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fellowshippers2004-03-18 12:13 am
jcole.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2004-03-18 12:13 am
Ficlet: DM/BB, PG.
Title: Dom’s Quandary
Author: Jamie Cole
Pairing: DM/BB
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don’t know. Don’t own. Such a pity.
Summary: Dom seems to be suffering a bit of a quandary. Billy helps.
Author’s Notes: My Billy and Dom muses finally decided to show up. Woo! Posted to monaboyd, fellow_shippers, and my journal. Apologies to those who see this more than once. Will eventually be up on my little tiny (but slowly growing) web page, which can be found here.
"I seem to be suffering a bit of a quandary," Dom said, but he didn’t stop his pacing or turn to look at Billy. Still, though, Billy breathed a small sigh of relief, because those were the first words that Dom had spoken since he’d stood up from the couch that they’d both been sitting on and had started to move back and forth across the room.
Billy closed the book that was resting on his lap, the book that he hadn’t turned a page of in ten minutes at least, leaned back a little bit more heavily against the overstuffed arm of the sofa, and asked, "And what is this quandary that you're suffering from, Dom?"
He tried to sound put-upon, tired, but he was actually rather interested; it had been a long time since he’d seen Dom this agitated.
"Well, it’s not me, actually," Dom said, speaking quickly, so that his words were slurred together. Then, with a suddenness that made Billy start slightly, he stopped where he was, one step to Billy’s right, and turned to face the couch. He didn’t look at Billy, though. He stared past Billy, out the windows of the dining room behind the couch, and into the darkness outside.
"It’s my mate, you see. From back home."
"Ah," Billy said. "I see. Your ‘mate.’"
"Yes," Dom said. "My mate."
He turned to look at Billy then, and he was squinting slightly, his face pinched with a tension that Billy hadn’t seen very often. Dom was usually ready with a smile, after all. Some joke sitting right on the tip of his tongue.
"And what is this bit of a quandary that your ‘mate’ is suffering from, then? Care to fill me in on that? Or did you just need to tell me that there was suffering in the air?"
Dom looked away from him again, back in the direction of the dark windows. "He feels sort of like an idiot, actually. And he has a hard time putting this whole ‘quandary’ thing into words."
"And why is that?"
"Because—" Dom started. Billy watched as he swallowed once, twice, throat muscles working overtime. "Because."
Billy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well," he said, "it doesn’t seem to me that we can help your mate if he can’t put the problem into words."
He picked up his book again and looked down at it, even as he kept staring at Dom out of the corner of his eye. He watched as Dom glanced at him quickly, sharply; watched as he swallowed again, and by the time that Dom had opened his mouth to say whatever it was that he was going to say, Billy was looking up at him again, expectantly.
"He’s afraid that if what he says comes out wrong, things would be even worse than they are now," Dom said. His voice was timid, almost. Hesitant. "Not that they’re bad now, of course, but he thinks that maybe he’d rather keep dealing with the quandary. That it would be simpler that way."
Billy watched as Dom glanced at him again. Just to make sure that Billy was watching him, he thought.
"Well, why don’t you try me," Billy said. "I’d like to help your mate."
He closed his book again and set it down on the couch beside him. He sat up straight, moving his feet from the cushion, down to the floor. Then he folded his hands in his lap and tried to look benign, rather like a psychiatrist might.
"It has to do with his mate," Dom said. So quietly that if the room hadn’t been otherwise silent and Billy hadn’t been listening very carefully, he wouldn’t have caught a word of the phrase.
"His best mate," Dom continued, and again, he swallowed. Billy watched as his adam’s apple bobbed up and down reflexively.
"Okay," Billy said. He nodded, keeping his expression calm, neutral. He could feel a mist of sweat forming on his palms, though, so he clenched his hands a little more tightly. But not so tightly that Dom would notice.
"Okay," Dom echoed. "And see, one day, my friend, well, he woke up and realized that he had these feelings for his mate. Feelings that maybe they’ve joked about—with their friends and with reporters and maybe other people, too—but it was just joking. They were never really serious."
"Okay," Billy said again, more slowly this time. He rubbed his hands on his pants, then folded them together again. He didn’t think Dom had noticed; his attention was still focused on the world behind Billy. "And this quandary that he’s suffering from is what, exactly?"
"He doesn’t know what to do about it," Dom said.
He turned to look at Billy again, and Billy saw that his eyes were wide and earnest, filled with hope and the pain of anticipated rejection.
"He doesn’t know whether he should keep quiet about it, in case his mate isn’t interested—because the one thing he does know is that he doesn’t want to ruin their friendship—or whether he should tell his friend. Get the feelings off of his chest, because they’ve been weighing down on him recently, placing a certain… stress on the friendship that wasn’t there before."
Billy stared at him silently for several moments, held Dom’s gaze.
"Or, maybe," Billy said slowly, his voice on the verge of cracking, "he thought that he could make up a story about someone else, a friend of his, and that he could pretend he really was talking about his mate if rejection seemed imminent."
He raised an eyebrow, a challenge for Dom to tell the truth, and watched as Dom nodded once, slowly. A short, sharp movement. Then, wiping his hands on his pants one more time for good measure, Billy stood up from the couch and turned slightly, even as Dom turned to meet him.
Billy raised one of his hands and put it on Dom’s shoulder, curled his fingers around the nape of Dom’s neck, and buried the tips in soft wisps of hair.
"I think you should tell your ‘mate’ that he should tell his mate," Billy said, inching even closer to Dom. He could feel the heat of the other man’s body, the small tension-induced tremors that were running through him. "If he’s as great a guy as I bet he is, I don’t think that his mate will reject him. It’s even possible that his mate has been developing some of the same feelings, too."
Dom blinked. Billy was close enough to him now so that he could feel the soft, damp puffs of air that were leaving Dom’s mouth in slightly erratic, increasingly speedy patterns.
"Is there something that you want to tell me, Dom?" he asked.
He watched as Dom opened his mouth farther, as his tongue twitched in preparation of forming words, but before Dom could utter a sound, Billy continued:
"Or maybe it would be better to show me."
At that, Dom nodded, a sigh of relief leaving him and ghosting across Billy’s cheek. His lips curved, and suddenly Dom was smiling as brilliantly as Billy had ever seen him smile. Then Dom leaned forward and kissed him. Mouth already open, his tongue immediately pressing itself to Billy’s.
A few moments—or minutes—later, Dom pulled back and rested his forehead against Billy’s. He was smiling even more widely than he had been before, although this time he was looking rather dazed.
"Well," Billy said, and he found that he was smiling helplessly, too. "I think that about sums it up, don’t you?"
He watched as Dom nodded, but he closed his eyes as Dom leaned in again.
End.
Author: Jamie Cole
Pairing: DM/BB
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don’t know. Don’t own. Such a pity.
Summary: Dom seems to be suffering a bit of a quandary. Billy helps.
Author’s Notes: My Billy and Dom muses finally decided to show up. Woo! Posted to monaboyd, fellow_shippers, and my journal. Apologies to those who see this more than once. Will eventually be up on my little tiny (but slowly growing) web page, which can be found here.
"I seem to be suffering a bit of a quandary," Dom said, but he didn’t stop his pacing or turn to look at Billy. Still, though, Billy breathed a small sigh of relief, because those were the first words that Dom had spoken since he’d stood up from the couch that they’d both been sitting on and had started to move back and forth across the room.
Billy closed the book that was resting on his lap, the book that he hadn’t turned a page of in ten minutes at least, leaned back a little bit more heavily against the overstuffed arm of the sofa, and asked, "And what is this quandary that you're suffering from, Dom?"
He tried to sound put-upon, tired, but he was actually rather interested; it had been a long time since he’d seen Dom this agitated.
"Well, it’s not me, actually," Dom said, speaking quickly, so that his words were slurred together. Then, with a suddenness that made Billy start slightly, he stopped where he was, one step to Billy’s right, and turned to face the couch. He didn’t look at Billy, though. He stared past Billy, out the windows of the dining room behind the couch, and into the darkness outside.
"It’s my mate, you see. From back home."
"Ah," Billy said. "I see. Your ‘mate.’"
"Yes," Dom said. "My mate."
He turned to look at Billy then, and he was squinting slightly, his face pinched with a tension that Billy hadn’t seen very often. Dom was usually ready with a smile, after all. Some joke sitting right on the tip of his tongue.
"And what is this bit of a quandary that your ‘mate’ is suffering from, then? Care to fill me in on that? Or did you just need to tell me that there was suffering in the air?"
Dom looked away from him again, back in the direction of the dark windows. "He feels sort of like an idiot, actually. And he has a hard time putting this whole ‘quandary’ thing into words."
"And why is that?"
"Because—" Dom started. Billy watched as he swallowed once, twice, throat muscles working overtime. "Because."
Billy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well," he said, "it doesn’t seem to me that we can help your mate if he can’t put the problem into words."
He picked up his book again and looked down at it, even as he kept staring at Dom out of the corner of his eye. He watched as Dom glanced at him quickly, sharply; watched as he swallowed again, and by the time that Dom had opened his mouth to say whatever it was that he was going to say, Billy was looking up at him again, expectantly.
"He’s afraid that if what he says comes out wrong, things would be even worse than they are now," Dom said. His voice was timid, almost. Hesitant. "Not that they’re bad now, of course, but he thinks that maybe he’d rather keep dealing with the quandary. That it would be simpler that way."
Billy watched as Dom glanced at him again. Just to make sure that Billy was watching him, he thought.
"Well, why don’t you try me," Billy said. "I’d like to help your mate."
He closed his book again and set it down on the couch beside him. He sat up straight, moving his feet from the cushion, down to the floor. Then he folded his hands in his lap and tried to look benign, rather like a psychiatrist might.
"It has to do with his mate," Dom said. So quietly that if the room hadn’t been otherwise silent and Billy hadn’t been listening very carefully, he wouldn’t have caught a word of the phrase.
"His best mate," Dom continued, and again, he swallowed. Billy watched as his adam’s apple bobbed up and down reflexively.
"Okay," Billy said. He nodded, keeping his expression calm, neutral. He could feel a mist of sweat forming on his palms, though, so he clenched his hands a little more tightly. But not so tightly that Dom would notice.
"Okay," Dom echoed. "And see, one day, my friend, well, he woke up and realized that he had these feelings for his mate. Feelings that maybe they’ve joked about—with their friends and with reporters and maybe other people, too—but it was just joking. They were never really serious."
"Okay," Billy said again, more slowly this time. He rubbed his hands on his pants, then folded them together again. He didn’t think Dom had noticed; his attention was still focused on the world behind Billy. "And this quandary that he’s suffering from is what, exactly?"
"He doesn’t know what to do about it," Dom said.
He turned to look at Billy again, and Billy saw that his eyes were wide and earnest, filled with hope and the pain of anticipated rejection.
"He doesn’t know whether he should keep quiet about it, in case his mate isn’t interested—because the one thing he does know is that he doesn’t want to ruin their friendship—or whether he should tell his friend. Get the feelings off of his chest, because they’ve been weighing down on him recently, placing a certain… stress on the friendship that wasn’t there before."
Billy stared at him silently for several moments, held Dom’s gaze.
"Or, maybe," Billy said slowly, his voice on the verge of cracking, "he thought that he could make up a story about someone else, a friend of his, and that he could pretend he really was talking about his mate if rejection seemed imminent."
He raised an eyebrow, a challenge for Dom to tell the truth, and watched as Dom nodded once, slowly. A short, sharp movement. Then, wiping his hands on his pants one more time for good measure, Billy stood up from the couch and turned slightly, even as Dom turned to meet him.
Billy raised one of his hands and put it on Dom’s shoulder, curled his fingers around the nape of Dom’s neck, and buried the tips in soft wisps of hair.
"I think you should tell your ‘mate’ that he should tell his mate," Billy said, inching even closer to Dom. He could feel the heat of the other man’s body, the small tension-induced tremors that were running through him. "If he’s as great a guy as I bet he is, I don’t think that his mate will reject him. It’s even possible that his mate has been developing some of the same feelings, too."
Dom blinked. Billy was close enough to him now so that he could feel the soft, damp puffs of air that were leaving Dom’s mouth in slightly erratic, increasingly speedy patterns.
"Is there something that you want to tell me, Dom?" he asked.
He watched as Dom opened his mouth farther, as his tongue twitched in preparation of forming words, but before Dom could utter a sound, Billy continued:
"Or maybe it would be better to show me."
At that, Dom nodded, a sigh of relief leaving him and ghosting across Billy’s cheek. His lips curved, and suddenly Dom was smiling as brilliantly as Billy had ever seen him smile. Then Dom leaned forward and kissed him. Mouth already open, his tongue immediately pressing itself to Billy’s.
A few moments—or minutes—later, Dom pulled back and rested his forehead against Billy’s. He was smiling even more widely than he had been before, although this time he was looking rather dazed.
"Well," Billy said, and he found that he was smiling helplessly, too. "I think that about sums it up, don’t you?"
He watched as Dom nodded, but he closed his eyes as Dom leaned in again.
End.