

"No he had some business with a fellow Apothecary." Christopher said. "You're welcome to wait for him." He continued mostly out of obligation. He didn't want Ashcombe at the shop anymore then necessary.

"That won't be necessary, I only came to inquire if he would like some added protection around his shop. I have many other things to attend to before the day ends."

The look on Liz's face told Christopher everything he needed to know about why he was making the suggestion now.

"Thank you My Lord." Christopher said.

"Yes, run the idea by Blackthorn." Ashcombe said. "If he is agreeable, send a letter to the tower, I'll be sure to receive it."

"Yes Sir,"

Ashcombe nodded once before turning and walking out the door and closing the door behind him.

The moment the door was closed, Liz turned to Christopher with her hands on her hips, just as Tom came out from the back.

Hear me out. So, in the summary it says that they find an old friend dead. We could take this one of two ways: literally that this is an actual friend, or an old enemy.

If we take as an actual friend, I am inclined to think that it's going to be Issac. Yes, Issac has done nothing to deserve this, but he's the only one that I can think of that would be... narratively useful in this sense. Close enough to Christopher and the gang that his death would have an impact, but also not completely tied to the plot, like Ashcombe.

Imagine being sixteen, queer, furious, jet-lagged, and sent across the ocean to a boarding school where the bells tell you when to eat, your roommate thinks honesty saves time, and everyone appears to have accepted rugby as a legal form of violence.

That’s Ashcombe. AO3 link -- 10/38 chapters out -- Rated Explicit

Americans apologise constantly but never quietly

“tea” requires far more explanation than expected

one overpacked boy can fill an entire room just by talking in it

his new roommate is already getting under his skin

This may become a problem.