fic: day at the races

Title: Day at the Races
Author: [livejournal.com profile] thepsychicclam
Pairing: Dom/Lij
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Dom and Elijah spend the day betting on horse races.
Disclaimer: This never happened
Archive: My site, http://garden.expecto-patronum.net
A/N: All the horse names are actual horse names I got from this website: http://www.fullcardreports.com/



Dom and Elijah walked up to the counter, deciding who they were going to place bets on.

“I’ve never done this before,” Dom said quietly. He was slightly intimidated by the mass of people around him yelling about bets and exactas and horses he’d never heard of. But he was there for fun, right? And Elijah had done this often, so he would be there to answer all Dom’s questions.

“It’s simple really. We’ll bet low, so you don’t lose too much money,” Elijah said picking up a sheet containing the names of the horses in each race. “We’ll make a show bet. Just choose which horse you want to come in first, second, or third.”

Dom looked over the list, trying to figure out how he was supposed to pick a winning horse from a list of bizarre names. He looked up helplessly at Elijah.

“I just choose a name that sounds cool at first. It’s fun and completely up to chance. We’re here to have fun. Some of these people get crazy with betting. I swear I’ve seen people who I thought were going to have heart attacks out in the stands.” Elijah took the paper from Dom and looked it over. Holding a cigarette dangerously close to the paper, he trailed a finger down the list, stopping abruptly and tapping over a spot multiple times. “This is it. My horse.”

Dom grabbed the paper from him and busted out laughing. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. I’m gonna bet on this horse.”

“Its name is My Sweet Heart.” Dom gave Elijah an amused look causing Elijah to blush.

“I thought it was a sweet name. I was thinking of you.” He looked down at his feet, shuffling them nervously. Dom laughed and read through the list.

“You are such a corny sap, Elijah. But I love you anyway. Not sure why. I think it’s the sex,” he finished quietly. Elijah punched him in the arm.

“Hurry up. The race is going to start soon, and we still need to get beer and go down there.” Dom closed his eyes and moved his finger up and down the page, stopping on What A Splash.

“Here we go. What A Splash. What a dumb name,” Dom declared, pulling a few bills out of his pocket. Elijah placed the bets for them, and they walked away in search of beer. Content with large cups of Budweiser, which Dom still insisted tasted like goat piss, they made their way down the stands, pushing through so they were sitting right near the front. They took their seats, and as they waited, Dom looked around the horse park, noting couples dressed up in stupid hats who looked like they truly believed the race was the height of society, fathers with children upon their shoulders, and workers getting the track ready for the race.

“When does this thing start? I want to see what the big deal is.”

“Just relax and enjoy the day, Dom. It’ll start in a few minutes.” Dom leaned back against his chair, sipping his beer restlessly.

Elijah was right. Five minutes later the horses and jockeys were lined up, waiting for the signal. Dom sat on the edge of his seat, gripping the seat in front of him in anticipation. Elijah decided to watch Dom, since he had been to enough races to know what was going on, and Dom was definitely more interesting at the moment.

The signal sounded and the horses shot out of their stalls. Dom was mesmerized. He stood up and followed the race closely, not even sure which horse was his. Elijah remained in the seat beside him, sipping his beer calmly and chuckling at Dom.

The race was over quickly, and Dom sat back down, awed.

“That was fucking fantastic,” he said, grinning excitedly. Elijah patted him on the back, resisting the urge to place a kiss on that smiling mouth. “Why didn’t you bring me here before now?”

“I tried, but you wouldn’t let me.” Elijah looked over at the winners circle, trying to find out who had won. “Dom, your horse got third place!” Dom looked over and jumped up excitedly.

“I won! My first ever horse bet! I won!” He danced around excitedly and placed a small kiss on Elijah’s lips, resulting in strange looks from the people around him. “Your horse got last place, Lij. That sucks, mate.”

“Oh well. The price for being corny and sappishly romantic,” he said, standing up and following Dom back towards the upper levels.

“I appreciate the sentiment, Lij, even if it did make you lose your bet. Now let’s go get my money!”

They walked up to the upper levels, Dom collected his money and immediately took out the list of horses.

“Okay, who next?” he said enthusiastically. Elijah moved behind him and leaned over his shoulder, trying to decide on a horse.

“I’m picking Owsley, since there is a bad ass band by the same name.”

“Fuck yeah! I’m totally betting on Morning Merry!” Dom said, pointing enthusiastically to the name. “That’s my horse if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Too bad there isn’t a Frodo one on there,” Lij said, slightly disappointed. He followed Dom over to the betting booth, placing show bets of two dollars again on each of their horses. Walking towards the stairs to the stands, Dom stopped and pulled out the money he just won.

“Since I won, I’ll treat you to another beer and lunch later. But no shitty Budweiser this time.”

“Agreed.” Dom bought them both cups of Heineken. “At least I can stomach this. Better than the American shit you blokes call beer.” Elijah silently nodded into his cup.

All morning they watched the races. Dom demonstrated his gift for picking the winning horse, only losing once with one named Battle Tank. Elijah’s luck was not so great. Every horse he chose ended up in last place, except for Wild About Rachel who had won second place.

“I’m hungry. Let’s eat,” Elijah said as he and Dom made their way back to collect Dom’s money.

“You just don’t want to get beaten again,” Dom teased.

“That’s not it. I’m starving! And you’re buying since I’m losing my shirt.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you lost your shirt,” Dom whispered in Elijah’s ear as he leaned close. Elijah had trouble deciding between giggling and hitting Dom. Still miffed about losing, he chose to hit him. “Ow! There’s no need for violence, young one.”

“Blow me.” Dom started to say something, but Elijah quickly shot him a death glare. “Don’t even think about it.” Dom lifted his arms in surrender, palms outward, and walked away. A grin broke out on Elijah’s face as Dom walked away.

Elijah found a bench along a large walkway and sat down while he waited for Dom to join him with the food. He was starving. The beer had done nothing for his growling stomach except to leave him hungrier, not to mention tipsy. He turned around and looked out onto the track and grimaced. If he didn’t watch it he was going to lose all the money he’d brought with him.

“I hope this is okay,” Dom said, bringing over the food. He sat a plate of fries, two hamburgers, and a huge Coke down between them.

“One coke?” Elijah asked.

“Hey, I only have two bloody hands and can only carry so much. You weren’t any help since you were over here sulking.”

“I am not sulking!” Elijah argued. Dom ignored him and started in on his hamburger, which irritated Elijah even more, so he picked up his hamburger and slammed his weight in ahuff against the concrete wall behind them. “Ow,” he muttered.

“See, sulking.” Dom looked at Elijah through the corner of his eyes, watching as he scrunched his face up. “Aw, now love.” Dom turned around on the bench to face to Elijah, pulling his legs underneath him. “Don’t be like that. We’re here for fun, remember?” Elijah didn’t look at him, so Dom set down his hamburger and slowly moved his arms over towards him. Elijah was so busy pouting that he didn’t notice until Dom grabbed his side and started tickling him. Elijah howled with laughter, trying desperately not to drop his burger.

“Stop! Dom, please!” Elijah yelled. The people walking by glared at them and shook their heads, but they didn’t notice. Dom moved his fingers all around Elijah’s sides and stomach, enjoying watching the other man wriggle around beside him. “Please! Okay! No more sulking! Please!”

Dom pulled his fingers away and picked up his hamburger as Elijah sat panting and giggling beside him.

“I hate you,” Elijah said.

“Your grin’s giving you away. I know you’re a better actor that that.”

“Shut up.” Elijah smiled and grabbed a handful of fries, pouting fit obviously over.

“It sure is bloody hot,” Dom said, pulling at his shirt.

“I told you a long sleeve t-shirt was not a good idea. Especially a grey one.”

“I didn’t realize it would be this hot, though. And besides, what was I supposed to do? Where holey jeans like you?” Dom asked, smirking.

“Hey, these are my favorite jeans. There is nothing wrong with a few holes.”

“They have more than a few holes, Lij. And they would have less if you didn’t wear them every bloody time we went out.”

“Bite me, Dom. You like these pants as much as I do.”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” Dom said, lying through his teeth. Elijah rolled his eyes and popped more fries in his mouth.

After lunch, Elijah continued to lose, causing him to get more and more irritated. While standing in the upper levels, Dom decided to bet on a horse named Okey Dokey Dot. Elijah thrust the paper back at Dom, groaning.

“That’s it. I’m betting on Okey Dokey Dot, too.”

“You can’t bet on the same horse as me,” Dom said.

Elijah looked at him, brows furrowed. “Yes, I can. There’s no rule against it, you git.”

“You’re a sore loser, Wood.”

“Dom!” Elijah whined. “I’ve lost more money than I even want to think about! And you’ve won every damn one!”

“Elijah, you haven’t lost that much money. But okay, we’ll bet on the same horse. Okey Dokey Dot, it all depends on you.” Elijah placed their bets and they made their way back to their seats. While waiting for the race to begin, Elijah nervously bit on his fingernails and fidgeted in his seat. Dom kept glancing over at him and finally took Elijah’s hand out of his mouth and held it firmly in his.

“Calm down, love,” he whispered, squeezing Elijah’s hand softly. Dom didn’t let go of his hand while they watched the race. As soon as the race ended, Elijah stood up, kicking the concrete barrier in front of them.

“Fuck fuck fuck bastard fucking horses. Damn fuck!” he yelled, kicking crazily. Dom watched in horror, not sure what to do. He stifled a giggle because, as he thought to himself, Elijah kicking and cursing was not funny. Not at all.

“Hey, mister. Can it, will ya? There are kids around,” a guy a few seats down yelled.

“Yeah, fuck you too,” Elijah said, stomping away.

Dom stood up, apologized to the group of angry spectators, and followed Elijah up the stairs. When they got onto a walkway, he grabbed Elijah’s arm and spun him around to face him. “Lij, for fucks sake, calm down.” Elijah was shaking with anger and glared at Dom until finally he broke and started hysterically laughing. “Oh God.”

“I can’t believe,” Elijah said in between fits of laughter, “I just did that.” Elijah held his stomach as he doubled over in laughter. Dom watched him for a few moments before catching whatever Elijah had and began laughing himself. After a good five minutes, they looked at each other, tears running down their red faces.

“My foot hurts.”

“No wonder. I’m surprised you didn’t break your sodding foot!”

“We’re idiots,” Elijah declared.

“Pretty much.” Dom put his arm lightly on Elijah’s back to guide him towards the bets counter. He didn’t remove his hand as they walked, trailing lazy circles around his back. “One last bet. Then we’ll go. And with my victory money, we can order take out and buy a bottle of scotch or whiskey or whatever and spend all night curled up on the couch.”

“Sounds wonderful.” They walked to the counter and placed their last bets of the day. Dom chose The Elite Nine, obviously hoping the fellowship would send him some luck, and Elijah chose Just Pure Fun.

“Here’s hoping,” Elijah said, walking to the stands. They decided not to return to their previous seats; Dom was afraid the angry men might try and beat the shit out of Elijah. They stood at the very top, Elijah leaning his head on Dom’s shoulder. Dom looked around, making sure no one was paying any attention to them, which they weren’t, and slipped his arm around Elijah’s waist. They watched the race calmly, more interested in each other and what was to come later than the actual race.

“Hey, your horse got third place!” Dom exclaimed. Elijah grinned but it quickly fell.

“Your fucking horse got first place. Damn you!” Elijah stomped off, but Dom grabbed his hand and pulled him back towards him, placing a firm kiss on Elijah’s lips. Elijah pulled away, blinking confusedly.

“We’re in public, Dom,” Elijah said, looking around. Not a single soul was watching them.

“I don’t care. Now come on, let’s get the money that we both won and get out of here.” Dom led Elijah through the masses of people, collected their money, and ventured to their car. Once seated inside, Dom leaned over and captured Elijah’s mouth in a kiss as Elijah wrapped his arms around Dom’s neck. Elijah attempted to crawl into the passenger seat with him, but hit his knee on the gear shift, so he remained between the two seats. Dom turned his head away from Elijah’s hungry mouth, which found refuge on Dom’s neck.

“Let’s go home,” Dom managed to get out. Elijah paid no heed to him and continued sucking along his neck. Dom pushed him away, trying to will away the erection he had acquired.

“Tease,” Elijah said, cranking up the car.

“We should do this more often.”

“Make out in the car?”

“No, you daft git. Come to the horse races.”

“I think I’ve had my fill for awhile,” Elijah said, pulling out onto the main road.

“You’re just mad because I beat you. You just can’t compete with me.”

“Fuck that, we’re coming back next week.”

“That’s what I thought.”

~Fin

[identity profile] yankees-24-11.livejournal.com 2003-08-06 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
*squeals with joy* I absolutely loved this fic, I really did. Horse racing and Domlijah it doesn't get any better than that! If only I had Dom with me yesterday to cheer me up after losing all my money at the track.

*giggles* I loved how you had Dom only betting for show, the safest bet, every time and him getting all excited over winning a few bucks, so cute!

Oh and poor Elijah! *sympathizes with Lij* It's no fun losing, you can smack your program against the railing as hard as you want and the horse still doesn't go faster.

I loved it! *reads it again*

Kris

[identity profile] finduilas-clln.livejournal.com 2003-08-07 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
Wonderful. I loved it.

[identity profile] jaynecortese.livejournal.com 2003-08-07 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
hooray! i loved cursing-pissedoff-competitive!elijah. adorable.

now i really wanna go to the races... but alas. it's midnight. and all the horsies are asleep.