Collective
Experience:
part one
by Josie_h
Notes
Sacramento ….Jan 1
2010
The flight had been delightful in the end. The reunited couple quickly
becoming favorites for the crew as the lovers’ good spirits permeated the
cabin. Somewhere over
The trip from the airport to ‘home’ had been strangely quiet. Xander worried that his newly established lover might not
approve of… whatever it was people disapproved of in these circumstances… his
job, his home, the ‘working day’ rather than the ‘holiday Xander’
of the last few days. As he pushed open the pale solid wood door and invited
his guest in, the worry intensified to panic.
His apartment was exemplary – for an upwardly mobile, successful, very
single (and now confirmed gay) guy in
“Bloody hell Xan you’re worse than me sire! Do I need to take off m’ shoes at the door or should I
just stand here ‘til you de-louse me so’s I meet your
approval!”
Xander’s back was to his friend
when the statement came, but fortunately heard the mirth in the statement. When
he turned, the friendly grin and customary snort from Spike was all Xander needed to confirm that he was worrying about the
wrong things. Spike had come to be with him, and was probably the least likely person
to care about the sterile, or otherwise, state of his abode.
Almost to emphasize this point, what followed was a progressive ‘de-clothing’
and consequent ‘untidying’ of the apartment as Spike
launched himself at his tense partner and proceeded to kiss and undress him as
they made their way to Xander’s neutral tone bedroom.
A short time later, lying on the large bed, spooned by his smaller
companion in a haze of ‘coming down’, Xander smiled
contentedly – making a silent wish to whoever might be listening, that the emotional
roller coaster ride of the last few days – and particularly the angst in the
past twenty four hours - would be an aberration and not indicative of a pattern
for the rest of the year.
>>>>>>>
The next morning did not start too smoothly. Xander
had woken to Spike’s yelp of pain, the smell of singed flesh and a vampire
scrambling over him to the relative safety of the dark corner near the side
table.
Both of them had checked the curtains the previous night but failed to
notice that though Xander’s south facing picture
windows were well covered, the rising eastern sun had crept through a tiny
crack caused by a discarded piece of clothing at the very end of the track.
Xander sprinted to shut out the
lethal sunshine, then turned to his cowering friend who, he noted, was
currently in game face gently licking the burnt hand and arm in an effort to
both calm himself and accelerate healing.
Xander raced to the kitchen,
threw some ice into a towel and returned to sit beside the injured vampire,
handed him the cool towel then pushed his wrist under Spike’s nose. Spike
pulled back with a look of embarrassment in the golden eyes, and mumbled a hurt
“’ll be alright.”
“Drink.. please… God
Spike… you have to. I’ve got no blood in the house until I can come home with
some at lunchtime – and you need to heal.” The human pushed the limb forward
again. This time his partner nodded, laved the wrist first, then pressed the
razor sharp canines against the flesh so gently that when they slid in Xander hardly felt anything beyond the sensuous licking and
sucking that drew the precious liquid. All too soon for Xander,
the wrist was returned and a near inaudible “Thank you, Xan”
came from his now blue eyed lover.
Xander reached over, took the
injured arm carefully, stroking the skin that had remained in tact and leaned
over to kiss the still sleep tousled curls, then rested his cheek against their
softness continuing to pet and comfort his lover.
“I’m *so* sorry Spike… I’m *so* sorry. If I’d woken earlier I could have
checked… I mean… Geez! What if…”
“Stop it luv…stop it” He turned to lock blue
eyes on the guilt filled brown one, “Not your fault… master vampire remember –
century and a half under me belt, you reckon I shouldn’t ‘ave
realized? This is nothing pet, had far worse runnin’
in and outa your mobs’ homes under that bloody
blanket after the bloody chip.” Instead of the relief he had predicted the
reaction was one of horror. *Oh Bollocks, *not* the right thing to say*
“Oh G… Spike… I never… and I was all ‘Fangless’ and you were… Oh I am so,
so sorry!... How can you even…” Spike cut him off with
a swift kiss.
“Not the point luv, just sayin’…
and Xan?... Please look at
me pet….?”
Spike waited until he had the full attention of his distressed
companion, “”s the best breakfast I’ve had for ages.” Accompanied by an
infectious grin, Xander could do little but relax and
hug his partner to him. Spike felt the smile against his collar bone…. *Another ‘crisis’ over*
After some coaxing, much reassuring and the repeated checking of window
drapes, Xander departed for work. Spike slept until
just after three then rose to begin his day. True to his word Xander had dropped off a few days’ supply of animal blood supplemented
by four bags of ‘ABpos’ but had not woken his sleeping companion. He had stood
watching his friend sleep motionless for a time. Pondering the strangeness of
seeing someone without breath, sleeping. He also wondered at the innocent and
stunningly beautiful face, as always appearing younger in its repose.
Spike had woken slowly, ‘supped’ fitfully then written uninterrupted for
almost three hours until a key in the door signaled the arrival of his ‘some’t better to do!’
Pleasuring his friend was almost effortless. Xander
was progressively stripped from the door as he entered from work, until he was pressed
into the bed without protest. Spike had never had a more responsive or willing
human partner, and certainly none that could be described as lovers. He had
waited until his human fell into a sated sleep, snuggled for a while then
returned to his writing. He slipped back into the bed as he felt the heartbeat
speed up, capturing his lover in a cool embrace as though he had been present
all night. And so a pattern was set…
They had stayed in the first night; on the second ‘did’ a Korean
restaurant and movie then returned; on the third they ordered out and watched
DVDs ‘in’; on the fourth Xander was caught in a
meeting with clients until late, but came home to a very nude Spike cooking
classic Italian cuisine clad – for his own protection - in a small hand towel
that he had somehow fastened around his hips with the aid of a long piece of
‘multipurpose kitchen tie’ and a good deal of ingenuity.
On the fourth night Xander stopped to consider.
In just on two weeks, their lives had gone from tumultuous scenes of long
lost lovers in a frantic holiday romance, to domesticated nudism, queries about
pasta preferences, and sleepy video evenings (not that certain post movie
activities weren’t ‘of the definite good’… )
Xander had three problems on his
mind – the first originating from the apparent ease and swiftness with which their
‘couple-dom’ had evolved. The second, the fact that
he had let two of his closest workmates know of his ‘switch hitting’ a while
back but was ‘celibate’ at the time, and now he really did need to ‘come out’
if only to acknowledge Spike. And the third and most difficult problem, a
sickening sense of impending crisis as ‘Xander and
friend’ were invited to his CEO’s birthday on Sunday – an evening barbeque no
less – compulsory attendance.