Thankful for a quiet moment (rp for dealing_death)

[magic_fratboy]

The world was going to Hell in a handbasket, but there was still hope for the masses...at least until the war started spilling into his home.

The few nights she came home to him now, he could still see the blood and the horror in her face and feel it on her hands when she touched him. When it violated the sanctum of his home, his bed, that was when a line was crossed.

And he was having none of it, especially not today.

So when Selene showed up at his place that night, sans Michael, Tommy was in the kitchen working hard on his current project. The loft was filled with the smells of cooked turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce.

Glancing over his shoulder from the kitchen, he smiled shyly as she approached and stepped aside to reveal that the turkey was, in fact, a store bought breast, the stuffing was boxed, and the cranberry sauce was straight from a can.

"It ain't exactly homemade and traditional...but fuck it, it's Thanksgiving." he remarked sheepishly, walking around the breakfast counter to stand before her. "And it's our first together, so...I promise, when the vampires decide to take a fuckin' vacation? I'll cook a real bird, show you just how good this house can smell, 'kay?"

Comments

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

"They know exactly what's goin' down, and they get it." he reassured her, pulling her close as she stepped into him. Leaning in to kiss her warmly, he let his forehead rest against hers. "Just wait, next year we'll head up to New York for the holidays an' you can meet my folks. That's what I'm thankful for: that we're all gonna survive this shitstorm so you can come back East with me and get a load of Mom's baklava."

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

The offer surprised him, if nothing else because he suspected what she might mean. He didn't have to read her mind to know her mind...

"You don't think that's too soon to introduce ya to my folks? 'Cause I'm not leaving you alone for the holidays, if you think you're gonna go hide or somethin'."

He met her kiss eagerly, one hand cradling her cheek as the other arm pulled her closer. When she drew back with that singular smile, giving him a glimpse of those delicate and deadly fangs, he couldn't help but grin as he kissed the tip of her nose.

"That I can do...and if you're a good girl, maybe I'll even be dessert." he teased.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy let her drift to the table with a sigh, following her with a resolute grin as he pulled her chair out for her before sitting down himself.

"For the record, I've already told my dad about you." he informed her blithely as he slid into his chair. "And after he made the prerequisite dirty vampire jokes to make me squirm, he had no problem with it. If I'm gonna celebrate Christmas with my family, that includes you. So get used to the idea, 'kay?"

[dealing-death.livejournal.com]

"You told him about me." She was surprised by that. Selene laughed as she slid her chair in. "Dirty. Vampire. Jokes?" Her eyes sparkled with mirth. "This I have to hear.....so...New York for Christmas or...here."

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

"New York, I think. S' Aunt Zeph's turn to host." Tommy replied with a grin, picking up his fork and spearing a bite of turkey breast off his plate. Reaching across the table, he offered it to her. "My folks still live in Las Vegas, so they gotta fly the same as we do. And...I think if we deprive my Aunt Zeph of a chance to feed the masses, she'll kill someone." he added with a laugh.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy's face lit up with humor and affection as he swallowed his own bite of food and replied.

"Well first's my aunt, Zephyr Fotilas. She's my dad's older sister...sorta. Then there's my cousin Carbone, we were pretty much raised together so he's kinda like a brother. My mom's Agatha, and my dad's Gregory Karras. My pops is like my best friend, we've always been real close. It was him that got me started on all this magic stuff in the first place."

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

"My folks? Thirty five years." he replied with a laugh. "And they still act like they're fuckin' teenagers. It's funny...when you're not fourteen years old and they're not making out in front of your buddies."

When she remarked on the magic, he nodded. "That's what it was, at first...most avatars are raised as avatars. Trained to use their powers, given the choice to pledge to the Fraternity when they come of age. My parents chose to raise me as a human, not to tell me. They had their reasons...we worked all that stuff out when I found out about my heritage last year. But at first, everything I knew about magic was strictly legerdemain. Pops taught me a couple good card tricks before I started high school...I was too scared to talk to most folks back then, but those tricks were great ice breakers. I was never Mr. Popular, but at least I made friends, ya know?"

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy grinned, setting his fork down without so much as blushing. This part he knew, this was something that was familiar.

"Okay...no powers allowed." he sighed with a laugh, standing up just long enough to pull a pack of cards from the back pocket of his jeans. Opening the box, he slid them out and fanned them, then squared them with a flourish that attested to his long hours of practice.

Picking up a single card from the top, he turned in profile and showed her the card, gripped between his fingers to display the face of the ace of diamonds.

His hand moved through the air...once, twice, three times, then with a flick of his wrist, the card disappeared, his open hand completely empty.

A second flick of his wrist, and the card was back between his fingers.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy laughed, finally blushing just a little as he leaned over and plucked the card back, using his fingers to steal a bite of stuffing from his own plate, popping the soft breaded lump into his mouth with a grin.

"Magician can't reveal his secrets, you know that." he teased, absently tossing the card into the air as he spoke. The fourth time it went up, in its place a pale patterned silk fluttered up, then down into his waiting fingers.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

He was a little startled when she suddenly appeared, less so when she crawled into his lap. His hand went to rest on her thigh, steadying her without thinking or need as she took her perch. He had to smile when she asked about dessert, the smile nearly stolen by that teasing brush of lips.

He had a feeling he'd be shit out of luck if she ever had a clue what those warm and teasing little touches truly did to him.

Chuckling, he playfully nipped at her lower lip, letting his nose bump hers as he stared into her eyes, a low and mischievous light glinting in his.

"Riiiight, dessert. So you're ready for that pumpkin pie I got in the fridge, then?" he teased with mock innocence.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

The silence passed comfortably for him as he let himself be drawn, pulled further into the complex web of energy and emotion that he could see forming every time they got close. She fought so hard against the natural bond that connected them, a fact he wasn't built to understand. He simply waited...knowing that somehow, it would end. The struggle, the barriers she kept between them, they would disappear and all that would remain was the only thing that mattered: them.

Grinning, he blushed lightly as he nodded, never breaking her gaze. "Bound's my natural state." he replied softly. "Human will says 'frog' and I'll jump...and that goes double if it's you."

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

He let her bind his hands, then had to go very still when she pulled the knot taut, forcing himself not to work his way through the soft silk bonds as every cell in his body felt compelled to do. He knew just how they worked, just how the fabric could slide loose...

Very still, very quiet, he let the electric heat of being her prisoner wash over him. Helpless, powerless to her desires. The idea that she could have him whatever way she wanted was strangely exciting. Funny how he'd never thought of himself as the submissive type, but it didn't feel like submitting.

His breath caught as her teeth raked lightly over his skin, making it hard to answer for a moment as his head arched back to give her room.

"Sure." he finally rasped.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

He could only manage a nod, mouth gone dry under her tender torment. Wrapped in her scent and the flashes of touch she rained down, one at a time, had him pulling against the scarf binding his wrists, but he stayed motionless. If he moved, he'd break free, and he'd end this before he really got to see where it was going...

'Thank you' indeed. She'd probably never know what nights like this gave him, how much more she meant to him now that he remembered himself, his lives before this one.

...life. His life before this. Yet somehow that still didn't feel right to him...

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

He barely tasted the pie and whipped cream through the taste of her, feeding off the contact of her mouth on his lips and body even as he fed off the energy pouring out of her like wine. The exchange left him dizzy with both arousal and power as it spilled out of him, less quickly than it filled him. It was building, a tidal wave of heat that rose from deep within, one he didn't think he could control.

So with a smile as she fed him another bite of pie, he used the energy as he turned his head and nipped at her fingers playfully...

...while a hand slid over her bare thigh as she sat, distracted.

When she looked, there was nothing there, and on inspection Tommy's bonds were still securely in place, the knots even tighter from his wrists straining unconsciously against them.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

He smiled wickedly at her amazement, rising even through the haze of passion, but the smile quickly died as he shut his eyes and lost reason for a moment at the feel of her fingers teasing over his skin. It was almost more than he could bear until she hid her face against his neck and kissed him, lips and teeth tearing a hole through his self control as readily as he knew she was capable of tearing through flesh and bone.

There was something inherently thrilling in knowing that he had power over this calculating hunter, that she could kill him with no thought and yet chose instead to bare herself to him, to take him to her bed and show him the gentler side of her strength and her power.

The silk scarf finally fell to the ground, still perfectly nodded as Tommy's hands came up to cradle her face as he kissed her back, body shifting to better accommodate her in his lap.

[dealing-death.livejournal.com]

There had been other men in her life. She had loved others. Selene had never felt freedom in doing so. Tristan had made her question every move she made. Was she being manipulated and forced into his bed? Had every thing with the Prince of California been nothing more then a play for control over her clan? With Lothoro she felt trapped. Trapped by duty and obligation to her mother. She loved him, there was no doubt but it was stifling to live in the shadow of a women she would never be. Selene would never be Amelia and that was where his heart really was. Would never be the perfectly groomed diplomat they all hoped she would become. When Lothoro looked at her, all she saw was her every flaw. No matter which man she had found herself with, she had always kept her guard up. There was always that voice telling her to protect herself.

With Tommy that voice told her she was protected. Safe. That she could lay down her sword and armor, because he would keep her safe. In his hands her heart felt cherished. Like the handcuffs he could so easily escape, he had, through his selfless love of a monster, found how to unlock her once broken heart. All she had ever wanted from a partner was to be loved and accepted for who she is, bad, good and horrible.

A husky whimper made her lips tremble as his hands finally came free and held her face. Fingers buried roughly in his hair, pulling ever so slightly, driven by desire. Coming up for air she smiled sinfully at him, her dark eyes hooded by heavy lids as she stood up. A flush of color filled her cheeks, her chin dropped towards the floor as a little bit of reservation and shyness bubbled up. Slender fingers slid the thin straps off of her shoulders before reaching behind and freeing the clasp. A shaky breath poured from her slightly parted lips as the garment fell to the floor. Still standing between his parted legs Selene hooked her thumbs in waist of the only thing she was left wearing and slowly eased them down her hips, this time catching his eyes and never letting the connection break. "Come here." She wiggled a finger at him.