monaboyd | Whispering Secrets Into Your Ear

Title: Whispering Secrets Into Your Ear
Authors:

lavitanuova (one and the very same) and

the1elf
Pairing: Monaboyd
Rating: Possibly PG-13 for a wee bit of swearing.
Disclaimer: We do not own Billy. We do not own Dom. This is complete fiction.
Summary: Reckless was allowed, here, wasn't it?
Feedback: Please and thank you!
A/N: A tig, which began with a comment to an anonymeme. In which

dizzydame wrote Billy and

the1elf wrote Dom and much fun was had.

They found a guitar amongst the board games and usual attic detritus on their tour of the house in the mountains. Dominic sat near the fire as Billy’s small, neat fingers gently coaxed cascading notes from strings reluctant with age. He listened while the others drowsed in flickering light, faces wind burned from their day of snowboarding, until he could stand it no longer. Dominic stood, stretching sore, little used muscles and slipped into the front entrance, digging his thick down coat from the jumble of similar garments by the door. He pulled on boots and a scarf as well, going out into the cold night.

Billy watched Dom go, auto-pilot taking over with the instrument. His mind was a pleasantly hazy blur of music and exhaustion and inebriation. He wasn't drunk, just a bit fuzzy around the edges... just enough so that he could embrace the weariness in his bones and relax into it.

He didn't particularly want to go outside. He'd had enough of the snow, and the cold. His finger still faintly tingled with numbness when he thought back to earlier that afternoon. But there was something tempting about it, about the way Dom just slipped out. Going for a smoke, probably, maybe. Or just a breath of air. When the song ended, he set aside the guitar. Elijah's eyes flickered up, curious at the pause. Billy shrugged, and nodded out the door. Elijah shrugged back, and tucked his knees further into him, face resting against the cushion of the couch. Billy didn't doubt that he'd be asleep by the time they made it back inside.

Once out the door, he jammed his hands into his pockets, looking around. "Dom?"

Dominic was oddly pleased with the crunching of the untouched snow under his feet as he waded along the line of trees circling the house. Every footfall seemed louder than the previous one and he smiled as he glanced up at the blanket of black sky. His lungs protested in the thin air as he breathed deep, grinning to himself, and he paused to wonder whether he was possibly a wee bit drunk. A shiver worked its way through his body as he turned and looked once more in the direction of the house as he heard his name.

Billy seemed small, standing in the glow of the house, breath steaming out, shoulders hunched against the cold. Dominic remained still, hidden, watching, feeling as though he was waiting on the edge of something he couldn’t explain. He waited, seconds, a minute, to see whether Billy would call out to him again or give up for the warmth of his bed, and that was a pretty dangerous thought, one he knew he shouldn’t be thinking. Dom took a hesitant step toward Billy.

Billy was very close to decided that it really wasn't worth it to follow Dom out, and that he'd be much more suited to making himself a cup of something warm and possibly alcoholic (bless Astin and his cider) and stealing one of the spare bedrooms, when he heard a movement just past his line of vision.

"Dom?" he said, moving (despite his instincts) further away from the house, and into the night. "God, you're an idiot," he grumbled, but kept walking. And then, louder: "It's freezing out here. Is that what you're wanting? Me to freeze my arse off? What are you..."

His voice faded as he approached Dom, giving him a questioning look. "Nice time to fancy a walk?"

Dominic smiled and stuffed his hands further into his pockets. He wasn’t sure he could trust himself to speak without saying something completely daft. He knew there was no way he could explain to Billy why he’d come out into the snow once again. Well, no way that would sound anywhere near sane at least. It wouldn’t do to try and tell Billy that the cold seemed to make things clearer, bringing into sharper focus thoughts that were otherwise muddled by the comforts of drink and a roaring fire and friendship and fuck, he’d better think of something to say.

“William.”

Fucking hell, where had that come from? He never called Billy by his full name. It was always, always Billy. Or Bills. Sometimes Boyd, but never, ever William.

"Dominic," Billy responded, amused and curious. "Today was fun."

He looked up, and gasped a little at the shock of the breeze against his neck. He wished he'd grabbed a scarf - Sean had that nice wool one, thick brown thing that looked absolutely ridiculous, like it was swallowing his head, but it had to be warm.

The day had been fun. Snowboarding - Billy'd done it before, but never with such a rambunctious group, constantly daring each other, trying to one-up. Rowdy schoolboys wanting to show off. Snowballs down their trousers and jacket hoods, Elijah constantly falling. Dom by his (by Billy's) side, helping him up when he took a spill, laughing at him, but then telling him what he'd been doing wrong. Dominic… Billy took a step closer to Dom, leaned in like he was going to share a secret, and then breathed warmly on Dom's cheek. He giggled, then, and nudged Dom's cheek with his cold nose.

It was instinct, moving closer to Billy, huffing out a laugh in response to his giggle, breathing in the smell of soap and whiskey and something inherently Billy. Perfectly normal to unwind the scarf from his neck and wrap it around Billy’s, his frozen fingers sliding easily over Billy’s skin.

“It was a good day, yeah,” said Dom, momentarily transfixed by the pulse in Billy’s neck visible under his thumb. “Really… good.” He moved his hand away, stepped back.

Billy was delighted with the scarf, reaching up and tucking his fingers into the ends, where Dom's hands had been.

"You'll be cold now," he frowned, and reached up to touch Dom's neck much like Dom had just done to him. He forgot, though, how cold his fingers already were and rather than helping to warm Dom, made Dom yelp and jump back. He laughed, apologised. With one hand still on his scarf, and the other migrating down to his pocket, he said, "So, my Dominic. How do you plan on keeping warm this cold winter's night?"

Trying to ignore the possessive my Dominic, Dom’s eyes followed Billy’s hand, his own hands reaching out to capture it between them before it could sneak away. He brought their hands to his mouth, softly breathing hot air onto their icy fingers, rubbed Billy’s hand.

“If I want to be warm I guess I’d better go back inside.”

Dominic raised his eyes to Billy’s.

"Maybe warmth is overrated."

Billy shivered, and smiled. He was feeling... not brave, but maybe reckless. He was in a strange country, with strange people, far away from his normal life. He didn't have to be tame, quick-witted, reliable Billy here, did he? Maybe he was the oldest hobbit, but he was by no means the wise old leader of the group. Reckless was allowed, here, wasn't it? Where else, if not here?

And Dom was holding his hand, and warming his fingers, and... Billy was beginning to feel a little warmer.

Dominic grinned, pulling Billy’s other hand from the folds of the scarf round his neck, wondering, not for the first time, what was behind his smile, what was going on in his head. He was curious to know what Billy might be thinking at that exact moment, as they stood, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, fingers entwined.

“Overrated, eh?” he finally said. “Rather stay out here and freeze your bollocks off then?”

Dom let go Billy’s hands, burrowing his own deep in his pockets again in an effort to keep them to himself. He held Billy’s gaze, watching as snowflakes fell lazily into his hair and melted.

"Hey," Billy frowned, and chased Dom's hands into Dom's pockets. "Ooh, nice!" he said, wriggling his eyebrows comically. "No, not freeze... I just..." He took a deep breath, more prepared for it this time. "I think I get why you came out here. It's... there's something to it. Nature. Winter. Makes you feel... alive."

He met Dom's eyes, and rocked forward, his hands still cozy in the warm lined pockets, fingers touching and pushing between Dom's in the small space.

Dom bit his lip briefly, trying to gather his thoughts while Billy’s hands distracted him. It was right there, on the tip of his tongue, what he wanted to say. He just needed to get his brain to cooperate and… ah. There.

“Alive, yes. Awake. Clear, sort of. When the whole world is quiet and every sound is like, magnified, y’know, and- sometimes I feel like I can hear the earth breathing even. ‘S nice, out here, looking up at the sky and seeing a sliver of moon through the winter bare trees and the stars are like little bits of glass up there, Bill.”

He paused, realised how utterly ridiculous he sounded, and was quiet, embarrassed.

"The earth breathing, even? I think if anyone could hear that, it'd be you." Billy said, no trace of mockery in his voice at all. "If I were the earth, I'd talk to you. You'd be one of the few who'd really listen to it. Like... like now. When I saw you, out here, you had this look on your face - like someone was whispering secrets into your ear."

Billy looked down, at the ground. A cloud crept over the slice of moon lighting them, and he lost the ability to see past his thighs. His toes wiggled inside his boots. Assured that he could still feel them, he looked back up at Dom.

“Would you like to whisper secrets in my ear, Billy?” Dom asked, moving the slightest bit closer, turning his cheek toward Billy’s chapped lips. “Tell me something I don’t know?”

They stood in silence for several moments as the snow began to fall harder, collecting in small drifts across their shoulders. Dominic could feel the fluttering of Billy’s eyelashes.

“Be the earth, Bill,” he said softly. “Talk to me.”

Billy's mouth opened, and the words stalled there for a moment, breath gusting out in their place. He had secrets, sure, but were they meant to be said, even? But Dom was listening, so patient and expecting.

"Dominic. I want to keep you warm tonight."

He trembled a little, and blamed it on the cold.

Dominic could not help the slow smile that spread across his face at Billy’s words. He was thankful that his ears were already pink from the cold and the flush creeping over him went unnoticed. He squeezed the hands still nestled snug in his pockets. They were smaller than his, but strong and kind. Dominic tilted his head once more to look at Billy, wondering whether he would tell more secrets that night, wondering if it might be time to tell some of his own.

“You could start by giving my scarf back.”

He pulled his hands from his coat and cupped Billy’s cheeks.

Billy's breath caught, Dom's fingers burning against his cheeks. He leaned into the touch before he could help himself, and then laughed. Secrets, indeed. Mother Nature seemed to content to let it be just them for a moment, and Billy couldn't say that he had any reason to complain about that. "But I like this scarf. I think I'll keep it for a while. Make you earn it back."

He took a clumsy step back and almost fell, grabbing onto Dom's arms to steady himself. "Well, hello there," he said, breathless.

“Hello yourself,” Dom laughed as his arms made their way around Billy, pulling him closer, steadying him. “Had a bit too much to drink, Bill?”

He brushed snow from Billy’s coat, winding his fingers in his scarf again, tugging at it playfully as he smiled.

“So. About this scarf then. What would I have to do to earn it back, do you think? Laundry? Washing up for a week? Round of drinks at the pub?”

"All of the above," Billy said, one hand on Dom's shoulder, while the other rubbed small circles against the warm material of Dom's jacket. "And a foot rub. Never underestimate the powers of a foot rub, young Dominic. And if it meets my standards, then... then we'll talk."

Billy's fingers spider walked up Dom's shoulder, to the back of his neck. He dug his fingertips into the bristly hair there. It was soft there, and warm, and the skin was thin. He explored the landscape of Dom's skull, then gave it up for tugging on the longer strands of hair. His cheek came to rest on Dom's shoulder, then, too, and he yawned.

As soon as Billy’s fingers alighted in Dom’s hair, all thoughts of laundry and drinks flew from his mind, though he was still thinking quite clearly about foot rubs. Foot rubs sounded nice. And surely foot rubs could lead to other sorts of rubbing and that would be… wrong. As wrong as- was that Billy’s head resting on his shoulder? Dominic closed his eyes briefly and pressed his lips to Billy’s forehead as his yawn ghosted over his neck.

“Come on, Boyd. Bed.”

"Bed. Right." Billy said, and pressed his nose into Dom's neck. He gave up all pretense and embraced Dom, his arms going around Dom's neck. "Bed's warm," he mumbled.

And then he lifted his head, because this wasn't quite the way it was supposed to go, was it? "Just to clarify - you do know I was hitting on you, right? I know I may be a bit drunk still, but I want to make sure the point of it all wasn't lost on you."

He tucked his face back into Dom's neck (because it was warm, there!) and waited for an answer.

He held his breath as Billy said the words he’d been waiting to hear, hoping to say himself, for months now. Well, more or less. It was more the idea of it, really, not exactly what he would have chosen to say, had he been brave enough to say anything, which he admittedly hadn’t been and… Oh. Now it was his turn to speak.

“Your bed or my bed?” he asked in a whisper, careful not to let his words get lost in the night. Dom nudged his head gently from his shoulder and moved his mouth into Billy’s. Because it was warm. And soft. And he wanted to.

Billy's eyes fell shut. It was snowing again. He could feel it, on the backs of his hands and on his face, and on Dom's face when he touched it. Dom's mouth wasn't just warm, it was hot, and his tongue was clever, and all the things that Billy'd imagined it would be.

When they parted, his lips were damp, and he could taste Dom. He smiled, and yawned again. He couldn't see Dom's face, really. They were too close up, and it was snowing harder now. "My bed." He whispered, "Elijah stole the blankets off yours."

He slipped his hands into Dom's again, and took a slow step back, and looked up. Little bits of glass, he thought, and smiled. "I think your earth is trying to tell us something now." He looked at Dom. The cloud had shifted, and there was bright moonlight illuminating Dom's rosy cheeks and pinkened ears.

Dominic nodded, his mind numb with the biting cold and the feel of Billy’s lips still on his. He pulled gently on Billy’s hands, urging him toward the house and a warm, shared bed and whatever else might follow, tonight, and after.

“What’s it trying to tell us?”

"It's trying to tell us that it's high time we got ourselves tucked into a nice warm bed." He looped his arm through Dom's, and listened to the violent sounds of the snow giving way underfoot as they made their way inside.

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Date: 2005-12-01 08:19 am (UTC)

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