Highway run into the midnight sun Who: Red & Dominik What: A few interesting surprises When: December 3 - early morning Where: Their place Rating: Mid - probably language Status: Complete
Two strangers learn to fall in love again I’m forever yours Faithfully
This was the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
Dominik had already decided, half of his heart had gone to Red for safe keeping. A failsafe and insurance for death. He belonged to the wolf, mind, body and soul. He had few things to look forward to in life, but his red-headed beauty reminded him that there was more to it than just surviving. He watched him sleep, Skelly and Pickles curled up between them, and a new little thing that he’d picked up for the occasion.
Another cat. As if they needed another. Another Sphynx, another female. Skelly had hissed at first, but with more bodies came more warmth. She’d even stopped glaring at him with those blue eyes. It wore a ring around it’s collar, and it pawed around the feather down duvet, pouncing at her siblings and mewling when Dominik’s hand came close to pet her.
An engagement present, another sweet furless baby for them. She came up to lick under his chin and curl up into that space. She was purring and he chuckled, startling her enough to make her escape under the covers. It was freezing and Dominik was far enough away from Red to take in that heat he gave off. He grumbled and lifted the blankets to find her curled up there.
He didn’t want to get out of bed today, but he couldn’t miss work. Not again. It was just too cold to put his feet on the floor and scramble into the shower for heat.
Red was dozing.
He burrowed further into the nest of soft blankets and pillows chasing the last bit of the unusual dreams and purposefully evading the waking that threatened to come and claim him. While he didn’t necessarily have a day job anymore he still found it a struggle to sleep consistently through the morning or the day.
Humans weren’t primarily nocturnal and old habits tended to die hard with a vengeance.
While he ran hotter than most others the chill from the lack of body heat from his mate was enough to finally rouse him from slumber. Red pouted, blearily twisting around to scramble for some purchase in that dark skin and muscle.
Cat. Instead he found a cat which was promptly moved out of the way, albeit gently, and a Red found what he’d been seeking. “Gonna be late,” he scolded playfully, pressing his face into the crook of Dominik’s neck, eyes still closed.
“It’s cold,” came his reply, Dominik was freezing. The house was large and wooden floors didn’t quite keep the heat in. Next renovations were heated tile. Everywhere. He didn’t care how terrible it looked. He put out a hand as the kitten clawed its way up to meet them, nosing around by Red.
He probably wouldn’t find the ring until later and Dom was okay with that. It was a nice surprise. The witch cuddled right into that heat and settled under the blankets around his fiancé’s body.
A fantastic source of heat if any, and Dominik had on layers. A frustrating amount that took time to peel off and he was quite content to keep them on. He laid a kiss over the bridge of his nose, “I’ll have a shower in a moment. You stay in bed. Florin will bring you breakfast when you’re ready.”
Dominik never ate breakfast, but he enjoyed pancakes. He usually had a protein shake in the morning and hit the gym before he rolled off to school. He just didn’t want to get up this morning, he frowned, wiggling his cold toes against Red’s.
Stretching, Red extended himself. His toes curled, muscles tensed, eyes squinted shut until the act was concluded and then he relaxed again in that presence. Lazily an arm slid across that fabric.
And finally his eyes fluttered open.
They shifted to the side, eyeing the kitten and the thing there was presently taking up the space a tag should’ve been. Another squint. His eyesight was sharp and he chalked what he was seeing up to the haze of sleep. That couldn’t possibly be a …
His hand went to the kitten and Red shifted, almost turning in Dominik’s embrace to better spy what was there.
“What is that?”
“A kitten.” Smartass. Dominik smiled as he stretched, he was busy trying to detach his limbs, but still found Red was a lot more appealing. He hated the cold. He moved to sit up, tired of being drawn in by the sandman.
He scratched behind the kitten’s ears and reached out for Skelly when she moved into his lap for warmth. He could write the book on being the crazy cat dude.
His gaze lowered to Red, a fond look. A softer side he offered no one else. Not with that permanent etch of boredom usually plastered there.
“It’s a ring. For you,” he held the squirming kitten out to him and gathered Skelly into his arms.
Red rolled his eyes and emitted a sigh. Of course it was a kitten the expression on his face said as he glanced back at Dominik. As the other man moved Red went with him though they had parted. He shivered and sat up, pawing at his eyes to rid them of the haze and get a better idea as to what he thought he had seen.
And then he was being offered a kitten.
Dominik had confirmed what he had been suspicious of - that there was a ring dangling from the kittens collar - and while he wanted to worship the kitten that fell by the wayside in favor of better things for the moment. It didn’t take long to remove the collar off of the kitten, all of this done meticulously and silently, the ring being edged from the binding.
He put it onto his finger and lifted his hand up to get a better look.
Dominik took up the kitten again, mindful of the hiss Skelly emitted as the little thing was tucked close to his heart. He’d have several of these little guys running about if Red let him. Crazy cat witch. His eyes fell to where his fiancé was staring, that ring glinting in the sun.
Hand crafted. Specifically no silver. It was gold. Leaves crafted into the band. Delicate handiwork. The whole thing resembled a rose and the diamond was set into the center.
He bent to lay a kiss into Red’s hair.
“I suppose it wasn’t the biggest surprise,” he moved to let both cats down onto the floor and Pickles followed- curious about the kitten. Dominik’s heart sank. Perhaps he didn’t like the ring? “The rose is… I sent you roses when I knew I was in love with you. I couldn’t say it then, but I do. You are the one bright star in my universe.”
There was no way he hated the ring. For once in his life Reginald Appleton was literally speechless. A rare event that wouldn’t last long - finding the words was a struggle but eventually they materialised. “I remember.”
He knew this moment had been coming. It’d been so casual when they’d first brought it up, after Dominic had asked unofficially. But now, with that circle of metal around his finger, Red felt a bit more solidified in the commitment. He’d been down this road before and if it was going to end the same way it had previously at least he knew the journey had been worth it.
And though their time together had been short Red knew that he loved Dominik dearly through and through. “So I guess this means I get to be a Zaharia now, huh?” He sniffled, pawed at an eye and then threw his arms around Dom’s neck to draw the man in close. Red buried his face in Dom’s neck.
“I love you.”
“I would gladly take your name in a heartbeat,” he pulled him close and nuzzled into that red hair. Red was his life. His saving grace. While Magda drove him to drink, his man gave him reason to live. The life of a necromancer was a lonely existence. Practices were frowned upon, or thought to be a joke.
Dominik was misunderstood, and he never worked to change that. The only caring bone in his body was the one he gave to Red. “I might get angry or distant. I might give you silence when you want words. I might not be perfect, but you make me feel damn near that way. I will always love you. I will always be there.”
He rolled away from him to gather his face between his fingers. He planted a kiss onto the bridge of his nose. “I love you,” his words were soft. His voice always pleasing to the ear.
Unable to help himself, Red grinned like a fool into that warm swath of skin. A deep breath and he pulled back. “All I need is you. Names can go to hell.” They could figure it out later when the legal stuff was pressing them.
For all of Dominik’s quirks, Red knew he was no saint either. He was loyal if nothing else. They really were a live action Beauty and Beast.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” The words were soft. He felt sappy but loved every second of it. “You’re gonna be so late if you don’t go.”
Dominik grumbled at the words, barely holding back a scowl that was quick to take over those softer emotions. Work could fuck off for a day, but it really couldn’t. He had a fantastic lesson planned and the students were beyond excited to get started. He took up his fiancé’s hand and planted a kiss into his palm.
“I’m going, I’m going,” he began to roll out of bed, but he paused, casting his gaze over his shoulder at the vibrant red hair. “I’ll stop by later with pizza,” he slid out of bed and straight out of his clothes.
He yawned and the cats ran from the noise as their owner shuffled off into the bathroom for a shower and a shave. “Text me with what you want on it,” he peered around the corner at him, his eyes narrowing a bit. “Or you should just help me wash my back.”
Dominik didn’t have to ask him twice.
Red was already shuffling out of bed. His feet made soft sounds, bare but warm, on the floor as he moved and before he knew it the distance between them had been closed.
Along the way Red had left a trail of his own garments - a sock here, a shirt there.
With a measure of pride he peered up at the taller man and beamed, “I couldn’t have you going to work with an unwashed back.”