[Dorian gasps, and then groans deeply, at the familiar, and much missed, pain of fangs driving into his neck. It's just as exquisite as he remembers, and with every audible swallow of his own blood, he can feel the heightening of sensation in his body stitching them together again. His hold on Toby firms as the man draws from him, because he needs to keep the man close to him in this moment. He needs to truly feel how this is going to be his reality again, lest he wake up in a few hours and be made to wonder if it really happened, or that it was all, the way it has been, a nightmare.
He doesn't want to bear even another moment of that, now that he has Toby back again.
When the other man finally pulls away, Dorian exhales shakily, and opens his eyes to the burning of brilliant and sumptuous colours all around them both. Everything is as beautiful and picturesque as it always is whenever Toby bites him, and now more than ever he knows why. This is his life, when he has the vampire in it - only when he has Toby in it.
How did he manage to keep dragging himself through his existence, without this? The thought only makes his need, and desire, for the other man that much more urgent. Reaching out, he captures Toby's face in his hands, and brings them together in a passionate, and bloodstained kiss. He holds it for as long as he can manage, and then draws away with a breath, to start pulling at his pants, and every other scrap of clothing still on his body.]
I can't wait another second, [he needs this man to fuck him, now] I need you now.
[Again his lover asks him for something that doesn't require words. As Dorian kisses him in those first moments after Toby's pulled away, the vampire's already reaching for the clothes still left on the other immortal's body. Hands warmed by blood, his blood, fumble with buttons and zippers until seams rip and everything gets shoved out of the way. It's the last bit of thought he's got in his head before he's flipping them over and pinning Dorian to the bed so he can press warm fingers into his ass while they kiss again.
It's automatic to reach to prepare someone for having sex after so long without his soulmate, and the second Toby realizes how unnecessary it is between them, he laughs at himself. Breathlessly, with the draw of a full and needed breath into his lungs after. He grins as he shrugs off his own ridiculousness, then takes his cock in hand to line them up and, with only a brief glance to catch his lover's eyes, press into the other man with the most heady moan.
As it always is when they're together like this, the whole of the world seems to come down to the two of them when they're locked together. Toby's breath catches in his chest, and he chokes on a sob of joy and relief as he looks down into the face of the man he loves and has missed more than any other in existence. He doesn't let any of this slow him down or distract him, though, because he needs this just as much as Dorian. He groans as he starts to roll his hips, kissing his lover again as he cradles his face and wills himself to find enough breath for the words he will never tire of saying for the rest of their eternity together.]
[So many feelings and sensations are coursing through him as they-- make love, in a way even he couldn't deny, and all of it's heightened by the effects of the other man's bite. Dorian grips needfully, passionately, at the other man as Toby drives them together again and again, sending shocks of pleasure up his spine, and heat flushing through every part of him. It's so nostalgic and fresh all at once, that it makes his heart ache from the familiarity and newness of every feeling.
He has this, with this man, back again. This shouldn't have happened for the fourth time, but it has. He can feel them being rewritten in every crash of their hips, and in the lukewarm tears falling onto his chest.
He doesn't want this to end, but at the same time, he does. Everything ending means it can all start again, and that this isn't just a reverie. It means Toby will stay, and that he won't roll over, bathed in sweat and heartbroken, and find himself without the one person he needs, will always need, more than anyone, or anything, else.
Groaning out the other man's name, Dorian reaches clumsily for one of Toby's hands, and wraps it tight around his cock. He can feel how close he is to coming already, but he won't let any part of this necessary reintroduction be slowed.
He loves this man, and if all of their neighbours end up hearing about it tonight, he truly couldn't care less.]
[It's so much all at once to have this man in his arms again. To be together like this again when every moment between realizing Dorian was gone and now has simply been a sea of distractions. Litres of alcohol, hundreds of rounds of sex, and drugs of all sorts were never enough to kill his anguish of being separated from the man he loves, but it doesn't matter anymore. This is his Dorian, his soulmate, his husband-to-be. Nothing changes that when the truth is under his hands and around his cock the way he's been aching for for too many months.
He grips hard at the other's cock when he's guided to it, squeezing and stroking quickly to match the pace of his thrusts. It doesn't feel enough, so he does the only thing he can think of by dropping down to his other elbow to press their lips together. He doesn't care how hard it makes it for either of them to breathe, because this? This is more necessary than anything. More necessary than breath, than words, than comfort for his body. None of that matters if he can just kiss this man and know him that little bit more while they come together for the first time in far too many nights.
His release comes upon him as a surprise, but it's one he gives himself to gladly. He moans Dorian's name into their latest kiss, fingers squeezing his cock and gripping the bedspread as he spills into the man. He keep his hips going to help Dorian reach his peak, too, bringing them together over and over until they can collapse and recover enough to do it again. And again. And again.
Every second of the next few hours and days and weeks will belong to this man, and Toby's going to make sure it stays that way without regard for anyone else. No one else matter. Nothing could ever matter when his Dorian Gray, his soulmate and husband, is back.]
[Feeling Toby come above and inside him is an exhilarating rush, and one that would pull the breath from his lungs, if they weren't already screaming for air. He doesn't care. Every drop of passion, of pain, he can have with this man, he wants to lose himself in all of it. He gives himself over to every kiss, every stroke of his cock, and each and every groan, and cry of Toby's name writhing to spring from his lips. Dorian holds their latest kiss as long as he can manage, and then parts with a sharp gasp, as his orgasm pulses through him.
In this one, electrified moment, the suffering of the last year is nothing. The suffering of over a century, is nothing.
He'll fall back down to Earth. He always does. Right now, he's too blissfully happy, and relieved, to feel, or think about anything but Toby.
As soon as he can breathe again, Dorian flops back into the plushness of their bed, but keeps an arm around the other man, tipping his head for another deep, and lingering kiss. This was so much, and yet not nearly enough.]
I love you, too. [He waits until the other man pulls out of him and comes to rest with him, and then curls a hand around the back of Toby's neck.
God, he could stare at this face forever, and be content. He allows himself the pleasure for an extended moment, until thoughts start coalescing in his head again.] No disrespect to your skills, but... I still can't believe this is happening. [He huffs a disbelieving, but happy laugh.] I've had a lot of dreams like this. [When they weren't about Lucifer.]
[He chuckles breathlessly as he settles against Dorian, the last of his air going out in a rush as he leans forward to kiss the man's forehead.] I can imagine. With what Lucifer's doing to you back home, this must feel too good to be true. [The two of them finding each other again, having an established home and life the younger immortal can slip back into? What could be more romantic a dream than that? Their impending nuptials aside.
Toby shakes his head and presses their foreheads together, draping an arm across his soulmate to pull him closer.] Give it time, darling. We'll have this without interruption for weeks if we want. I'm sure my boss can make do without me for that long and we can order in anything we need. No distractions at all.
[A beat.] Ah, one exception. Elle's going to have to be here occasionally. City demands we live with our contracted partners at least half the month now, so... [He grins sheepishly.] Maybe we can just have her deliver what we need, and bake some cookies while she's here? She's quite fantastic at it.
[It's not ideal that they have to share their space during this time, but it's easy to accept when they have weeks that will be spent doing nothing but getting reacquainted. Nothing could truly ruin that prospect.
Dorian settles into their contact, luxuriating in it as he drapes limbs over the other man. With afterglow still swimming lazily through his veins, this is ... perfect.]
What's there to that for you both, anyway? Your contract, I mean. I heard the basics from orientation, but you have to be together for, what, three months? [Because when that time's up, it's going to be them contracting, right? That much feels obvious to him, and he doesn't want to be matched with anyone else.]
Convenience, mostly. She needed a contract when I did, and I got to keep the house by signing with her. Well, it's in her name right now, but once she knows you're back, she'll give it over when you take me back.
[Aha, another thing to mention. This one much more exciting. He grins as he tugs Dorian to him for a kiss.]
Three months, unless you make it permanent. Which we'll be doing, by the way. We did it last time, the first night I arrived. [He lifts his left hand to waggle his fingers and show off the ring Dorian got him on his last visit to Duplicity.] It's almost like getting married to the natives here, so of course I got a ring from you for it. It's not a proper wedding band, though, so I still demand something new to match whatever you choose for yourself now that we are getting married.
[Welcome back to Duplicity, Dorian! Hope you were ready for your soulmate's ecstatic rambling, because that train has now started and is never going to stop as long as you're here.]
[It's still bizarre to not remember any part of what Toby's describing, but there's one piece he can agree with, at least: Now that they're here together, of course they're going to contract permanently again. He can't imagine being paired in that way with anyone else.]
How... exactly is it done? Do we have to go to LIES headquarters and announce ourselves, or something? [He's not going to be surprised if the fanfare requires a public spanking, or some other public sexual fanfare like that. Sex and kink seem to be the flavour of the day, in Duplicity.]
And I would like to get the house back in my name as soon as possible, yeah. Is a signing over of the deed all that's needed?
Nothing like that. [He chuckles and pecks Dorian's cheek before sitting up to find them each a cigarette. If this is going to be a deeper conversation, it calls for smokes.]
They've a courthouse here. We'll go down and sign an official contract with whatever terms we want on it. They should have a copy of our old one, so we can pull that and make a fresh copy to sign and have certified by the clerks. No declarations or ceremony to it. Just paperwork. [It's probably the most tame part of the entire process.
He hands over a cigarette before laying back down, ashtray on his stomach for ease of access.] Actually, I'll ask Elle for that. She's a lawyer, and she's down there all the time. Won't be a bother to her and we can stay in more.
Just paperwork? [Surprisingly uneventful.] Almost seems anti-climactic, after everything they put me through this morning. I was half-expecting they'd make me flog you in public to mark the occasion.
[Dorian accepts the cigarette he's handed, and then lays down next to Toby so he can reach the ashtray on the man's stomach.
And hey, if Elle can take care of it, that works for him. It's more time with Toby, and less time wrangling with administrative services.]
Does she care, at all, that you're jumping ship soon?
They're not going to tell you no if you suggest it. You're the Dominant, you get all the public say. [Or enough of it that he'll get his ass in trouble if he speaks out of turn. He chuckles at the thought and then takes a nice long drag from his cigarette.]
Well she doesn't know yet [seeing as his hands and mouth have been very occupied since Dorian called him earlier] but she won't mind that I'm going back to you. She's our biggest stan, as the kids say. Every time I go on about you, she gets the cutest little dreamy look on her face, like she's hearing the greatest love story that's ever been written.
[That's how their lives are, in a way. All their trials, self inflicted and otherwise, that only keep them apart temporarily and still deeply in love despite all of it. Hard not to see it as a romance, in a way.]
I'll help her find another Submissive, if she needs the help at all. She's resourceful, witty, and sharp, and she throws the most savage shade when pressed. I've no doubt she'll be fine without me.
Grand authority of the city or not, I can save it for when we're in private, or somewhere else we like, [he jokes, taking a long drag from his own cigarette.
He smiles slightly as Toby describes Elle. No wonder they worked out well as contract partners, if she was as into their relationship as she sounds. She must have found Toby's soft spot.]
That sounds fine to me, but what's... 'shade'? [He's from 2016, help him out, Toby.]
[He's not much better, Dorian, but come on! You've got to keep up.]
It's disrespecting someone subtly. An example you might know from ye olden times is the American phrase "bless her heart." People use it to throw shade about someone being completely ridiculous or out of touch before explaining what they've done wrong. Elle does it beautifully with even more subtle and eloquent phrasing.
[It's truly a thing of beauty. He hopes Dorian gets to see it soon so he can see why he adores this woman.]
In that case, it's just another new word for something old. [He's amused, and pleased to recognize the slang across time. Thanks, Aisha.] People like Oscar and Harry were kings of 'shade', in their time.
If she's that socially astute, she'll be something to be reckoned with, [he agrees, and then takes another drag off his cigarette, as he rolls his gaze up to fix it thoughtfully on the ceiling.]
Did I know her, too? I can't remember. [Obviously, but it still gets a mention because it's weird.]
Honestly, I'd give a lot to hear Oscar of all people use the phrase throwing shade. It would've been an absolute riot. [Especially coupled with the fact that the man was brilliant at it. Toby read all his letters and works, he knows the man had the wit and intellect for it.]
You did, at least in passing. You weren't friends like she and I were, but you did know her, if mostly through me. [He chuckles, helping himself to a drag of his smoke.] She's a very earnest and pink person, and you asked me more than once if she was truly like that. And she is. I can show you her room in the house tomorrow. It's obnoxiously pink, and perfectly her.
[High praise from Toby, and Dorian will know that for a fact.]
Someone like you could have convinced him to, probably. [For a moment, his smile takes on a wistful quality.] He was weak for romantics - and a pretty face, [he adds, knowingly.] Bat your eyes, and he'd talk himself into almost anything. [Unless it was cruel. Oscar never could follow him, there.]
Obnoxiously pink? [He can't even begin to imagine, and his morbid curiosity is officially piqued.] Which room was she using? [Screw tomorrow, he wants to see what's happened to their house, now.]
I do have a way with people, [he chuckles. All that without his vampiric abilities, too! He knows he's charming and damn near irresistible unless he's the opposite of someone's type. Even then, he's got good potential as the "gay best friend" for almost anyone.
Ah, well, guess they're moving now?? Toby barks out a laugh as he sits up, cigarette between his lips so he can help the other man up.] The spare bedroom. I wasn't using it for anything, and the city made a rule a few months back that people contracted to one another had to live together. I wasn't about to have her living in our room, either, so this seemed best.
[It's going to need major redecorating when they take it back over in full, but that's a problem for future Dorian and Toby. Present Dorian and Toby have a bedroom to investigate and all of Elle's things to see.]
Have a care you don't mess with any of her crafts or makeup when we go in, darling. That would be rude.
The spare bedroom takes a little finding because everything's so new, but when Dorian does step into Elle's room, it's clear what Toby meant by 'obnoxiously pink'. The arrangement of the decor isn't terrible, he must admit, but all the pink. What is... happening.]
You weren't kidding about the pink domination. I feel like I'm standing in Barbie's adult Dreamhouse. [Dorian picks up a plastic tumbler that has a cursive 'Hello, beautiful!' hand-painted onto it in glittering, champagne-coloured paint. What the actual hell.]
...Mixed with a side of 2000s pop psychology. [What does he do with this, Toby? This room contrasts his entire existence????????]
[Dorian, he has to be sure. He really likes Elle, so give him a break and be kind about all this! >(
The reaction to the bedroom is great, though. Toby barks a laugh and all but doubles over before he can answer any of his fiancé's thoughts. God, it was worth it not to give him better warning just for that reaction.]
She's from the early 2000s. I'm pretty sure her love languages are Cosmo, sugar, and cocktails. [With a healthy dose of sex on the side, now that she's in Duplicity.] You were confused by her last time, too, but I assure you she's very real and is everything you'd expect from this room.
[A beat, and he grins.] She also runs a spa in the Down and has access to all the best soaps, jellies, and bath oils. Care to try a few out?
[Let him show you the brilliant master bathroom, future husband! From the eyebrow waggle in your direction, you should know it's that good.]
I have no idea what I'm supposed to expect from this room. [He really doesn't. He's met all kinds of women, men, genderless, and genderfluid people with High Femme energy, but what he's looking at feels like an exaggeration that goes further than that.] Camp night at the Met Gala? [????] What does she do, besides running a spa and owning ... [he counts] a lot of animals? [Especially dogs. Nnnghh.
... but yes, please, he is curious about sumptuous bath products.]
Bask in the fact that it exists unironically in our house for another few weeks? [He can't even say it without laughing.]
She's a busybody, though not in our way. [You know, the very normal and mortal way.] Always visiting friends or baking or cooking something. I never run out of things to eat when she lives in the house. Well-- not good things. [Cheese doodles don't count and he knows it, and those he runs out of often.] Also shopping, when she's got enough money on hand for it. She's added a few things to the closet for me in her time here. [They'll get to seeing that later, he's sure.]
Also, no need to worry about the animals. She stays at her other house half the month with all of them. None are are allowed in the house as a rule, and she's respected that without question for the last five months. [God, has it been that long since the decision came down? Guess so, but what a bloody terrifying thing to think. It'd become so common he didn't even think about it. Not the realization he was looking to have right now. He shrugs it off by taking Dorian's hand and leading him back to their bedroom, then directly into the ensuite.]
Bath bombs, shower jellies, a few oils for the bath - all in a variety of scents. I'm sure you'll approve. [He releases Dorian to look over the collection stashed away in a cabinet. The man will find they're all in scents Dorian would choose with only one or two of Toby's favorites mixed in.]
[He really needs to get to know Elle better, doesn't he? It doesn't sound like she and Toby were contracted long, but the other man clearly adores her. A friendship like that isn't going to fade, just because they won't be bound together anymore.]
Are you going to want to keep her room that way, after she's gone? [It wouldn't be such a loss, he supposes, if she really means a great deal to Toby. He'd prefer to make the room over in their own way, but he can have a heart sometimes, for the vampire's sake.
While he's talking, Dorian picks through and sniffs at all the bath treats stored away. Anything rose-scented gets a secondary, approving sniff.]
I've no idea. [He's not had to think about it in anything but an abstract "what if she disappears too?" sort of way, and even then he wasn't certain what he'd do with it. How do you choose what to do with a room that's become so much a part of the house and someone who's lived in it? Elle is still his friend and he wants her to have a comfortable place here, should she visit once Dorian snags him for a permanent contract again, but is it wise to give up their only spare bedroom when she can't stay the night without getting in trouble after the house is in their name once more?
That's far too heavy a thought when he's still swimming in the joy of Dorian having said yes to his proposal, so he shrugs it off for now.] I'll think on it. For all I know, she'll tell us to take it down after she's taken all her things out of it. [A stunned beat.] Actually, she may just do that. She is our biggest fan. [He can't blame her for that; they are the picture of romance, even if the younger immortal will deny it vehemently.
He smiles as he watches his fiancé picks through all the bath goodies. He'll let the man pick what he wants, but he does give a little push toward something particularly nice by plucking up a mini bath bomb labeled as orchid-scented.] It's got dried petals in the center of it too, [he offers enticingly.] I used up the rose ones last week, but we can get more of those this week. They've got a lovely effervescent feel to them and really good scents.
[Dorian samples the loveliness of the orchid bomb's scent, and then lowers the hand clutching it. It hits him how normal all of this is between them. How domestic. They're fitting back into each other's lives like this without almost no friction at all.]
Honestly, we could be about to bathe in nettles and I couldn't care, [Dorian admits, chuckling. He reaches for one of Toby's hands, and smiles up at that beautiful face.]
I just... want things to stay like this, with you, for as long as they can.
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He doesn't want to bear even another moment of that, now that he has Toby back again.
When the other man finally pulls away, Dorian exhales shakily, and opens his eyes to the burning of brilliant and sumptuous colours all around them both. Everything is as beautiful and picturesque as it always is whenever Toby bites him, and now more than ever he knows why. This is his life, when he has the vampire in it - only when he has Toby in it.
How did he manage to keep dragging himself through his existence, without this? The thought only makes his need, and desire, for the other man that much more urgent. Reaching out, he captures Toby's face in his hands, and brings them together in a passionate, and bloodstained kiss. He holds it for as long as he can manage, and then draws away with a breath, to start pulling at his pants, and every other scrap of clothing still on his body.]
I can't wait another second, [he needs this man to fuck him, now] I need you now.
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It's automatic to reach to prepare someone for having sex after so long without his soulmate, and the second Toby realizes how unnecessary it is between them, he laughs at himself. Breathlessly, with the draw of a full and needed breath into his lungs after. He grins as he shrugs off his own ridiculousness, then takes his cock in hand to line them up and, with only a brief glance to catch his lover's eyes, press into the other man with the most heady moan.
As it always is when they're together like this, the whole of the world seems to come down to the two of them when they're locked together. Toby's breath catches in his chest, and he chokes on a sob of joy and relief as he looks down into the face of the man he loves and has missed more than any other in existence. He doesn't let any of this slow him down or distract him, though, because he needs this just as much as Dorian. He groans as he starts to roll his hips, kissing his lover again as he cradles his face and wills himself to find enough breath for the words he will never tire of saying for the rest of their eternity together.]
I love you.
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He has this, with this man, back again. This shouldn't have happened for the fourth time, but it has. He can feel them being rewritten in every crash of their hips, and in the lukewarm tears falling onto his chest.
He doesn't want this to end, but at the same time, he does. Everything ending means it can all start again, and that this isn't just a reverie. It means Toby will stay, and that he won't roll over, bathed in sweat and heartbroken, and find himself without the one person he needs, will always need, more than anyone, or anything, else.
Groaning out the other man's name, Dorian reaches clumsily for one of Toby's hands, and wraps it tight around his cock. He can feel how close he is to coming already, but he won't let any part of this necessary reintroduction be slowed.
He loves this man, and if all of their neighbours end up hearing about it tonight, he truly couldn't care less.]
cw: mentions of addiction/drugs/alcoholism
He grips hard at the other's cock when he's guided to it, squeezing and stroking quickly to match the pace of his thrusts. It doesn't feel enough, so he does the only thing he can think of by dropping down to his other elbow to press their lips together. He doesn't care how hard it makes it for either of them to breathe, because this? This is more necessary than anything. More necessary than breath, than words, than comfort for his body. None of that matters if he can just kiss this man and know him that little bit more while they come together for the first time in far too many nights.
His release comes upon him as a surprise, but it's one he gives himself to gladly. He moans Dorian's name into their latest kiss, fingers squeezing his cock and gripping the bedspread as he spills into the man. He keep his hips going to help Dorian reach his peak, too, bringing them together over and over until they can collapse and recover enough to do it again. And again. And again.
Every second of the next few hours and days and weeks will belong to this man, and Toby's going to make sure it stays that way without regard for anyone else. No one else matter. Nothing could ever matter when his Dorian Gray, his soulmate and husband, is back.]
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In this one, electrified moment, the suffering of the last year is nothing. The suffering of over a century, is nothing.
He'll fall back down to Earth. He always does. Right now, he's too blissfully happy, and relieved, to feel, or think about anything but Toby.
As soon as he can breathe again, Dorian flops back into the plushness of their bed, but keeps an arm around the other man, tipping his head for another deep, and lingering kiss. This was so much, and yet not nearly enough.]
I love you, too. [He waits until the other man pulls out of him and comes to rest with him, and then curls a hand around the back of Toby's neck.
God, he could stare at this face forever, and be content. He allows himself the pleasure for an extended moment, until thoughts start coalescing in his head again.] No disrespect to your skills, but... I still can't believe this is happening. [He huffs a disbelieving, but happy laugh.] I've had a lot of dreams like this. [When they weren't about Lucifer.]
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Toby shakes his head and presses their foreheads together, draping an arm across his soulmate to pull him closer.] Give it time, darling. We'll have this without interruption for weeks if we want. I'm sure my boss can make do without me for that long and we can order in anything we need. No distractions at all.
[A beat.] Ah, one exception. Elle's going to have to be here occasionally. City demands we live with our contracted partners at least half the month now, so... [He grins sheepishly.] Maybe we can just have her deliver what we need, and bake some cookies while she's here? She's quite fantastic at it.
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Dorian settles into their contact, luxuriating in it as he drapes limbs over the other man. With afterglow still swimming lazily through his veins, this is ... perfect.]
What's there to that for you both, anyway? Your contract, I mean. I heard the basics from orientation, but you have to be together for, what, three months? [Because when that time's up, it's going to be them contracting, right? That much feels obvious to him, and he doesn't want to be matched with anyone else.]
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[Aha, another thing to mention. This one much more exciting. He grins as he tugs Dorian to him for a kiss.]
Three months, unless you make it permanent. Which we'll be doing, by the way. We did it last time, the first night I arrived. [He lifts his left hand to waggle his fingers and show off the ring Dorian got him on his last visit to Duplicity.] It's almost like getting married to the natives here, so of course I got a ring from you for it. It's not a proper wedding band, though, so I still demand something new to match whatever you choose for yourself now that we are getting married.
[Welcome back to Duplicity, Dorian! Hope you were ready for your soulmate's ecstatic rambling, because that train has now started and is never going to stop as long as you're here.]
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How... exactly is it done? Do we have to go to LIES headquarters and announce ourselves, or something? [He's not going to be surprised if the fanfare requires a public spanking, or some other public sexual fanfare like that. Sex and kink seem to be the flavour of the day, in Duplicity.]
And I would like to get the house back in my name as soon as possible, yeah. Is a signing over of the deed all that's needed?
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They've a courthouse here. We'll go down and sign an official contract with whatever terms we want on it. They should have a copy of our old one, so we can pull that and make a fresh copy to sign and have certified by the clerks. No declarations or ceremony to it. Just paperwork. [It's probably the most tame part of the entire process.
He hands over a cigarette before laying back down, ashtray on his stomach for ease of access.] Actually, I'll ask Elle for that. She's a lawyer, and she's down there all the time. Won't be a bother to her and we can stay in more.
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[Dorian accepts the cigarette he's handed, and then lays down next to Toby so he can reach the ashtray on the man's stomach.
And hey, if Elle can take care of it, that works for him. It's more time with Toby, and less time wrangling with administrative services.]
Does she care, at all, that you're jumping ship soon?
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Well she doesn't know yet [seeing as his hands and mouth have been very occupied since Dorian called him earlier] but she won't mind that I'm going back to you. She's our biggest stan, as the kids say. Every time I go on about you, she gets the cutest little dreamy look on her face, like she's hearing the greatest love story that's ever been written.
[That's how their lives are, in a way. All their trials, self inflicted and otherwise, that only keep them apart temporarily and still deeply in love despite all of it. Hard not to see it as a romance, in a way.]
I'll help her find another Submissive, if she needs the help at all. She's resourceful, witty, and sharp, and she throws the most savage shade when pressed. I've no doubt she'll be fine without me.
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He smiles slightly as Toby describes Elle. No wonder they worked out well as contract partners, if she was as into their relationship as she sounds. She must have found Toby's soft spot.]
That sounds fine to me, but what's... 'shade'? [He's from 2016, help him out, Toby.]
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It's disrespecting someone subtly. An example you might know from ye olden times is the American phrase "bless her heart." People use it to throw shade about someone being completely ridiculous or out of touch before explaining what they've done wrong. Elle does it beautifully with even more subtle and eloquent phrasing.
[It's truly a thing of beauty. He hopes Dorian gets to see it soon so he can see why he adores this woman.]
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If she's that socially astute, she'll be something to be reckoned with, [he agrees, and then takes another drag off his cigarette, as he rolls his gaze up to fix it thoughtfully on the ceiling.]
Did I know her, too? I can't remember. [Obviously, but it still gets a mention because it's weird.]
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You did, at least in passing. You weren't friends like she and I were, but you did know her, if mostly through me. [He chuckles, helping himself to a drag of his smoke.] She's a very earnest and pink person, and you asked me more than once if she was truly like that. And she is. I can show you her room in the house tomorrow. It's obnoxiously pink, and perfectly her.
[High praise from Toby, and Dorian will know that for a fact.]
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Obnoxiously pink? [He can't even begin to imagine, and his morbid curiosity is officially piqued.] Which room was she using? [Screw tomorrow, he wants to see what's happened to their house, now.]
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Ah, well, guess they're moving now?? Toby barks out a laugh as he sits up, cigarette between his lips so he can help the other man up.] The spare bedroom. I wasn't using it for anything, and the city made a rule a few months back that people contracted to one another had to live together. I wasn't about to have her living in our room, either, so this seemed best.
[It's going to need major redecorating when they take it back over in full, but that's a problem for future Dorian and Toby. Present Dorian and Toby have a bedroom to investigate and all of Elle's things to see.]
Have a care you don't mess with any of her crafts or makeup when we go in, darling. That would be rude.
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The spare bedroom takes a little finding because everything's so new, but when Dorian does step into Elle's room, it's clear what Toby meant by 'obnoxiously pink'. The arrangement of the decor isn't terrible, he must admit, but all the pink. What is... happening.]
You weren't kidding about the pink domination. I feel like I'm standing in Barbie's adult Dreamhouse. [Dorian picks up a plastic tumbler that has a cursive 'Hello, beautiful!' hand-painted onto it in glittering, champagne-coloured paint. What the actual hell.]
...Mixed with a side of 2000s pop psychology. [What does he do with this, Toby? This room contrasts his entire existence????????]
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The reaction to the bedroom is great, though. Toby barks a laugh and all but doubles over before he can answer any of his fiancé's thoughts. God, it was worth it not to give him better warning just for that reaction.]
She's from the early 2000s. I'm pretty sure her love languages are Cosmo, sugar, and cocktails. [With a healthy dose of sex on the side, now that she's in Duplicity.] You were confused by her last time, too, but I assure you she's very real and is everything you'd expect from this room.
[A beat, and he grins.] She also runs a spa in the Down and has access to all the best soaps, jellies, and bath oils. Care to try a few out?
[Let him show you the brilliant master bathroom, future husband! From the eyebrow waggle in your direction, you should know it's that good.]
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... but yes, please, he is curious about sumptuous bath products.]
...yeah. What d'you have?
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She's a busybody, though not in our way. [You know, the very normal and mortal way.] Always visiting friends or baking or cooking something. I never run out of things to eat when she lives in the house. Well-- not good things. [Cheese doodles don't count and he knows it, and those he runs out of often.] Also shopping, when she's got enough money on hand for it. She's added a few things to the closet for me in her time here. [They'll get to seeing that later, he's sure.]
Also, no need to worry about the animals. She stays at her other house half the month with all of them. None are are allowed in the house as a rule, and she's respected that without question for the last five months. [God, has it been that long since the decision came down? Guess so, but what a bloody terrifying thing to think. It'd become so common he didn't even think about it. Not the realization he was looking to have right now. He shrugs it off by taking Dorian's hand and leading him back to their bedroom, then directly into the ensuite.]
Bath bombs, shower jellies, a few oils for the bath - all in a variety of scents. I'm sure you'll approve. [He releases Dorian to look over the collection stashed away in a cabinet. The man will find they're all in scents Dorian would choose with only one or two of Toby's favorites mixed in.]
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Are you going to want to keep her room that way, after she's gone? [It wouldn't be such a loss, he supposes, if she really means a great deal to Toby. He'd prefer to make the room over in their own way, but he can have a heart sometimes, for the vampire's sake.
While he's talking, Dorian picks through and sniffs at all the bath treats stored away. Anything rose-scented gets a secondary, approving sniff.]
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That's far too heavy a thought when he's still swimming in the joy of Dorian having said yes to his proposal, so he shrugs it off for now.] I'll think on it. For all I know, she'll tell us to take it down after she's taken all her things out of it. [A stunned beat.] Actually, she may just do that. She is our biggest fan. [He can't blame her for that; they are the picture of romance, even if the younger immortal will deny it vehemently.
He smiles as he watches his fiancé picks through all the bath goodies. He'll let the man pick what he wants, but he does give a little push toward something particularly nice by plucking up a mini bath bomb labeled as orchid-scented.] It's got dried petals in the center of it too, [he offers enticingly.] I used up the rose ones last week, but we can get more of those this week. They've got a lovely effervescent feel to them and really good scents.
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Honestly, we could be about to bathe in nettles and I couldn't care, [Dorian admits, chuckling. He reaches for one of Toby's hands, and smiles up at that beautiful face.]
I just... want things to stay like this, with you, for as long as they can.
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cw: talk of drug use
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