Opening Eyes

[Demeter]

L smiled at Dominic and leaned back against the headboard, his plate balanced on his knees with one hand holding his fork while he used his other hand to hold the coffee cup. "You're more then welcome, Dominic. Now, about this bed. Whenever we end up in bed, it's at your place and, Dominic, your a great man but this bed sucks. Two grown men cannot comfortably cuddle on, or sleep on, a double without invading each others personal space."

While he waited for Dominic to respond, L regarded the man who'd invaded his life and stolen his heart. L scooted his breakfast and coffee over to the nightstand before standing on his knees and crawled his way up to Dominic. He sat behind the younger man and wrapped his arms around Dominic's waist. After nestling his head against Dominic's shoulder, L sighed. "I love you, Dominic. It's not some spontanous, I wanna-get-into-your-pants love. I realized it somewhere in the middle of the Japan trip but I couldn't leave. Cissa chewed me out the first time I tried to leave and I didn't make the mistake of telling her this time."

When Dominic didn't respond, L nudged him. "I know this is sudden. I just had to say it. I can't help but compare you to Breaden and when I line the two of you up, you are the only one I think of. I thought I loved him but I realize that I was obsessed with him. I wanted to change him but I don't want to change you. You are Perfect."

L scooted away from Dominic and picked up his omlet plate. "So, when do I get to meet Lani?"

[Maira]

Dominic was merrily eating away when L's voice drifted through whatever random thoughts were going through his mind at the moment. The man's arms snaked around Dominic's waist and his head nestled in against his should and when he said something it didn't register right away. Only as L kept talking did he realize just what the older vampire was saying.

Sitting quietly for a few moments, even after L asked when he would get to meet Lani, Dominic had to try and keep his brain from exploding. L loved him? What? Was that even possible? Finally, after sitting trying to sort out his brain, Dominic set down his plate and mug next to L's and answered, "I think my head just exploded..." Then he turned and faced the other man, stared into his eyes for a moment then placed his hands on either side of L's face and kissed him soundly.

When he finally pulled away from the kiss, Dominic's breathing was a little ragged and his voice was hoarse as he said, "That's the best I can do right now Lysander. I'm sorry I can't give you a better answer than that...." There was so much he wanted to say but he honestly didn't have the words to express any of it.

It took him another moment of staring at the man sitting in his bed with him, before he remembered just what that man had asked right on the heels of his declaration of love. With a small shake of his head, in hopes of clearing it a little bit, Dominic answered L's question, "And as for when you get to see Lani, I have to call her mother and arrange a time. We meet up at her mother's house, as its neutral territory, so I have to make sure she's available. Aside from that though we could probably go see her any time." Oh how he loved the distraction of talking about his daughter. If anybody could cure his head's sudden urge to explode, it'd be the little girl with his violet eyes.

[Demeter]

L chucked and ran a hand through Dominic's shaggy hair. "Silly man, you don't have to say anything right now. That was just kinda sponatious with no planning what so ever. It just happened." L yawned and looked towards the ceiling. "Saying something is reserved for when you need to say it and I apparently needed to say it."

L stretched out, frowning when his feet slid of the end of the bottom. "New bed. Wanna go bed shopping with me Dominic? We probably should see how the beds stand up to...bouncing and a little bit of torment, don't you think." When Dominic squeaked, L laughed. "It's either new bed shopping with me or I should just move in, cause I do have a queen sized bed."

When the man squeaked again, L chuckled. "Call whoever you need to call and try for Saturday. I can probably wheeled a deal for a Saturday off from Cissa." The woman didn't really handle the scheduling but she was kinda the person in charge. Everyone went to her for anwsers and people wondered why she went through a bottle of extra strength tums in a week.

[Maira]

Dominic's head was barely recovering from L's rather unexpected declaration when the man mentioned bed shopping. The bed was rather small for two people, Dominic had to admit that but as he'd been sleeping alone for a while he'd never really noticed till the night before. When L mentioned they would need to test them against bouncing and torment, Dominic couldn't help but squeak. Bouncing and torment?!

Then the older vampire said he could always move in instead since he had a bigger bed. This time when Dominic squeaked he also jumped up off the double bed and took a few steps away. As an after thought he turned and headed to his dresser to try and play his nerves off as just grabbing clothes for the day.

Only when L seemed to abandon conversation topics that got him all frazzled did Dominic turn his attention back to the man. He listened as he was told to try and arange a visit with Lani for Saturday and he nodded his understanding. That was two days away and if they went in the morning, Lani would still be at Dion's from the weekly sleep-over after the family's movie night on Friday. Still, he would need to call Saiyuri and double check with her to see if that'd be okay. He would do that once L went off to work.

Only after he'd gathered his wits, and some clothes out of his dresser, did Dominic turn back to L and he answered hopefully non-chalantly, "I'd say you could move in if you wanted L but the house is tiny and you despise my kitchen. But because you -do- hate my kitchen and the house is so small, I spose I can look into getting a new bed. My uncle is getting ready to buy new ones for the Inn so I could always have him order me a new one too." He shrugged then waited to see what L would say. Then he remembered something and added, "If we go see Lani on Saturday, you know that Saiyuri's family will likely all be there right? And Saiyuri and probably her new fiance and his boy. There will be -lots- of people there, just wanted to warn you."

[Demeter]

L waited in the truck, more for Dominic's sanity then his own, while Dominic collected his daughter. If asked, they'd worked it out that Dominic was helping L move a peice of furnature. It only made sense as a excuse for the two men to be together as L only had his mustang and that could hardly move a table, let alone a new mattress set. He'd stretched out lengthwise on the bench seat and waited for father and daughter, flipping through a new art history journal.

When father, daughter and car seat showed up, L hopped out of the truck and let Dominic figure out the car seat. He stared at the little blonde haired angel Dominic had thrust at him. "You must be Lani," He'd been warned about Lani's inscreased development and he let the fact that this less then a year old child looked older. "I'm Lysander, a friend of your daddy."

Once the three were under way to the local mattress store, Lysander glanced over at Dominic. The man was paler then usual and sweating. Probably still thinks we'll be the ones testing the mattress. "Hey, Lani, How would you feel about bouncing on a few beds. Your dad needs a new one and I don't think he's an expert bed tester and I would bet my right hand that you are an excellent tester. What do you say?"

[Maira]

When Dominic finally escaped Dion's house with his daughter, her diaper bag, and her carseat he was more than ready to leave. Even considering the destination L had in mind, Dominic was more willing to go deal with -that- stress than his ex-wife's family... Once he had gotten back out to the truck, Dominic handed Lani over to L and got to work trying to fasten her carseat in.

Being shoved into the hands of a strange man was honestly nothing new for Lani, that was how she'd wound up with Thiery as a father figure after all when her mother had had to chase down Rowan in the college library once. Unlike that time, which Lani didn't remember at all as she was too young, Lani was fully aware of this man talking to her and she understood him. Her words however, were only that of a two year old so expressing herself was a little hard. "Lys? Lysan? Lys?" Oh she couldn't say his name, it was too hard! Oh well, she didn't care. Instead of worrying over the dark haired man's name, Lani just wrapped her little arms around his neck and kissed him on the chin, "Like you," she said soft as she cuddled into him.

Once they were all settled in the truck and were nearly to the bed store, Dominic heard L talking to Lani. The other man seemed quite attached to the little girl already and that made Dominic unimaginably happy. When he heard what the older vampire was saying to his little girl, Dominic couldn't help but smile. Thank goodness!!! It was Lani that would be testing the beds, not him and L.... The biggest weight lifted itself off of his chest as he swung the truck into the store's parking lot. "Well," he said much more relaxed than he'd been all morning, "Looks like we're here."

At those words, Lani unbuckled herself from her carseat and crawled onto L and asked, "Up?" She wanted -him- to carry her.

[Demeter]

L stared down at the child who'd just plopped herself on his lap. He chuckled at her rather imperious sounding command. "Okay, little one, just let me get out of the truck first." Once he was out of the car, L scooped Lani up and rested her against his hip. "Come on, Dominic, time to replace that too small bed of yours."

After he picked out few that he seemed to like, L removed Lani's shoes and set her on the first one. When the sales person who'd been following him around made to protest, L shot him a glare over his shoulder. The man was a fellow vampire of the Morbia bloodline and L snarled at him. ::Back off if you want to live:: he sent the message, along with an image of what could happen to him if he protested Lani's innocent testing.

He turned back to Lani, snaked an arm around Dominic's waist and addressed the little girl. "Go ahead, Lani, jump around."

[Maira]

The pure joy on Lani's face at being unleashed on the beds in the store was more than enough to distract Dominic from the fact that L had slipped his arm around his waist. He didn't even really notice until L removed his arm, to go pick Lani up off of the first bed and put her on another one.

As he watched L and Lani make their way around the store, Dominic took a seat on the first bed and smiled. The sight of those two together made him happier than anything else had in a very long time. It just felt right. His daughter and his... um... L. His L? Dominic just shrugged and gave in. Nobody else was paying attention to him and for the moment, he could allow himself the luxury of thinking of the possible future he might have with the older vampire.

He was a little lost in his thoughts and only slighly registered the sound of little feet running at him. When suddenly Lani launched herself at him yelling, "Daddy!!!" he let out a grunt of surprise and hugged the little girl close, kissing the top of her head before she pulled away and started jumping on the bed again.

L was close on the little terror's heels and Dominic smiled warmly at the other man and asked, "So, have you two picked out my new bed? I kinda wanna go home and take a nap." The invitation to join him was only slightly veiled as Dominic looked at L and he surprisingly found himself hoping that the man would take him up on it.

[Demeter]

Lysander smirked as he scooped Lani up. "I've already got the one picked out and set a sales person to go find the same set in storage. Now, we just need a few more things. Like a frame and some sheets." He led Dominic over to the sheets section and when Dominic made to pull out a package of 200 count sheets, Lysander plucked a package of 400 count, egyptian cotton sheets from the top shelf. "I'm paying for this, Dominic. And I'm used to good sheets."

When it came to purchasing their products, Lysander didn't blink at the total, he'd bought one of the more expensive mattress sets, and slapped down his platinum credit card. He'd never disclosed his monitary status to Dominic; it was something he didn't think important. After they loaded up the truck and returned home, Lysander set Lani down for her afternoon nap on Dominic's overstuff couch.

He helped Dominic set up the new bed and, after throwing up the plastic wrappers that covered both sheets, he came up behind Dominic and wrapped his arms around the younger man's waist. He rested his chin on the man's shoulder. "So, want to take that nap now?"

[Maira]

The whole experience of buying the bed, and the sheets that were to go on it, were a bit baffling to Dominic. Why on earth was L spending so much money on them? They were going to Dominic's house after all, not L's. And having a perfectly good set of sheets plucked out of his hands and replaced with fancier set just baffled him. If the one's he had picked would have worked why couldn't they have just gotten those? Plus, he liked the blue of his sheets better than the dark red of L's. And the comforter L had picked out too... Black? Why on earth would anybody want a black comforter?

Needless to say, Dominic's head was still spinning when they got back to his house later that afternoon after all the shopping. Once they had the bed and frame and everything else upstairs and into his little home, Dominic watched as Lysander put Lani down for a nap. The little girl already had the other vampire wrapped around her little finger and it seemed that L knew it and was enjoying himself. Dominic was just happy that they got along so well, that they had slipped into a natural rythm with each other.

As soon as Lani drifted off to sleep, Dominic wandered back into his bedroom and started setting up the bed. L joined him shortly and they finished in no time. Once it was done, Dominic walked back to the door to check on Lani and smiled to see her totally passed out. Then he saw a tail tip twitch out from under the edge of her blanket and he almost laughed. She was probably chasing Rowan in her dreams as that was the most common time her tail came out when she was awake.

He was about to call L to come look at her when he felt the other man's arms slip about his waist and heard the words that were spoken softly beside his ear. Having L so close, and having Lani asleep on his couch caused Dominic to feel a sudden surge of warmth through his whole body. This just felt so right. On a whim he turned his head, followed by his body, until he faced L and kissed him softly before saying, "Yes, that nap sounds wonderful." Then he looked back over his shoulder at his daughter one more time, snickered at her tail as it twitched wildly in agitation, then closed the door most of the way.

[Demeter]

L barely spared a glance for the tail that Lani sprouted. He'd seen enough odd things in his life that it barely phased him. Instead he just pulled Dominic into the bedroom. He let the man go shucked off his shoes, socks and belt. He then slipped under the sheets and groaned at the feel of the soft sheets and fluffy comforter. "Now this is nice," he muttered as he rubbed his cheek against the pillow case.

Lysander rolled over onto his back and watched Dominic as he closed the door but left it open slightly, in case Lani needed him. When Dominic finally crawled into bed, Lysander rolled onto his side and pulled Dominic against him. "Time to sleep."

[Maira]

Dominic had to privately admit that the comforter and sheets, and hell the mattress too, felt heavenly compared to his old stuff. He didn't say a word to L though as the older man pulled him close. Laying the way he was, with L against his back, it didn't take Dominic long to fall asleep and when he did it was full of good, yet slightly disturbing dreams. The dreams involved him and L years down the road living together and happy like any normal couple.

*****

Rowan had climbed up the tree to a branch she couldn't reach so Lani gave up. She started climbing down and slipped, landing with a hard thump on her daddy's livingroom floor. Groggy and confused, Lani looked around the familiar room for her father and was a little dissappointed not to find him reading or watching TV nearby.

Not really fully understanding how or why she did it, Lani took a sniff and followed her father's scent into his bedroom. She saw the door was mostly closed but gave a sleepy toothy grin when she was able to push it open with little effort. Once he was in her father's bedroom, she saw a lump on the bed and wandered over to it. She climbed up on the side she normally did, the side that was normally left open for her, and was rather confused to find somebody there. She was kneeling on all fours looking at L and Dominic tangled together in sleep, her head tilted to one side curiously. After a moment, Lani shrugged and pulled back the covers then crawled, under the covers, in between the two men. Her daddy was always warm and really good to cuddle with.

[Demeter]

In the week since they'd bought the mattress, Lysander found himself sleeping in Dominic's new bed every chance he got. He'd gone so far as to move a couple of suits and changes of clothes into Dominic's closet. He'd even made space in Dominic's kitchen for his cookware. He didn't know if Dominic knew it yet but he was a permanent fixture in the younger vampire's life. He wasn't going anywhere.

Lani had been returned to her mother with the promise that she'd get to visit again. Though he enjoyed the blonde, chubby angel, Lysander enjoyed having his Dominic back. He couldn't do lewd and inappriate things when there was a baby around, now could he? He heard the front door open and he stuck his head out of the bedroom. He'd just changed the sheets on the bed for a nice pair of dark blue sheets. "Hey, Dominic. How was the Inn?"

He exited the bedroom and slinked across the room. He gave Dominic a quick peck on the cheek. "I've ordered a pizza for you. I can't stay long. There's a joint opening at the Muesum later on, between art and history, on all that Japanese stuff I brought back with me plus whatever else we have in storage. Cissa wants me there to help find the stuff. It will probably take all night. The interns get confused."

He then pulled the man into a longer kiss and when he pulled back, he grinned at Dominic. "Hi there. Pizza should be here in 10 minutes or so. I put fresh sheets on the bed. I'll probably be back after midnight. Later, Love." L grabbed up his keys and his wallet from the little sidetable and left Dominic's Apartment.

[Maira]

It had been a very long day. Normally Dominic worked out on the grounds or fixing things during the day, but not today. The normal afternoon girl had called in, one of her kids was sick, and that meant that Dominic was stuck working the desk on a busy Friday afternoon. Oh how he hated doing check-ins on a Friday.

Of course, it wasn't always such a bad thing, just when one arriving guest switched rooms three times and got pissy that the ice machine was located outside the main building of the Inn. The fact that the Inn was over 100 years old did not make any difference to the expectations they had for the amenities they thought they deserved.

Ugh.

Walking up the path from the Inn back to his home above a garage, Dominic couldn't help but smile at the sight of Lysander's car still in his driveway. The man had been around almost constantly lately and there was no way Dominic was going to object. There was just something comfortable about L, something that felt right. Dominic wasn't sure what it was exactly, but while he took the time to figure it out, at least he had very pleasant company.

As he opened the door at the top of the stairs, Dominic was greeted by the man he'd just been lost in daydreams over and he couldn't help but smile, even if it was quickly followed by a groan. "The Inn was the Inn. And just in case you were wondering, working the desk on a Friday afternoon sucks big time."

When L appeared from the bedroom, Dominic's smile got bigger. The quick kiss the older man gave him alleviated any and all frustration he'd had from work. Unfortunately, hearing that L was leaving so soon, replaced his smile with a bit of a frown. That frown was then wiped away by a longer kiss and Dominic was left smiling again. The things that man could do to him with just a simple kiss...

When L pulled away and then left the apartment, Dominic stared at the door as it swung shut behind him and shook his head, still smiling. Then, to help unwind from a long day at work, Dominic went and flopped on his couch and flipped on the tv with the remote he fished out of the couch cushions.

[Demeter]

Lysander tugged on his tie as he opened the door to Dominic's above-garage apartment. The night had been long, digging through the contents of the basement. All he wanted was a long shower to get the dust off. He stopped when he saw Dominic sprawled out on the couch. He stopped tugging on the tie and regarded the sleeping vampire. Shaking his head with a grin, Lysander bypassed Dominic and headed for the shower. If he snuggled the other vampire now, they'd both get dusty and Lysander didn't think that Dominic was ready for sharing a shower.

Lysander showered and changed into a pair of black flannel sleep pants paired with a white wife-beater. He returned to the living room and watched the vampire sleep. He snuggled up to Dominic and gently ran a finger down Dominic's exposed cheek. "Wake up, Dominic. You're going to get a nasty neck ache if you stay here." Lysander brushed a kiss along that cheek.

[Maira]

The tv had been tolerable, the pizza had been good (L always ordered his favorite), and the couch... Well, it was his couch. It was long and comfy and tended to make people fall asleep on it. So, when he felt a finger tracing along his cheek and heard a familiar voice he wasn't too surprised. The soft kiss on his cheek just made him smile and he reached out and pulled the older vampire closer to him and nipped his chin.

"It already hurts," he answered, his voice gruff with sleep, "but I'll follow you to bed anyway." Then he attempted to pry himself out of the couch without much luck. After his second or third attempt, he finally managed to get himself upright and then had to untangle himself from the throw he'd pulled over himself at one point. "Well, I'll follow you if this damn couch will ever let go of me..." he muttered as he continued to struggle with the blanket.

[Demeter]

Lysander chuckled at Dominic. He untangled the man from the throw. "Come on, lovely," He hauled Dominic up by stepping on his feet and pulling him up. He guided Dominic into the bedroom. He, dispite Dominic's intetions to keep his shirt on, stripped Dominic's shirt off. He tossed the man onto the bed. He kneeled next to Dominic. "Easy, lovely, I'm just going to ease that neck of yours."

He used his hands on Dominic's neck, easing the stiff muscles into submission. He trailed his hands down Dominic's back. He couldn't get enough of touching this man. He eventually tucked Dominic into bed and climbed in himself. "Go to sleep, Dominic. I have the morning off."

Lysander turned on his side and pulled Dominic in close. He kissed him once.

[Maira]

Having a non-sleep-addled brain to help him untangle himself from the blanket helped greatly, and help getting out/off of the couch was welcome too. The help with his clothing once L managed to get them to the bedroom, was something else entirely. He fought to keep his shirt on, but the whole being half asleep thing gave Lysander the upper hand.

So, shirtless, Dominic got shoved onto the bed. Suddenly he was wide awake and he tried scooting away from Lysander as he knelt on the bed next to him. Until that is, L explained his intentions. Even then, until L started working his hands along his neck and shoulders, Dominic was leery. He couldn't help it.

As the massage progressed, Dominic started slipping back into sleep and when L finally stopped and tucked in some blankets around him, Dominic mumbled happily. "I'm off tomorrow too," he answered when L told him he had the morning off, then he relaxed into L and kissed him back before drifting off into sleep.

[Demeter]

L balanced the plate on his arm while pouring a fresh cup of coffee. He, unlike Dominic, could function on a few hours of sleep even after a long day. Dominic, when he slept, often slept like the dead. One of the sure fire ways to wake up the zombi-like sleeper was breakfast in bed. He walked into the room, leaned over and set the coffee on the beside table. Using his free hand, L waved the plated fried eggs with bacon over Dominic's head.

"Come on, wake up. We've both got the morning off so we should do something. I'd prefer spending the morning shagging you into bliss but you'll probably think of something else." L used a leg and shoved Dominic's hips about. "Wake up."

[Maira]

Luckily for Dominic, he had slept through L's declaration of what he wanted to do to him, otherwise he likely would have flown out of bed in a panic. Still, when the older vampire shoved at his hips, Dominic finally started to wake up. Then the smell of eggs, bacon and coffee brought him fully alert in only moments. He looked up a Lysander and smiled sleepily and thanked him profusely for breakfast by sitting up, taking the plate, and digging in.

Once he had downed half the plate, and most of the coffee he was actually able to vocalize his appreciation. "This is wonderful! I'm not sure how I ever survived without your cooking!" Then he pulled the man down next to him on the bed and mumbled, "Stop standing there watching me, its kinda creepy." After he had taken his last bite of eggs, Dominic turned to L and asked, "So what're we gonna do today? We're both off right?"