[tod] 8-D(are): Dress Up

[magic_fratboy]

He wasn’t much for dressing up, but tonight was a different story. Tonight was worlds away from other nights like this one, and Tommy had seen more than a few. It wasn’t always planned, though, thought out and laid out with such care…

He didn’t like to think too much about what he was putting on…or how soon it might come off.

Blushing furiously, he grabbed his black leather vest off the bed and shrugged it on, checking himself out in the mirror as he buttoned it. He looked all right…okay, better than all right. He’d taken extra care with his clothes tonight, the leather vest and dark blue jeans an outfit that he knew complimented him. Hell, it ought to, Jelly had been there helping him shop for it with ten different wisecracks about how good his ass looked.

“I’m such a shmuck.” He sighed, raking a hand back through his hair. Already, it was growing out again, a little faster than he’d expected. Only a couple weeks out, and the close-cropped hair with the blunt-cut bangs falling in his eyes were hanging more naturally, curling at the edge of his collar in the back. Maybe it was all on him…everyone kept saying how good he looked with long hair…

Adding his handcuff necklace and a couple of his favorite rings, including the screaming skull Ben gave him last year for his birthday and a family crest his father had given him when he turned eighteen, Tommy finished the outfit with studs in each ear instead of his usual silver hoops. Another incidental from Jelly, she claimed that the pyramid-shaped diamond studs made his ears look sexy…whatever the hell that meant.

He trusted her opinion…and he was shooting for sexy tonight, right?

The only thing he didn’t bother with was shoes. He was at home, and he didn’t wear shoes unless he had to. So, barefoot, he padded out of his room and prayed he hadn’t overdone the threads, along with the lamb and dolmas he’d made for dinner as he headed back towards the kitchen, waiting for Ziyah to emerge from her room.

Tonight was a night he was hoping she’d never forget.

Muse: Tommy Karras
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 365

Comments

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy smiled and blushed at her quiet praise, shutting his eyes as she brushed her lips gently over his cheekbone. Pulling her a little closer, he hugged her close and pressed his cheek to hers for a moment, then buried his face lightly against her neck. She smelled good...light perfume and warm skin, all woman and uniquely Ziyah.

The idea of leaving dinner was getting more tempting by the second.

Still, he drew back a little and dropped a quick peck against her lips, grinning. He couldn't answer her remark without either getting completely distracted, or far too involved in the simple mysteries of her and how she made him feel...so instead, he steered her towards her seat.

"C'mon...before we both forget there's food on the table." he teased gently as he released her long enough to pull her seat out for her.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

Right, the food. Had they spent any longer in that moment, it was inevitable the food would have been forgotten, so she was grateful he swayed her attention back to the table.

'You really outdid yourself, baby.' she beamed while her eyes widened at the spread. She'd been hungry since earlier that afternoon and when she started smelling the array, her stomach rumbled quietly.

Taking her seat, she ran an affectionate hand down his muscular arm and dropped it into her lap until he sat down.

'But I'm forewarning you now. That lamb is going to be annihilated.' she laughed, sliding the napkin onto her lap.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

"Good to know." Tommy replied with a grin as he bent to steal one last kiss before moving to his own seat, reaching for the platter of lamb and serving some onto her plate. "But I'll fight ya for the lamb," he added teasingly, "it's my dad's recipe, and I've been battling a nasty addiction my whole life."

After the lamb, he pointed out another dish on the table. "Dolmas are right there in front of ya, you wanna try that with the cucumber dressing. That's the white stuff...the lamb with some humus? Trust me, it's really good stuff."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

'That gives me all the more reason to fight you for it.' she grinned, trying to keep herself from diving in at an embarassing rate.

Helping herself to the dolmas and dabbing some dressing beside it, she started. Everything was like music to her tastebuds and in short, nothing short of superb.

'What's your parents like?' she spoke in between bites. It might have come across as small talk, but she was genuinely interested to know more about him than what she did already. More specifically, she wanted to know more about his father, since she never had one herself.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Fortunately, the subject was one Tommy could approach enthusiastically. Grinning at her question, he helped himself to some food as he spoke. "My folks? They're amazing. My dad and I are real close. He's an architect, does government work. County stuff mostly, there's actually a few things back home in Brooklyn and in Vegas that he's done. He just did do some work on this big thing that's going up near the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio...it's his first private job. Gonna be some kinda time share, condo deal. New fire department, too, all glass."

He paused, silently motioning for Zee to pass him the dolmas. "Mom's a podiatrist. Boring, I know. We fight a lot, but at the end of the day? She's always got my back. Like with school...she didn't want me to study art. We barely spoke my freshman year, but my sophmore year? She shows up at the apartment I'm sharing with Ben and lectures us for two hours on how we're living...for the record, the place looked fine. But that was her way of being there...stayed for a week, did all kinds of cooking and housecleaning, and in the middle of it all we cleared the air. She still ain't happy with me, but she did pose for me. Got an A on the assignment, and last I saw? She had the sketch framed in her office at work."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

She listened with interest, seeing that enthusiasm when talking about his father. It made her smile and maybe just a little excited to maybe someday meet his father. It intrigued her more than anything. How family dynamics worked when it came to a dad and his son. How much did Tommy inherit from him? How did they behave around each other?

Passing him the dolmas, she stopped eating for a minute to pay particular attention to him talk about his mom. Indirectly, it was eerily similar to the relationship between her mom and her.

'That's pretty cool.' she grinned with a nod. 'In my own experiences, the mother is always the harder one to please, but like you said, they forever have your back.' she looked down at her plate before slicing into a piece of lamb.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

He could feel her energy ebb at the mention of her mother. It saddened him to know that his little spiel might have hurt her, but he knew it was ludicrous to feel guilty because her mom was gone.

"I don't wanna get you down...but you mind if I ask about your mom?" he returned hesitantly, reaching across the table to take her hand with a warm squeeze. "I don't wanna stir up any bad memories or anything..."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

Finishing the bite of lamb, she took a drink and gave him a warm smile and shook her head.

'No, it's fine.' she flipped her hand, putting her palm to his. 'What did you want to know?'

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Reassured for the moment and silently vowing to drop the subject if it upset her even a tiny bit more, he gave her fingers a warm squeeze and smiled.

"I dunno...anything you wanna tell me." he admitted softly. "She made you what you are. I wanna know that. All of that...all of you."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

'Her name was Alessa..' she started out, thinking about her mother's face with a thoughtful smile. Taking a second, she organized everything she wanted to tell him and then looked at Tommy with a sense of excitement. No one had ever asked her to talk about her mother before.

'She was amazing, but so strong minded and quiet. You could look her in the eye and never know what she was feeling. While growing up, that really pissed me off. I guess after awhile I just kept egging her on, waiting for her to blow like she had seen me do so many times before. Funny thing is, she never did. Oh but when I blew? She waited for me to calm down and then make me sit with her and talk it out over ice cream or a big ass plate of pasta.' she chuckled.

'That was what I loved so much about her though. She had this life long wish that I would be strong like her and I didn't believe I could until after she died. Smart. Beautiful. Logical. Brave. And she made the most kickass spaghetti one would ever taste.' she left her eyes fixed on his and smiled radiantly.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Her face lit with joy as she talked about her mother, the same light filling her spirit and warming him as he listened to every word, studying her as she spoke. It was the excitement of a new journey taken, and it both saddened and delighted him that she was only just now discussing this...and that she was sharing it with him.

With a grin, he reached out and trailed his fingers over her cheek as he gave up her hand. "Well, she left behind a hell of a legacy in you. Smarts, logic, bravery...and especially beauty. Inside and out...'cause I don't think I tell you enough just how quick you take my breath away, Zee."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

The smile just wouldn't break, and only grew as he said his words which passed through in his touch with a powerful surge of warmth. Her breathed hitched, leaving her speechless and just staring at him contently. It was a defining moment for her. One that also revealed another first time for her.

'She waited her whole life to see me this happy, Tommy and never got to see it.' she leaned into his touch, while rolling her eyes upwards to pay indirect tribute to her mother. 'But I guarantee that she's smile from ear to ear now.'

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

"I know she is, baby...any proud mother would be." he assured her softly with a smile of his own. Impulsively, he rose from his chair and walked around the table to slouch down behind hers, wrapping his arms around her shoulders in a hug from behind, pressing his cheek to hers.

"Wherever she is, she sees you...and she knows you're probably slumming with a loser like me," he teased gently, "but she's happy. Because you're happy, and you deserve to be."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

Returning her gaze to his, she eyed him, a little curious as to why he was getting up. When his arms secured around her, she hooked one hand to keep him close and reached up with her other hand to caress his cheek.

Turning her face into his neck, she sighed happily and gave the warmth of his skin a tender kiss.

'And I'm beyond happy.' she breathed close to his ear.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

The words sank to the core of him, warming Tommy in places he hadn't known were cold until he'd met Zee for the first time. Turning his head, he shifted and caught her lips in his again, kissing her as he reached up to cradle her cheek and let his fingers slip down to caress the graceful line of her neck.

There was too much to say...too much to put into a simple 'I love you', so he tried as hard as he could to say it in that single caress...but as he deepened the kiss, he knew even that wasn't going to be enough. Maybe nothing ever would be...but he'd give it his best shot.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

A few short months ago, Ziyah would never had guessed that she'd be where she was; feeling the things she was feeling. Zee had never believed that 'love' was out there for her. She never looked for it, and yet, it found her. He found her.

Parting her lips to meet with his, she found herself lost once again in everything about him. With the kiss deepening, she leaned more into him. She felt close, but needed to be closer. Slowly, her hand came to his chest, resting palm down on his bare chest before sliding gentle fingers up to his neck.

Like him, Zee wanted to be able to define how she was feeling in those 3 powerful words, but it just didn't seem enough. There was, however, three other words that floated through her mind. Three simple words that had a thousand and one meanings, but in this moment, only spoke of one.

'I need you.'

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Those three little words made everything in Tommy stop...but not because of fear, and not because of his usual hesitant, shy embarrassment. Sheer desire, the want, locked every muscle and nearly stilled his breath with the force of it.

That soft whisper of permission to finally take what he wanted was almost his undoing.

"Zee..." Her name left his lips, breathless and husky, with the reverence and desperation of a prayer as he kissed her again, slow and deep. It didn't take much for him to shift so that he could pick her out of her chair and easily scoop her into his arms. She was almost close enough then...curled against his heart, hands on his neck and breathing his air...but it still wasn't enough.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

With her heart beginning to thunder in her chest, Ziyah listened to him say her name. The way he said it told her that she was not alone in feeling the way she was. He felt the same as she and that was made obvious by the way he gracefully plucked her from where she sat.

Now cradling his face in both her hands, she deepened the kiss even more, slowly smiling against his mouth with a nervous sigh. She needed him to know that in every single moment since arriving in Los Angeles, she had put him in her thoughts, and in every single dream. She needed him to know that what was about to happen between them, for her, was like experiencing it for the first time.

In all actuality, she never knew what love was like with someone she really honestly loved.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy carried her through the apartment, heading for his room with her in his arms as he kissed her hungrily, his passion matching hers. Once they were in his bedroom, he set her on her feet and finally wrapped his arms around her, a soft groan rising from his throat as her body molded perfectly against his.

Jesus, she felt like she was made for him.

Breaking the kiss, Tommy let his fingers wind gently in her hair as he let his lips trail over her jaw and neck, tilting her head to give him more room to touch and taste as his other arm slid around her waist to seal her against him. He could sense her nerves, the desperate craving for everything she wanted, everything she needed him to know...he just hoped he could make her see he understood.

Nipping and nuzzling his way up the curve of her neck, he let his lips brush over the delicate shell of her ear, his breath warm against her skin as he whispered.

"Zee...God, I love you."

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

The way he paid attention to her made a sea of goosebumps rise over every inch of her exposed skin. The intense knot of anxiousness began to unravel slowly as he placed her back on her feet, but completely came undone once his gentle, perfect lips found their way down her neck.

Making good that she remained as close to him as she could, her hands slid up the vest, barely touching the tips of her fingers under the edge of the collar. His skin burned with an erotic fire and she needed to feel more. Alot more.

Without wavering even the slightest, she slowly unbuttoned his vest, trying desperately to connect with him in the smallest of ways and still making sure to absorb every act of affection he initiated. Once that access was granted she pressed a hand completely against his impeccably defined muscles and inched her fingertips over the outline.

Pausing only long enough to hear his words, Zee's eyes rolled closed as she felt the urgency of needing him increase to an almost unbearable level.

'I love you too, Tommy.' she whispered back breathlessly as her fingers continued to carefully push the vest off one shoulder before her lips connected with the warmth of his skin.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Shutting his eyes with a sigh, the words moved through him with more perfect heat than the feel of her mouth on his skin could even bring. Pulling her closer, he buried his face against her neck for just a moment, absorbing that twin experience of being loved and feeling loved for the first time.

Drawing back a little, he helped her remove his vest by shrugging out of it and letting it fall to the floor, leaving him naked to the waist save for his jewelry. Reaching for her, Tommy slid his hands up her arms, drawing her against him even as he brushed aside the strap of her dress, letting it fall around her feet as he gathered her against him and leaned in for another kiss.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

Ziyah tilted her head and watched Tommy's one hand caress the smoothness of her shoulder and as her dress fell to her feet, she brought her lips back to his. His touch brought her that much more to life, giving her the sensation of being intoxicated without drinking a drop. Complete skin to skin contact never felt so good.

Pressing into him a little more, she slithered a hand under his arm and fanned her fingers down the curve of his spine. With the kiss intensifing, Zee found herself driven into a realm that she only ever read about in books. How could this be happening to her? What did she do to deserve such a wakening? The answers didn't matter. Being there with him was the only thing that mattered.

Her throat let out a smokey moan as her tongue twisted and turned fervently into his and her fingers spread up his back to weave intricately through the hair on the nape of his neck.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

It was easy to get lost, just for a few moments, in simply kissing her, touching her, learning the planes of her body as she stood nearly naked before him. Still, it wasn't enough, and as much as he wanted to go slow and take his time there was a hunger inside that needed more...

With a low growl of sheer need, he scooped her off her feet again, nearly feeling satisfied again. Warm, bare flesh against his, cradled against him in that perfect place where he could kiss her, feel her heart against his...

Carrying her over to the bed, Tommy gently lay her down before stretching out over her. It was a perfect fit, settled between her legs, skin to skin, heart to heart.

It was almost perfect as he leaned in and stole another kiss, letting his hands slide down her body as a prelude to his mouth as he broke away to trail his lips down her body. As he kissed and nipped a path down the center of her chest, pausing to lavish attention on her breasts, his fingers hooked in the waistband of her panties as he slowly started dragging them off her hips and down her legs.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

Sighing deliciously, her senses revelled in the way his body brushed over hers. His fingers on her skin, his mouth and lips on her breasts invoked such a fire within her that it proved hard to control the way her body reacted.

Her hand smoothed slowly up his muscular arm, stopping only in distraction as he stripped the red lace from her lower half. As her back arched into his touch, her eyes locked onto him, begging him not to stop.

With feverish moans her stomach tensed in anticipation.

She was hungry for him.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Casting her underwear aside, Tommy turned back to take a moment and simply look his fill, drinking in the glorious sight of her, naked and flawless and flush with arousal under his touch. It was more than a little intoxicating, to be with this strong and powerful woman and know that he could strip her of her reason this way.

Him, of all people...the shortest kid, the emo boy, the last picked and most overlooked. This was his prize, at the end of the day.

Grinning, even though he was still half-dressed and already getting uncomfortable with the constricting denim of his jeans, Tommy crawled back up the length of her body, hands smoothing over her legs as he favored her with a kiss against her knee, a nuzzle against her inner thigh, then eagerly bent his head and tasted her, teasing with lips and tongue as his eyes rolled up to watch her writhe under his ministrations.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

With hands resting on either side of her small frame, fingers began cinching into the blankets-curling with a pleasured gasp as his mouth took to her.

Slowly the eagerness of wanting him exploded as she found herself silently watching him, taking in the feel of the course stubble of his face against the sensitive inside of her thigh--weathered hands brushing up the outside.

She felt like royalty with him.

Moving her hand to his, she arched her back and sat up, urging him to straighten as she began pushing his jeans down past his hips. Laying fevered kisses across his collarbone and down a muscular arm she continued until he was able to just kick them off.

Her hand drifted back across his stomach, lowering slowly until her fingers curled around the length of him and she was breathing her pleas to feel him inside of her.

[magic-fratboy.livejournal.com]

Tommy's eyes fell shut with a soft moan as her fingers closed around him, her voice breathless and needy in his ear as she stripped him of the last of his clothing. He had to wonder if it was a sin to feel this good, to feel this sort of thing so naturally with another human being...he couldn't ever remember being with a woman that brought the heat to his blood so readily, so effortlessly...

His thoughts continued to drift into silent contemplation of her body and her beauty as he pulled her close again, sitting up to drag her into his lap. With a little help from her and those hands that threatened to undo him with their light and insistent touch, he guided himself into her body until the world had narrowed completely to the silken heat of Ziyah, making his body sing with sensation.

[zee-ali.livejournal.com]

Nothing had ever felt so right as a slow, smokey whimper muffled against the slope of his shoulder. Her lips dragged lazily as the rhythm of their bodies slipped into a steady, expressive song.

Smoothing hands down his back she could feel the momentum of their love scale to heights she had not yet been. It was almost too much, yet she found herself selfishly wanting more. This kind of adoration was unfamiliar to her.

Moving her lips back to his, she kissed him hard, feeding the explosive addiction of need and lust greedily.