[It's oddly moving to be marked by Toby in one of the few ways that his portrait can't immediately restore. Dorian looks down along the length of his body to admire the pretty, looping signature, a smile spreading slowly across his face. It's just the way he would have imagine Toby autographing something (or someone) and seeing it now is exciting in a way he hasn't felt often while they've been climbing their way back to normalcy together.]
We'll make sure they are. [Shifting forward, he follows Toby's tugging to sit himself over his boyfriend's lap. There's no way he would have been able to resist this for much longer, so it's good that they can finally reach for each other and come close. He smooths his hands along the other man's chill chest first, taking advantage of his unbuttoned shirt to help him slip it the rest of the way off.]
We've got some catching up to help you do. [Grinning, he drops his hands to Toby's fly to start the process of helping him wiggle out of his jeans.In between all of the excitement, he leans in to press their lips together. The kiss starts off simple enough, with Dorian deepening it as his hands pass over his boyfriend's body encouragingly.]
[It's easy to throw aside all pomp and circumstance and focus on the moment at hand when there's warm hands and lips on him. Toby spares a hand to pull it through Dorian's curls as they kiss and uses the other to push both jeans and boxers down and off his hips. The sight is probably an awkward one, but there's absolutely zero care in the vampire about that.
Once the last piece of clothing hits the floor, Toby puts his hands on either side of his boyfriend's neck and draws him into a deep, passionate kiss. Even without needing breath, he feels breathless when they finally part. He locks his gaze with Dorian and pulls the man flush against his chest, not quite reaching for a bite yet, but definitely inching them closer in that direction. When he feels like he can focus on anything that isn't kissing the life from his boyfriend again, he grins up at the man seated over him.]
Ready for the ride of your life, partner?
[That's really bad, but hey, Dorian started it with his act! This is totally fair before he takes them higher.]
[Not even a week or two ago, parts of what's happening right now would have been out of reach for them-- trapped behind walls of trauma and terrible, bittersweet memories. This is what makes it so perfect to be able to reach for Toby --for this part of who they are that got so terribly battered while they were separated-- and seize it now. Dorian mirrors his lover's smile right back, and shifts his hips to press them eagerly, unwaveringly, against the other man's. He wasn't angling for more than campy dramatics and sex, but he's on board with taking things further.
During the several (admittedly on and off) years he and Dorian were together before they were last separated, Toby had never had the chance to enjoy and celebrate his birthday to its absolute fullest. Having a birthday at the height of summer as a vampire meant much of the day was off limits or, at the very least, that going out for his birthday was relegated to a short window at the end of the day. The Nexus has handily taken many of those obstacles out of the equation, leaving the decision of when to start and where to spend his birthday wide open, perhaps to the younger man's dismay.
At precisely 7 AM, well over an hour after the sun's risen, the vampire carefully slides into bed next to his boyfriend and wraps his arms around him. The turn he took about the garden at sunrise was lovely, but now it's time for attention and presents!! And the only one who's going to be bothered for either today is his soulmate.
"Dorian~" he murmurs as he pulls the other man close. "Time to wake up. It's my birthday." To help sweeten the deal, he presses a very excited kiss to his boyfriend's lips. This is definitely enough to get the man to wake up, right?? Whether it is or not, Toby quickly follows that kiss with another peck to the man's cheek. "You owe me presents and an expansion of your riddle."
He's been patient ...enough(?) over the past week, and now he's done with all that! It's not his actual birthday and that means all his whims must be catered to. Well, maybe not all of them, but presents and attention are definitely necessary right now!
7 AM is downright reasonable, compared to the times when previous special events have found Toby launching himself onto their bed at midnight. Dorian shifts and mumbles indistinctly as the wall of drowsiness in his mind is soon pressing up against-- boyfriend? Yes. Very excited boyfriend.
"Mmm, Toby..." Kisses are helping him wake up, so he'll reach out and fumble for the other man's face so he can draw Toby back in for another, sleepy kiss. When they part, Dorian settles back down into his pillow and smiles up at the vampire.
"Happy Birthday." Yawning thickly, Dorian rubs at one eye with the heel of a palm. Sitting up will come in a moment. "What time is it?"
That's more awake than he expected from boyfriend, so Toby is mostly happy with this turn of events! He grins brightly as he leans in for another kiss around the inconvenience of Dorian rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"7 AM, darling." A short beat as he pulls the other man closer. "I waited very patiently all morning for you, which means it's well past time for presents."
Come on, boyfriend! Wake up faster!! Needy vampire nerd is needy and wants to know what you were torturing him with for the last month! Don't let sleep hold you back. You know Toby's far more important than sleep anyway.
Dorian chuckles as Toby presses him for his presents. The man isn't wrong; Whining and crowdsourcing for answers aside, the vampire's been remarkably patient over the last few weeks (or remarkably patient for him, anyway). They've had their game of push and pull over Toby's gifts for long enough-- now it's time to deliver.
"The first one's in the walk-in closet. Push aside the kimono and you'll find it learning against a wall."
All this early morning tugging and kissing is hitting him in a very good way, though. Pressing into Toby, Dorian wraps an arm around the other man's waist and leans in to start kissing his neck. "Or... we could start your birthday like this." He throws in a bit of the sultry purr he can manage after having just woken up.
Happy Toby is a good reason for sex, right? Waking up content and turned on has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Oh, okay. Toby most definitely not expecting Dorian to coax him into sex this quickly after waking up. The temptation to get up and open his present then come back to bed is very real, but there's also the very real, very warm distraction of boyfriend wrapping around him and kissing his neck right now. God, trying to choose one over the other is damn near impossible right now, which makes him very grateful to have the need to choose taken off the table by an extremely persuasive shift of hips against his own.
It's fine. Presents will come soon enough. They'll just ravage each other once (or twice) and then get started on the rest of their day.
"This first," he moans, wrapping his arms tightly around the other man as he pulls them flush together. He allows Dorian to kiss his neck a few more times (God it feels so damn good right now) before turning his boyfriend's face and pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss. There's an undeniable need behind it all, and Toby's not waiting for longer than another kiss before he starts trying to take off whatever clothes are separating them.
"My choice this morning?" he murmurs between more kisses. "It is my birthday, after all." Not that he's thoughts about what he wants for 'birthday sex' (or round one of 'birthday sex', knowing them), but he's got a few good ideas. All of which are even better with sunlight pouring over them through the open window.
Yes, this is exactly the answer Dorian's half-awake brain and body are hoping for. Sex in the sun has become a thing for them, to the point where feeling Toby against him and sunlight pooling warmly over them both has become a bit Pavlovian. That it's a sunny outside their bedroom and the beginning of a day spent in utter contentment with his favorite person only makes everything better. Grinning, Dorian answers the deeper kiss pressed to his lips with enthusiasm, his free hand shifting to work at their clothes. Thankfully he's only in a silken sleep shirt, which makes it much easier to focus on getting the vampire out of whatever the man's thrown on his body for the day.
"Your choice, rightfully so," he offers back, keeping Toby pressed flush against him as jeans are pulled off and tossed aside. "Just give me a place and position." And hopefully sooner rather than later. Which will become evident enough the next time he draws Toby in for a kiss and shifts his hips against his boyfriend's. Yes pls happy sex time pls now pls.
Dorian's quite a ways ahead of Toby right now in terms of thought process, but this is one of those times where that doesn't really matter. They've had sex so many times across their lives together that everything about this is natural, easy in a way that doesn't feel cheap. They might both be extra excited this morning (which is totally understandable, because birthday sex), but that really only means they'll be ready to go that much sooner. Something that's very obvious as Toby presses himself into his boyfriend for their latest kiss.
"Right here. Me inside." There's a more romantic (or at least less rushed) way of saying that, and Toby can't be arsed to care right now. He leans in for another kiss as he reaches between them to prepare his boyfriend. No need to go too hard to start their day; There will be plenty of time for something rougher later. The extra time will also allow Dorian to get the pillows sorted for himself, even if the vampire doesn't let up on kisses to his boyfriend's neck the whole time.
When they're both... mostly settled and completely ready, the older man pauses them long enough to take Dorian's face in his hands for a long, necessary kiss. He ends it with a small nip to the other's bottom lip, then shifts himself into position. As he takes his cock in hand, he meets his boyfriend's gaze with an eager grin.
"Happy birthday to me." With those ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE words out, he lines them up and presses inside as he steals another kiss from the other man. He'll give them both a few seconds to adjust (God, it never stops feeling incredible to be together like this), and then he's immediately starting things up with fast, hard thrusts into his boyfriend's body. There's no time to slow down, and Toby intends to get them both up and over the edge as fast as he possibly can.
There's absolutely no time to get out the incredulous laugh that's threatening at his lips as Toby punctuates his initial thrust with 'Happy birthday to me'. (They'll have to get to that later.) All Dorian can do is gasp and wrap an arm around the other man's neck, clutching hard at his lover as they come together breathtakingly fast. It's a little more than his semi-awake brain can fully appreciate, but that only makes it that much better. They're rushing to the edge as fast as they can, and it's a hell of a more satisfying way to wake up than the cup of espresso that was going to be Dorian's next choice if Toby had gone for his presents first.
"God, this--" Without so much as a second thought, Dorian wraps a hand around his own achingly insistent cock, and quickly moves to try and match the pace of the other man's thrusts. He doesn't bother to restrain a single sign of his enjoyment, moaning and panting openly as they race forward. This is going to happen quickly between them, with virtually no way of slowing down when they're both this eager.
When his orgasm begins to crest, Dorian reaches out and delves his fingers into Toby's gloriously messy hair, drawing the vampire down and into a deep and passionate kiss. This is the way to start a birthday morning, and he's going to enjoy every minute of it in exactly the way he wants while they're still tangled up together.
It's an eager and excited race to get them both off, and Toby enjoys it all the more with all the open expressions of pleasure his boyfriend is offering. He adds his own as he rests a hand over Dorian's on the man's cock, though his grip falters quickly as they crash into and then over the edge together. In the end, he focuses on keeping them together all the way through, then wrapping himself around the other man as they settle into the afterglow together.
"That," he murmurs between what feel like necessary deep breaths, "was a better start to my birthday than presents." Maybe it's because his mind is high on such a pleasant orgasm, but he's sure he'd say similar later. They can have more deliberate birthday sex later and hit all the buttons they both missed in their rush to ecstasy, and it still won't take away from how amazing this round felt.
Once they're both a little more settled, though, the vampire can't help but keep things moving along. It is his birthday and he very much was promised presents. So, after another particularly lovely kiss, Toby grins at the other man. "So my first present is behind the kimono, yeah?" Why, yes, he totally expects there are more gifts happening once they're out of bed, so of course he's going to ask after whatever Dorian's hidden in the closet like this.
Well this? is definitely nice. As soon as they're parted, Dorian lets himself flop bonelessly, happily down into their wonderfully sumptuous bed. Spreading out a bit to get comfortable, his first response to Toby's question is an approving, lazy hum. The second, once he's pulled more of his brain cells together and put them to the task, is,
"Happy birthday to you... and me." Sigh. Yeah, this is the good life. Now the rest of the day can get devoted to presents, a very excited Toby, and whatever else they could possibly want to do together. It's a very domestic sort of afternoon for the both of them, but it's honestly... perfect. Perfect in a way that's particular to them both and that he's grown used to around Toby. (Or had grown used to. This third chance at a life together is still taking time for him to catch up to in a few small ways.)
"Yes, it's behind the kimono. Why don't you bring it out and open it up here?"
That's all the permission he needs! Grin pulling wider, Toby leans in for a last kiss before leaping out of bed. One foot tangles in the sheets at the edge of the bed ("Dammit, let go! I need my present!"), but it's only a brief disruption to the end goal. The vampire disappears into the closet for a moment, rustling around for a few seconds as he carefully moves Dorian's clothes to obtain his present, then brings the wrapped gift back to the bed. He sets it down gently before flopping down between it and his boyfriend.
"Can I get a hint before I open it?" he laughs. "Does it relate to your riddle?" What should he go in expecting from this gift, boyfriend???
Toby's excitement over presents is always fun to watch and be part of. A smile plays about Dorian's lips as the vampire (at first struggles) and then carries the gift back to bed.
"This one was loosely supposed to be the subject of the riddle." The shape, size and weight of the wrapped package might be a little indicative of the Martin's D-28 acoustic guitar nestled inside. In the end, the riddle was about music, but a good portion of it was a red herring to give Toby something to chase. At this point, Dorian doubts the other man will be too unoccupied to mind much. "You'll see why."
The gift is large and guitar case-shaped, but what's waiting inside is well outside Toby's expectations. Why think you're getting a new guitar when you have a working, if only somewhat passable, one already?
"So you mean to say there's more to the riddle that I'll get later?" The vampire returns his boyfriend's smile, then tears off the paper separating him from his guitar. His eyes widen eagerly as he frees the case and turns it over to open it, then he gasps in absolute shock. This? This right here in his hands? This is the stuff of dreams to a practiced musician.
"Holy shit." Toby carefully frees the guitar from the case before taking it properly in hand. He looks it over for a long moment without speaking, then gently strums his fingers across the strings. It's slightly out of tune, but it's still beautiful, far better than the cheap thing he bought while they were apart. He works his way through a few scales to check it over properly, then turns the biggest, sappiest grin toward Dorian.
"You-- I can't-- How did you--" Wait, hang on, that's several thoughts at once, and he already knows 'The Nexus' is the answer to "how did you find this." Toby takes a breath to settle the fluttery feeling in his chest, then smiles eagerly. "Dorian, this is incredible. I-- Thank you doesn't even begin to cover it." Honestly, he's not sure anything could.
Being gentle of his gift, he reaches out and rests a hand on the side of the other man's neck. He smiles at Dorian for a long moment, then draws him in for a deep, grateful kiss. "Any requests?" he asks when they part. "After I tune it, I insist on you picking something you'd like to hear." It feels right, and Toby is happy to play anything his soulmate wants right now.
It's been three weeks and four days since the attack on his club, and Toby still hasn't forgiven Dorian for it. All messages related to anything but business go unanswered and all attempts at bribery (they're not gifts when he's this upset, period) are ignored or sent back. He certainly hasn't gone to their shared penthouse, either, and has been grumpily holed up in various suites in his hotel instead.
Dorian's been insufferable in demeanor when they do see each other, too. Every worry Toby brings up or consequence he points out is met with some version of 'it's fine' or 'it'll blow over,' and each time digs a little deeper under his skin. If he'd wanted to work with someone who was dismissive and uncaring about his feelings or opinions on a matter, he'd have lived with his mother in the last few years before her death. He'll pass on getting it from a business partner and lover, thanks.
Today's annoyance is with yet another former regular telling a bartender he's not comfortable coming to a club that was openly attacked by bounty hunters, who were only there because one of the suppliers is a former Sith. This is on top of having to pay a heavy fee to restart a contract with a supplier who had previously been cutting Toby a good deal because of how much product his clubs and bars moved. How Dorian can't see the extent of the damage done is truly mind boggling.
He's not expecting to Dorian to come to the bar today. It's slow enough that Toby's settled on one of the couches in the VIP section, a mostly full glass on a table by his feet as he looks over some accounts and various books. Putting his business knowledge to work is easy enough, but it's been a pain in his ass. Kriffing bounty hunters and their need to make such a mess. Ugh.
When the other man approaches, Toby looks up briefly before returning to his work. "You need something?" he asks, flipping through pages in an inventory list. "I need a few minutes, but I can slot you in after I finish looking these over."
"Watch your heels, Toby, you're going to back up straight into the--"
Bonk. And then the thud of something large, but hollow tipping over onto the carpet. Dorian chuckles and continues walking Toby through the door and into the master bedroom (now his bedroom, alone, as it has been for some time). His hands on the vampire's shoulders, Dorian laces fingers around the back of Toby's neck before dragging the man down, and into an eager kiss. Behind them, the enormous decorative urn lays sideways by the doorway, easily forgotten amidst the playful passion unfolding between the two men in the bedroom. A ladies' garment, long, elegant, and bright red, lays stretched out beneath the urn, seemingly discarded thoughtlessly, the skirt-end coming almost to the edge of the bed. Unlike the disregarded urn, Dorian takes a moment to guide the vampire so neither of them steps on the dress and risks tearing up the fine fabric.
This is always one of the kinds of moments he loves best with Toby: they're alone, the sun (that bit's new, admittedly) is pouring through the window and setting his bedspread aflame with color, and there's nothing ahead of himself and his vampire lover but indulging in each other.
"We've got--" Grinning, Dorian nips lightly at Toby's lower lip, before giving the other man a little push, and then settling them playfully, if a bit roughly, back onto the bed. Dorian climbs astride the vampire, drinking in the sight of his beautiful soulmate beneath him as he starts picking at the buttons of Toby's shirt. "--all day to scream as loud as we want." So as far as he's concerned, it's time to get to it.
What's a knocked over (and surprisingly unbroken?) urn between them but another tally to their record of items knocked over for sex? It's not a big deal for Toby to push it aside with one foot as he's herded toward the bed, though he does manage to pick up a straggler on the way. Ah well, it'll be dealt with soon enough.
Toby wraps his hands around Dorian's face to pull him in for another kiss as clever fingers tug at his shirt. "Good, because I've nothing but you on my mind right now." He smiles warmly up at the younger man before leaning in for another kiss. This is the slice of heaven he loves and needs most in the multiverse, and knowing there will be no chance of intrusions is helpful. Not that Sin isn't lovely, but when it comes to his soulmate and making love? The vampire doesn't need any distractions.
Speaking of, time to get rid of the one round his ankle. Toby chuckles as he reaches down to grab hold of the offending fabric. "Honestly, darling, can't you pick up after yourself so I don't trip--"
His stomach lurches as he grabs hold of the fabric and realizes it's clothing. Not his, not Dorian's. Ah. Of course. Dorian wanted a little time with his other lover before she left for the day. Of course. It makes perfect sense; Dorian wants both his lovers and if one's going to be gone all day, then she certainly requires his attention before she goes.
But this outfit is a reminder, yet another reminder, that Toby's sharing his soulmate with someone he didn't get to vet, meet, or otherwise approve of before he was forced to make do or possibly lose said soulmate forever. Right after he found him again, after believing the man was dead.
He sighs and pushes Dorian off with a single swipe of his arm, using vampiric strength to move the man around. He glares at the fabric in his hand for a moment before wadding it up and tossing it out the door.
"Nice of you to tell me I'm sloppy seconds today," he mutters. "You could at least have the decency to say it to my face."
Being shoved aside is so unexpected that Dorian's immediate thought is that it's part of their usual roughness and deviousness with each other. He flops over onto his side, smile still affixed to his face, and a disbelieving chuckle dropping from his lips.
"'Sloppy seconds'? What on Earth are you talking about?" The toss of the dress answers his question, and Dorian's eyes follow it for a moment as the pretty red garment flutters out the door. The undercurrent of what's happening still hasn't caught on, although something is definitely weird. Different. Still, they're having a good afternoon, aren't they? They planned for this, and Dorian wants it enough to try again. And several more times after that.
"I didn't have time to clean up with everyone bustling around this morning." Why is that such a big deal? "It's gone now, and I'm here." Moving closer again, he slips an arm around Toby's shoulders to press a kiss just beneath his ear.
It isn't actually that big a deal. They've thrown aside clothes that didn't belong to either of them, even before they had a third person permanently living in their home. Living in one of their rooms. Forcing him out of his soulmate's bedroom to keep everyone appeased.
No, not appeased - placated. Because he sure as Hell isn't happy with his own room elsewhere in the townhouse.
Toby sighs and rolls his shoulder to throw Dorian off. "This isn't the first time it's been like this, Dorian. Me coming up here to find it a mess with things that aren't yours, even when we're planning for the day to be ours."
It shouldn't be a big deal. Sin's kind and good-natured, and the vampire genuinely likes her. She brings many indulgences into the house that wouldn't be possible without her, and she makes for an excellent gaming partner from time to time. But he didn't get to choose his part in all this. Not really. He made peace to keep his soulmate. To not be alone again.
God, what utter shit for timing. It's always something for him, isn't it? He could use a drink or five. Anything to dull the ache in his heart and the gnawing realization that he needs to say something about how he's feeling after all this time.
"I'm not in the mood anymore," he says suddenly, pushing himself to his feet and rebuttoning his shirt. "Maybe later. I want to be alone right now."
This is ... an abrupt end to what had been shaping up to be a very good afternoon. The loss is disappointing, but it's Toby getting up and shutting him out that trips the recognition that something actually is wrong here. Drawing in a breath and letting it out again in a sigh, Dorian sits up on the bed, and watches Toby start to get up, frowning.
"You like her, don't you?" He's seen the way the pair interact together. It may not be a match made in Heaven, but they do at least seem to be friendly. Is there something he missed here that's provoking this kind of reaction? Some argument that he doesn't know about? "Did something happen between you? Is that why you're leaving?" And slinking off to sulk. Dorian knows this mood in his soulmate, and it seems to end, more often than not, in a few days of hangovers and incapacitated vampire. There's probably no preempting it, but trying is better than nothing.
"She's lovely. Beautiful, intelligent, very warm in ways I like, too." She's a good friend, or as good of one as Toby will let her be. It's hard to feel comfortable enough to allow himself that much, but they get along well enough and he has no reason to outright despise or loathe her.
But how nice or kind or generally caring she is... doesn't matter to his feelings of hurt or ever-present anxiety. Toby sighs again and shakes his head, not looking at Dorian as he gets to answering those last few questions.
"Nothing happened. She's not done something to me that's upset me." She simply exists here, in a space he thought was going to be all his for however long they've got. He can share, but he wanted the option to say 'no' when his gut wrenched at the thought of welcoming a possibly permanent addition into their lives. There was no other choice when the truth of Sin came out, and now the vampire's stuck. He can't lose Dorian, and so he makes do. Just as he always does, especially with this man.
It's so tiring. God, he feels incredibly exhausted all of a sudden, and there's no amount of sleep, caffeine, or other drugs to help. He runs a hand through his hair and rubs at the back of his neck a few times, his mind already running through a list of what alcohol they have on hand and where it is in the house.
"It's fine," he finally says, as much for himself as for his soulmate. "Nothing a few," dozen, "drinks and some time won't smooth over."
It's easy enough to recognize all of this as evasive maneuvering, and something that's normally simpler to just let go. But today, for many reasons (but principally that the vampire's about to both go hurt himself and effectively end whatever possibility there might have been for their day together) Dorian's unwilling to give in.
"If all of that's true, then why are you preparing to leave to go drink yourself into a stupor?"
Goddammit, he's supposed to be able to walk away from this. Toby presses a finger into his temple to work out the tension already building there.
"Because I bloody can." He turns to glare at Dorian, snapping at the man as he continues. "What does it matter to you, anyway? I finally do this at the wrong moment for you so you notice enough to care? I cut off your supply, and you get upset because no one else is around to give you a hit?"
What is he doing? This is useless. Toby throw a hand up and turns away again. "It doesn't matter. She's fine. She's not hurt me or done anything untoward. Get off it already and take care of yourself today." It's all the action the man's getting unless Sin comes home early.
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