The Day of the Collaring
May. 12th, 2005 05:28 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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rpg_palaceHarry strolled down the hallway, doing his best to look casual as he headed for the reception room. You will not punk out, you will not be a pussy, you will behave yourself and be good. Dominic won't be having anything happen that Mum wouldn't be able to handle, and if Mum can handle it... aw fuck, Sinclair - you're screwed.
"Afternoon, Harry." Liam strode up and nodded a greeting. "Lovely day for a collaring, hmm?" He took in Harry's body language and deliberately didn't smile.
"Do collarings have an appropriate weather system?" Harry looked ponderous for a moment, then grinned at Liam. "I'll be fine, Liam. Honestly, it's as much the fact that it's Dominic then it is anything else."
Liam grinned back at Harry. "Well, considering what at least the main participants usually wear, warm weather is desirable."
Harry glared at Liam. "You are not helping. But then again, you're not really trying to, are you?"
Accepting a glass of champagne from David Bowie in the room next to where the collaring ceremony was to take place, Mum toasted him with it. "I'm extremely pleased to finally meet you David. Dominic was so excited that you could make the ceremony."
Relaxed and at ease finally with the inevitability of this day, David nodded and smiled back at her. "And you are just how Dom described you! Although I still am having a shock at how very young you are. You must have been a baby when Dom was born." He winked at her. "I hope you'll be so kind to point everyone out to me. Associate names to faces finally."
Mads entered with a smile on his face, quite excited about the ceremony for Dom and Trent, giving Ioan's hand a squeeze as they passed through the door.
Ioan smiled at Mads and followed him, interested in seeing everything.
Jason pulled Cillian with him into the reception room in the East Wing. A curious gaze all around the room as he took in this unfamiliar side of the building. "I see Dom's mother. Let's go say hello before things get too crazy." As they reached her, Jason smiled brightly. "Hello Juliet! Wanted to say congratulations and also introduce you to my boyfriend. This is Cillian. Cillian. Dom's mother, Juliet or Mum as most call her."
Cillian smiled shyly at Dominic's mother. "It's a pleasure to meet you...and congratulations."
Eying the two of them, Juliet grinned to see how Jason had Cillian wrapped closed to him. "Oh thank you two so much! It's going to be such a fun time, especially if no one faints. Jason you may have to let go of this beautiful young man to catch poor dear Harry."
Cillian flushed deeply, though he giggled at her comment. "S'going to be that bad? For Harry, I mean?"
Ioan looked around, staying uncharacteristically quiet for him.
Pulling Ioan closer, Mads kissed his cheek. "You okay, Kitty?"
Ioan smiled and nuzzled against Mads' shoulder. "Yeah, just want to see what all happens. You know." He shrugged and rubbed against Mads. "Just curious."
"I'm helping, certainly. Just not in a way you might appreciate at this point." Liam raised an eyebrow at Harry, a ghost of his earlier grin still remaining.
"Oh shut up," Harry growled. "Actually, wanted to talk to you if you've got a second before we go in - about Palace's newest future libertine," Harry said, good naturedly rolling his eyes.
"Oh? I take it Adrian's been enjoying himself, then?" Liam crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, cocking his head at Harry. "Not too much, I hope."
"Other than nearly killing Christian and Johnny - which I think is pretty fuckin' funny, actually - and sulking when someone doesn't want to fuck him, if the rumours are right, I think he's managed all right. But you've got to do something to temper that whole sense of entitlement thing he's got going on, mate. I'd love to take him on just because he's him and you're you when the time comes, but it doesn't work like that, and you know it. I tried, but he didn't get it." Harry said, a bit reluctantly.
Liam sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I honestly do think he has the talent for it, and he certainly has the looks. But he also has a lot of issues and he knows that. Unfortunately, one of his 'Talents' is the ability to assume things will work out the way he thinks they should. It was useful before, but it's getting in the way now. We're working on it, but thanks for the input."
"Curious is good..." Mads said with a smirk, content to just stand back and people watch a bit for now as they waited.
Ioan leaned against Mads, and nipped at his shoulder playfully.
David recognized Jason right away. He reached over to give him a hug as he remarked playfully. "Congratulations yourself dear boy! Cillian, I'm David by the way." He winked as he added. "Oh woe is me. Everyone so nicely paired up and no one to play with." David pursed his lips as he took in Cillian's features. "Hmm, unless you're open to sharing?"
Cillian wasn't sure which had him blushing more, the fact of David's words or the knowledge of who he actually -was-.
Kate strolled in, checking out the boys and girls assembled. Done him, done her, done her (a lot), done him, hmm... oh hell there's that little crazy tech dude Alan. Have I done him? Nope! Direction set, she headed over to the potted plant where he was practically hiding.
Having been doing his best imitation of a hat rack, it took Puck a moment to realize that the young woman was, in fact, headed his way. Kate, he thought.
Grabbing a drink off the tray Bar Wench was carrying, Kate groped him for grins then sashayed over to grab a chair and pull it very close to Alan. "Alan! You are a sight for horny eyes, my man. What brings you here? Dom really does know everyone I guess."
Eyeing Kate for a moment, Puck finally offered her a smile. "I'm with Elijah," he responded. "I don't really know anyone here." He shrugged.
"I can't speak for his abilities - although I did inform him that no, I do not take the prospective libertines for a test drive," Harry snorted. "and he does have the looks. And of course, you'd know more about the issues than I would. I'm not saying it's a no, I'm just saying that Palace is Palace, East is East, and, well, that's about all I had to say about it." Harry shrugged again, feeling uncomfortable.
Liam laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed. "Seriously, thank you. I am curious to hear how he conducted himself away from home -- I need the input." He glanced over at the open door, through which he could see a number of people milling around. He gestured to it and said, "Shall we?"
"Best get on with it, eh?" Harry grinned, following Liam inside and looking around.
Spotting Liam and Harry, Mads chuckled, tugging Ioan over with him. "I'm not sure if I should be worried that you two are skulking around together," he teased.
"Mads!" Harry said, grinning like all hell. "I've been skulking around with Liam since the barbarian times - where have you been?" He turned to Ioan and smirked. "Hey there, tawni Rúkkersaméngri (little squirrel)... how's it goin'?"
Liam grinned at Mads and said, "So long as you don't try to pass the hat back, you've nothing to worry about. I didn't have a chance to send you a congratulatory note when you took over the old office -- I was going to record about an hour of hysterical laughter, but I've been otherwise occupied." Liam's expression was mildly amused, but his eyes danced with mirth.
Mads tried to give Liam an evil look, but didn't quite succeed. "I don't think you've met Ioan, Liam. Ioan, this is Liam Neeson, he used to be the head of East...Liam this is Ioan Gruffudd."
Ioan smiled at Harry and nodded then turned to the other man. "Hello Liam, nice to meet you."
"Ioan." Liam nodded at the young man, running an appraising eye over him.
Ioan moved closer to Mads, feeling a bit intimidated and curled around him.
Wrapping an arm around Ioan, he gave the boy a smile before turning back to the two men. "I have to admit, being here is making me regret just a bit we haven't arranged some kind of ceremony sooner. I'm looking forward to this though, haven't attended a collaring in a while."
"Oh, Elijah's cute too. Two's nice, three's better is my motto. When four or five aren't around that is." Kate grinned and sat back content to wait a bit. If the little Alan didn't take the bait, there was likely to be someone who would. Weddings always brought out the horny.
Puck raised an eyebrow at Kate. "Well, I'm sure you'll have no trouble here..."
Guy scanned the room and walked over to Jason, giving him a sharp slap on the arse. "Didn't expect to see you here, Jason... although I really should have known - seeing people get bent into impossible positions is your specialty, and we can only hope T has something like that in mind."
"Hey!" Jason gave Guy a quick one armed hug and winked at him. "Guy have you ever met Cillian? Or Dom's mother, Juliet? Oh and this is David Bowie - a friend of Dom and Trent's." Jason pointed to Guy. "This is Guy. You'll probably recognize his ugly mug from all the new Palace literature."
Jumping a bit as Guy came up, Cillian looked him over before smiling in greeting. "Hi...we finally meet."
"And if you don't recognize my face, you'll probably recognize me arse," Guy smirked. "It's good to meet you, Cillian - and you too as well, David. Mum and I go way back," Guy added giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Guy..." Cillian said, smiling and meaning it, feeling only the tiniest bit of awkwardness, which was better than he had expected.
"Well darlings, I have to introduce David to a few guests before the ceremony begins, so would you excuse us?" As they all nodded and smiled, Mum linked arms with David and strolled over to introduce him to more of the crowd.
Elijah stuck his head out of the door on the side of the room and catching Puck's eye, waved and grinned before ducking back in to see if Dom needed anything.
Spotting Elijah, Puck grinned and waved before turning back to Kate.
Ioan glanced at Mads and blinked, smiling. A ceremony? He leaned closer happily.
"Mmm, look who you just made happy," Harry murmured to Mads.
"Weddings and similar ceremonies tend to do that -- spread the romantic feeling around, give people the urge to partner up and put on a show. Laura proposed to me at a wedding reception and it seemed like a good idea at the time." Liam's smile turned fond as he remembered his wife.
"Well, it's already official, we just haven't done anything public," Mads said with a shrug, smiling a bit as Liam mentioned his wife. He winked at Harry and gave Ioan another squeeze.
"Note to self, avoid all weddings and similar ceremonies," Harry muttered under his breath, trying to hide his grin.
Liam smirked, then looked around ostentatiously. "Yes, where is your better half, Harry? Or were you afraid to expose him to the atmosphere in here?"
"My much better half would likely handle this considerably better than I will, and then tease me for the better part of a week," Harry snorted. "He's covering Admin, pretty much. No Dominic, Elijah, me, and soon no Sean? Someone has to keep an eye on things."
"Good excuse. My compliments, Harry -- that was well thought of."
"It was, wasn't it?" Harry said, turning proudly to Liam. "Not a word of a lie either."
"No, no, of course not."
Ioan glanced over and saw Cillian, then tugged at Mads' sleeve and pointed. "There's Cill, I want to say hi."
When Ioan started to tug at his sleeve, Mads followed the boy's pointing, chuckling. "Okay Kitty, let's go." Turning back to Harry and Liam, he nodded his head. " If you'll excuse us."
Matt nervously adjusted his jacket one more time. He glanced back at the security escort and asked for the fifth time. "You're sure this is the right room? I won't walk in on... some thing else?" At the guard's smirk and pointing at the door, Matt forced himself to grab the handle and let himself in. Standing at the door, he was pleased to see everything looked like a normal party. Laughing at himself, he looked around and soon spotted Jason and Guy. "Hey Jason, Guy!"
Guy turned away from Cillian and beamed at Matt, crossing the room in a few steps and giving him a quick hug before dragging him over to Jason. "I had no idea you were coming - want me to go grab you a paper bag to breathe into when the time comes? Or, if you'd prefer, I can just drop to the ground and blow you - give you a nice distraction," he smirked.
Cillian blushed at Guy's words to Matt, but sniggered softly while Jason gave Matt a big grin and an air kiss.
Blushing, Matt swatted at Guy. "Maybe after?" He grinned and looked at the younger man with Jason. "Oh you must be the off the books guy. I mean, the guy that makes Jason not off the books. I mean, his boyfriend!"
Cillian blinked at Matt for a moment, trying to process that. What the hell? "Yeah..." he said, then giggled softly. "I guess I’m the boyfriend...My name is Cillian..."
"Hi, hi Cillian! Nice to meet you." Matt leaned closer to Guy. "Gosh you smell good tonight. I mean, you always smell good but you really, really smell good right now." At their expressions, he blushed again and raced on. "Um, you probably don't know but Dom is my half-brother."
Stunned, Jason stared for a moment at Matt. "He's your half brother?! I had no idea."
Guy looked carefully at Matt for a moment, then nodded. "Y'know, I can see that. So you've come to see your brother get married - good on you!"
Once introductions had been made, Cillian noticed Ioan heading over and he waved, grinning brightly -- disengaging himself from Jason for a moment to meet him and give him a hug. "Ioan!"
"Hey Cill!" Ioan said, happy to see him. "Isn't this wild?"
"I have a feeling I don't have any clue just how wild," Cillian commented with a blush, then gave Mads a shy smile in greeting -- causing the older man to chuckle. "Hi Mads..." The Head of East still intimidated him quite a lot. Grabbing Ioan's other hand he dragged the pair over to where Jason and the others were.
Ioan laughed at Cillian's remark and let himself be led. He looked around at everyone and stepped a bit closer to Mads, proud to be here with him.
Wrapping his arm around Ioan once again, Mads was content to just be a quiet part of the group now, letting Ioan and Cillian chat a bit.
Jason could see the resemblance as well. In fact, he realized he had subconsciously picked up on some similarities when he'd first met Matt. Looking over toward Cillian, he saw him bringing two more to their little group. "Hey baby. Found Ioan I see."
Matt looked over to see two more men joining them. His eyes widened as he took them in. Oh my gosh, oh my goodness! They MUST be from East. Aren't they? Normal people don't um look like that do they? Oh but wow, they're cute. Well not cute so much but oh my....
"Yup," Cillian said brightly. "Ioan -- I don't know if you know everyone? This is Guy, Matt..."
Jason noted Matt's wide-eyed gaze. "Matt, Ioan is collared too. Matt is Dom's half brother and a lawyer here at Palace. Plus a damn good client for Guy and I."
Mads extended his hand to Matt. "Nice to meet you, I’m Mads Mikkelsen, Head of East."
Ioan smiled and said hello to everyone there, hand automatically going to pet across his collar. "It's nice to meet you Matt."
Harry excused himself from Liam and walked over Matt, seeing his eyes getting a little glassed over. "Hey Matt - feel like ducking outside with me? I could use a break before the ceremony," he admitted, pausing and smiling at Cillian and Jason.
Cillian returned Harry's smile with a grin.
Still shaking hands with Mads, Matt noticed he had very nice eyes. Reminds me of Marton's.... "So you and Ioan did something like this as well? I've never heard of this before. Harry keeps telling me that Dom and Trent won't do any thing too wild but then Dom just laughs when I ask him so I have no idea what to expect." He turned toward Harry with a huge grin. "I was just saying you told me it wasn't going to make me sick or anything."
Jason couldn't help glancing at Cillian to see his reaction.
"Well, we've not had an official ceremony, but yes... I have collared Ioan, though our process was a little different." Mads chuckled, squeezing Ioan as Matt turned to Harry.
Cillian still wasn't sure exactly what was going to be happening here, but he gave Jason a nervous smile when he looked down at him, then stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah, but that's because you're a crazy woodsman," Harry said airily to Mads.
Ioan rubbed against Mads, grinning and then smirked at Harry.
"Wanker," Mads said affectionately to Harry, then chuckled as he nuzzled Ioan. "Careful Kitty, don't start something you don't want me to finish right here."
"Oh hush, tawni Rúkkersaméngri. Think I didn't see that look?" Harry muttered, sticking his tongue out at Ioan.
Ioan blanched a bit, blushing and grinning at Harry.
"What's a tawny rukkysammy?" Matt questioned cautiously. "Is that some East type thing?" Smiling he added. "I told Dom I would make a good attempt to understand a few of these terms."
Mads laughed, he couldn't help it. "No, it's a Wilding type thing," he grinned. "In my native language. It means little squirrel..."
Ioan squinted at Mads, "He really doesn't need any help you know Mads."
Harry smirked, violently resisting the urge to pat Ioan on the top of the head, fairly well aware that he'd be drawing a stump back if he did. "C'mon, Matt - lets go before Ioan brings out the claws... or is that Mads territory..." Harry drifted off, throwing an arm over Matt's shoulder and leading him away as Matt waved at them all.
Trent took a deep breath, only half listening to the voices in the next room. His finger lightly traced over Dominic's collar. HIS boy's collar. He sighed as he realized he hadn't stopped shaking yet.
"Relax, Uncle. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see."
"I know it will. Is Anna coming?"
"Right here. Just had to see about something." She smiled at Jared, slightly nodding her head at him.
"Okay," Trent closed his eyes, taking another deep breath. He slowly let it out, than fell casually into the chair, every inch now his boy's man. It was going to be perfect for his Dominic. He nodded to the other two, a small smile as he watched them walking down the aisle. He touched the hidden remote, a charring guitar chord sounding loudly as Anna and Jared pushed open the folding doors, allowing the guests to see the room for the first time.
At the head of the room was a big chair, wood and leather-backed. It sat on top of a pedestal with two steps, just enough to give it a little rise. The room was done in black and red, strips of cloth side by side hanging from the walls. Other strips are intertwined around the room. Next to the chair was a small table with a red pillow. On it was Dominic's collar. It was black, with red leather strips interlaced throughout. In the center was a small gold tag. "Rez's Boy" done in cursive script. Musical notes branded into the leather. On the tag to either side of the words was a circular emblem.
Speakers hidden throughout the room played soft music as the people filed in. Trent remained seated in the chair. Black leather pants, gloves and boots were all he was wearing. But his chest, arms and back were decorated with broad black lines and whirls, seeming to move across his skin..
Jason grabbed Cillian close and whispered in his ear. "Oh fuck! That's hot and scary and fucking hot!"
Cillian pressed close to Jason, eyes a little wide as he took everything in --sliding his arms around his lover's waist. "Wow..." was pretty much all he could conjure in his moment of eloquence.
"Go, T," Guy murmured, following behind Jason and Cillian as they walked into the room.
Ioan pressed in close to Mads and whispered in his ear. "I love you."
Mads entered the room, taking in everything with a quick sharp gaze, impressed by the set up and happy beyond words for both Trent and Dom; and if he was honest, already making plans in his head as he held Ioan close. "Love you too Kitty," he murmured.
David broke into a grin when he saw Trent like some pagan god. Oh Dominic is going to love this when he sees you.
When Juliet had come for Harry, Matt knew things were ready to get started. Nervously, Matt milled about for a second wondering where he could stand and be able to hide. Seeing a familiar face, Matt ran after Guy and latched onto him; relieved when Guy shot him a grin and wink. He was so glad Dom had let him pass on the escort thing. He really hoped he wouldn't pass out.
Sean was running late, a screw-up in the roster that had left the front desk without staff had almost kept him away entirely but Orlando had stepped in, literally taken the com right out of his hand and waved him out the door as he took over the conversation. He slid in through the doors, smiled at Trent and then looked around for Harry, weaving his way through the assembly to stand at his side with a dig to the ribs to let him know he was there.
Puck entered the room and viewed it with almost detached curiosity, hanging far back so he wasn't in anyone's way, smiling as he thought that soon he'd see Elijah.
Trent nodded to their guests as they entered. He was telling himself this was just like a scene. But he knew he was lying to himself and everyone else would know how much he was as his boy entered. He grumbled in his head about being apart since yesterday afternoon. It was far too long as far as he was concerned.
Mum gathered Dom's 'escort' and pushed and poked them into the small room where Elijah had been entertaining Dom all this while under the watchful eye of Laurence Fishburne. The two of them looked about to burst from sheer excitement while Fish wore his usual inscrutable face. Smiling proudly, she let the others see him for the first time.
Bowie grinned to see Sparky in all his glory. Dressed in only an assortment of black silk scarves tied to hang around his waist, Dom stood there like an offering. His slim, taut muscles and skin covered in tattooed patterns - song lyrics and chords from Trent's music. He had never looked more beautiful to David and more Trent's. With eyes prickly with tears, he forced himself to listen as Mum explained that they were to form an escort to bring Dom into the room. David noticed the frame that Dom's arms and legs were bound to.
Elijah turned to Dominic and patted his arm. "Okay buddy, this is it. You look great." Elijah smiled at him, feeling such a surge of pride and happiness for his friend. "We're all right here for ya'll. It's going to be - well - just fucking beautiful."
Harry's eyes opened widely as he took in the sight of Dominic tied and bound to the frame. You ever think that little boy you watched playing footie and stealing Mum's makeup was going to grow up and fall in love with an East Dom? Not in a million years. "Good on you, Dominic - Trent's going to love it. I'm proud of you," he smiled.
Anna and Jared took their seats near the front of one side of the room. "This is amazing." Anna whispered.
"I know. I never thought I would see a day like this." Jared carefully moved a strand of hair out of Anna's face.
Anna blushed. "Thanks. You ready, for you know what? Want me to be next to you or sitting down?"
"Next to me. Might need someone to keep me from bolting." Jared smiled as she tried not to laugh out loud.
Dom couldn't help a gleeful grin at their expressions though he almost cried at Mum's. Helplessly he looked away from her for a moment to get his bearings again. "Thank you all for helping me. You're my family. All of you and I love the hell out of each and every one of you. Especially the weak kneed ones who still agreed to be here." He winked at Sean and Harry glued to each other out of nerves, then grinned back at Mum, in control again.
Fish allowed himself a smile at David before he spoke softly to Dom "So Sweetness. I know you're ready for this." He laughed deeply before giving Dom a rough kiss. "More than ready I'd guess."
With a booming voice, Fish faced the rather nervous others. "Are you ready to take this boy to his man? To bear witness to his being worthy of wearing Trent's collar? To demand his man prove his right to have this boy? Say aye!"
A chorus of "aye's" followed, some quieter then others, a threat of tears in the voice of another, and a bit of a squeak in at least one... maybe two.
Fish ordered them to take up positions around the frame. He then moved to the door and opened it. Looking up to Trent, he waited until he had the man's eye. With a signal, he told Trent they were ready to bring his boy to him.
Trent nodded back, than touched the remote again. The soft music changed to a louder song. Trent lowered his eyes, thinking about how his boy had no idea he had planned to use the song. He remembered when he had challenged him, to do a remix of the song of David's that had been playing when they met, to the song of his that he had put to Fish's video. "Something for you as well, David." He whispered to himself.
Hearing the song, David looked up and caught Dom's delighted surprise. They stared at each other for a long moment, soft smiles saying everything. Dom forced his eyes and head down to be presented to his Rez. David's throat ached for long moments as he started to push the frame with the others.
Elijah concentrated on not stumbling.
When Mads first caught sight of Dominic, he smiled again -- thinking how perfect this was for the two of them; the layout...the music, everything. He pressed a kiss into Ioan's hair, a little more emotional than he had actually expected to be.
Cillian's eyes widened a bit as Dominic emerged ...tied to something. Oh yeah, he knew he had no idea what to expect, but he couldn't stop the small smile on his lips -- or the blush in his cheeks -- as he pressed closer to Jason.
Jason felt like his own heart was pounding to the music. "Fuck! This music alone is enough to give you a hard on!" he whispered to Cillian as he pressed against him. Just then Dom came into view, bound to some thing. "Oh fuck me!"
Maybe later," Cillian whispered back, giving a nervous giggle.
Harry focused on the frame, afraid if he looked at Sean or Mum or, well, anyone, he just might cry. And that was not going to happen. Right?
Puck caught sight of everything, still intrigued - grinning when he saw Elijah walking as escort.
Matt practically climbed onto Guy, fascinated and scared at the same time. "He's okay right? Those marks aren't permanent, or are they? Guy? Dom's okay?"
"He's perfect, Matt - don't worry," Guy murmured. "This is what he wants - what he loves, remember?"
Ioan let a tiny moan escape when he saw Dominic. He curled his fingers into Mads' shirt. "Damn, he looks great."
"He does, doesn't he?" Mads said, voice a whisper as he covered Ioan's hand with his own, a slight smirk forming. "But down Kitty..."
"Later then?" Ioan said with a crooked grin, settling back a bit.
Mads snorted softly. "Always..."
Fish gave the escorts a signal to stop. Turning to Trent, he waited.
Trent gripped the arms of his chair, than slowly looked up. As he took in the sight of his boy, he rose to his feet, not even fully aware that he had. His gaze was locked onto Dominic, not seeing anyone else. He bit back a groan as he recognized his rope belt. He walked down the two steps, than fell to his knees with his head bowed. His eyes were shut tight as he prayed for this not to be a dream.
Dom's heart was pounding with a heavy deep beat that seemed to want to jump out of his chest. He let himself sink even lower into his headspace, his whole being caught up in wanting to please Rez -- to prove himself worthy and to make his man proud. Soon his man would direct him and Dom knew he could then show him just how much he wanted this. Wanting to be claimed and proven worthy, his body was practically vibrating as he waited.
Elijah pressed lips together and blinked, remembering to just breathe and not bawl like a big tit.
Fish stared at Trent, pleased with him for realizing the magnitude of what he was doing. In a voice that carried across the room, he demanded. "Trent Reznor! You have made claims that this boy Dominic is to be your own. Your Only Boy. Is this truly your will? Is he worthy of your claim?"
Trent looked up, blinking back the tears. "It is." His voice carried throughout the room. "He is more than worthy. And I swear to have no other Boy than him. I wish him for mine. From now til forever. To be my boy in every way. To protect and care for him. To show myself worthy of being his man everyday of our lives. And may the gods strike me dead if ever I am otherwise."
Juliet couldn't help it. She looked helplessly at Trent, then Dom, then burst into tears. Pulling Elijah close, she sniffled into his soft hair, feeling foolish but oh so happy too.
Harry looked over at Sean and smiled, looking down again before either of them lost their composure. He moved closer to Juliet, putting his hand gently on her shoulder.
Elijah, grateful for the contact, held Mum tight and snuffled, not even caring if anyone saw him cry.
Dom's body swayed toward Trent's voice though his head didn't lift. Breathlessly he waited for his trial.
Mads' breath caught a bit at the words, his arms tightening around Ioan subconsciously as he watched.
Trent slowly stood up, tearing his eyes away from his boy to the ones that had escorted him. "I ask you for him. To let him be mine. To submit to any test you would want to give, to prove my worthiness of him. I wish the ones who know him best, the ones whom he belonged to before me. I wish them to look on me, and find me worthy of being his man."
David spoke first. "I find you worthy, Trent my friend. I trust this boy, my friend Dominic with you." He blinked hard to keep the tears back.
Jared reached for Anna's hand, needing to look down to compose himself. "I wish they had been here. To see this."
Anna smiled as she squeezed his hand back. "They are. Trust me on that."
Harry paused a moment before looking up and meeting Trent's eyes unwaveringly. "Dominic has chosen you, Trent, and I trust Dominic's judgment, whether I've ever told him that or not. You don't need to prove anything to me. Just love him. That's all I ask."
Elijah looked up from where his face was smooshed against Mum and blinked, then in a soft voice said, "Just take care of him."
Tears still streaming every so often down her face, Juliet finally found her voice. "You're an honorable man Trent Reznor. My Dom's Rez. And now part of my family. I find you worthy for my son and I know you'll love him as he deserves."
Pleased, Fish gave Trent a fierce nod of approval. He climbed up to the dais and retrieved the paddle from behind the chair. Stepping down to Trent again, Fish spoke again. "This man has been accepted as being worthy of claiming this boy as his own. Now it is time for this boy Dominic to prove his worthiness to wearing the collar of this man." He held the paddle up and handed it to Trent.
Cillian watched everything, still quite wide eyed and with what felt like a permanent blush -- gripping Jason's hand tightly.
Whispering again, Jason murmured. "Oh so that's Dom's kink. He never would say. You think we should ask them to borrow that thing sometime baby?"
Cillian hadn't really thought it possible, but he blushed more deeply, ducking his head a bit at Jason's question -- though he noticeably did not deter his lover from his train of thought.
Ioan's breath caught at the sight of the paddle and he rubbed his hand across Mads arm, flexing his fingers.
Mads smiled, looking away from the scene to Ioan briefly and smiling, kissing the boy lightly on the lips.
"Guy? What's that thing?" Matt was worried. What was going to happen? He looked over and saw Harry go pale. "Guy?! Harry's gone really pale! What's happening?"
Oh Jesus fuckin' god, Harry groaned mentally, reminding himself to keep breathing steadily, his hand a little tighter on Mum's shoulder as he set his feet wider apart, firming his stance. Just breathe, dammit!
Sean wasn’t bothered by the setting, the trappings, any of it really. Sure it was a bit . . . weird, it being Dominic and all, but he’d been around Palace, around East, for so long that it truly didn’t bother him as much as it might, well, Harry for instance. The ceremony was incredibly moving; anything involving true emotion and such obvious depth of feeling meant you’d have to be made of stone not to feel something and Dom was . . . one of his kids. He wiped away an errant tear.
"So he does have a bit of masochist in him... go Dom," Guy murmured, then turned to look at Matt. "Well, that's a paddle, Matt. And... look, I promise it's all okay, and it's what Dom wants - okay?" he said, reaching over and putting his arm around Matt. "If it's too much, just don't watch. No one will think less of you for it."
"A pad-dle?" Matt's whole face turned red for a moment. Laying his head down on Guy's shoulder, he watched with one eye, the rest of his face pressed up against the more familiar side of what he knew about sex.
Trent took the paddle from Fish. He wanted to touch his boy, but didn't trust himself to stop at just a touch. He settled for reaching up to one of Dominic's hands, interlacing their fingers as he leaned his head to whisper to him. "My boy. My beautiful boy. Gods I love you, Dominic." With that he drew his arm back, the hard smack ringing throughout the room.
Eyes rolling back in pleasure pain, Dom's breath hissed through his mouth at the sting to his body. His fingers tightened into his man's fingers, the world narrowed to just the two of them.
Cillian jumped as the paddle made contact with Dominic, making a soft sound as he half turned his own face into Jason's shoulder, though still half watching too.
Mads hissed softly, fingers tightening where they were on Ioan -- licking his lips as he watched the test.
Ioan felt Mads' fingers tighten and shifted a bit and rubbed his knee slowly against Mads' leg, just needing more contact.
Fish grinned fiercely as he watched them, feeling a surge of lust at the tangible connection of their bodies. Looking quickly over at David, he saw the longing but also the love and approval on his face. Reaching over, he stroked David's arm until he got his attention. Without saying anything, David agreed to meet Fish afterward. David's face lightened with mood while a flush spread across his cheeks as he thought ahead to what this ceremony might inspire Fish to do to him.
Liam watched Trent's expert swing of the paddle, and Dominic's ecstatically tightened face as each blow hit. He felt himself stirring at the sight and the remembered feelings; it had been a while, after all. He wondered if Christian would be busy later that evening....
Elijah's eyes went wide and he swallowed.
Mum was pretending quite well to remember what vegetables she had planted in every single row and which ones were due to be harvested. Oh, the tomatoes should be in soon. Dommie's bottom might even be that same color red by the time Trent finishes. Oh dear, onto the cucumbers....No! Let's think about flowers. Yes! Tulips and pansies.
"Okay, ow. And ow. And ow." Anna and Jared shared weak smiles, pretending they had seen this all before. And politely ignoring each other's wincing at each swat.
Oh my fuck - ANNA'S here? Harry suddenly noticed, finally finding something to distract him from the swish of the paddle and the cries of pleasure-pain coming from Dominic.
"Eight.... Nine.....Ten." Trent dropped the paddle, his arm going tight around Dominic. He buried his face against his neck for a moment, than lifted his head. "He has proven himself. Shown his worth. I claim him as mine. Do you hear?!" His voice raised. "HE IS MINE!! MINE!!! AND DEATH TO ANYONE WHO TRIES TO TAKE HIM FROM ME!!!"
He undid the knots on his boy's hands and feet, catching him and helping him to kneel. "One last bit, my love. One final thing." He walked back to the table, picking up the collar and holding it in front of him. "Do you accept my collar? Do you swear to be my boy, obey me in the ways we have chosen? Do you accept my claim of you?"
Body energized, lightening skimming across his skin into his brain, and yet boneless from the trial, Dom felt his man position him. Staring up at Trent, his voice was lost somewhere only Rez could reach. Swaying slightly, he forced his spine to go straighter. Speaking roughly at first, Dominic answered, his voice growing stronger. "I accept Rez. I swear to be your boy, your only boy. In the ways we have chosen and signed. I will wear your collar proudly. I am yours always, in every way, in any way. Only yours. By this I swear on my life."
Trent fell to his knees. He carefully put the collar around Dominic's neck. "You are mine. And I am yours. As we decided. As we chose." He cupped his boy's face in his hands. "Always." He pulled him to him, claiming his mouth in a hard kiss, his arms circling to crush his boy to him.
Touched and quite frankly, turned on, beyond words, Mads drew Ioan closer to him as he watched the pair -- actually feeling a little misty eyed.
Harry cleared his through softly, blinking hard trying to hold back the tears. He could hear Mum's sniffling but also laughing a bit as the happiness for them burst through.
Jared stood up, walking over to the two of them. He kneeled next to Dominic and held out the armband, identical to the collar in every way, excepting the words. 'Dominic's Man'.
Holding onto Trent, Dominic looked at Jared blankly for a long moment before speaking slowly as if in a daze. "My armband. My claim on him." Grinning as it suddenly hit him what Jared had brought over, Dom reached for it carefully. Looking back at Trent, Dom smiled softly. "My Rez, as I wear your collar, would you wear my symbol? This armband marking you as mine? It would please your boy so much."
"I would proudly wear it. I want everyone to know. Know who I belong to. Please, my Dominic. Claim me." Trent helped Dominic sit up, than held his arm out to him. "Yours."
Despite shaking fingers, Dom managed to close the armband around Trent's arm. With a small smile, he leaned down and licked along the leather to taste Trent's skin and the leather against it. "Mine."
Cillian sniffled softly, pressing a kiss to Jason's neck as Trent and Dom pledged themselves to one another, snuggling closer.
Pulling Cillian close, Jason stole a hard kiss then another. "Love you baby."
Harry leaned closer to Mum, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Look at our Dominic, Mum. Look at the man you raised," he murmured. "Congratulations to you."
Elijah grinned and clapped his hands. "Yeah Dommie!"
Nose pink, Mum laughed and hiccuped as she joined in the clapping sounding through the room. "It was so beautiful really. My heart is still going like mad." She hugged Elijah close. "Oh duck. I've made your lovely hair all wet."
Handing him a tissue, Mum reached over and hugged Harry close. "Oh Harry! You made it through the whole spanking. Good on you, luv!"
"Yep - didn't barf on my leathers or anything," Harry grinned, hugging her back.
“Proud ‘o you mate.” Sean whispered in Harry’s other ear. “Buy you a beer for that.”
Ioan shifted as close to Mads as he could get without just crawling onto him and whispered, "Um - how long do we need to stay?" He said in a low rough voice.
Mads laughed softly, turning his head to kiss Ioan lightly -- almost teasingly. "Patience Kitty," he murmured, though his own voice was husky.
Jared kissed both his uncle and Dominic on the cheek, than moved back. He glanced as Anna came up to him, than the both of them struggled to get the chair into the receiving hall before Mark came up and helped them. Smiling their thanks, Anna stayed by the chair as Jared went to speak to the band out in the hall.
Liam rose from his seat and applauded with the rest. Trent and Dominic were just recalling that there were others here with them; it was adorable and boded well for their lives together.
"You can look now, Matt - all over," Guy murmured, turning Matt's face back towards them and whistling loudly.
Matt lifted his head cautiously. "Don't tell Dom I couldn't watch the whole thing. I promised I would and I tried. The beginning and end were good though, don't you think so? And Dom looks really happy." He laughed and straightened up self-consciously. "Oh gosh, I wrinkled your shirt."
"I won't tell him anything - but you really did fine, Matt," Guy assured him. "And you weren't the only one who didn't watch." He looked down at his shirt, shrugged and pulled it off, tossing it onto the chair. "There - easy! Remind me to get that later," he said, taking Matt's hand and pulling him to follow everyone else out into the next room.
Trent pulled Dominic to him. "I love you. Love you so much." He stood up, than picked his boy up and carried him to the chair in the receiving hall. "You better not have us waste this food." He called over his shoulder to the others as he passed.
Dom felt some of the ceremony headspace lifting but knew if he stared at Trent too much it would come back right away. At the edge of his subconscious was an awareness of how Trent had dressed for the occasion but it hadn't really sunk it yet. He bit at Trent's neck, then licked it. "Your boy would rather eat you."
Anna smiled as she saw Trent and Dominic coming towards them. "Oh, no." She stopped them from sitting down. "Get that first dance out of the way, otherwise I have the feeling neither of you will want to get back up once you sit down."
Trent shivered. "So tempting, my boy. But we did promise to try to be good. And we did have a Royal order just now to dance. Think it best to stay on their good side. But later...." His voice trailed off as his eyes finished the sentence.
Shivering at the darkness of Trent's eyes and the wicked promises there, Dom had to force out an answer. "Mustn't disappoint Anna. And you know how I love to be made to wait."
"Yes I do." Trent lowered Dominic to the floor, than led him out to the dance floor. He waved blindly for the band to start, his arms wrapping around his boy and holding him tight. As the music started, he began to dance. But at the first words, he stopped eyes wide as he looked at the bandstand to see Jared playing and singing alone with a guitar and Anna standing behind him. "Oh gods." He choked out, tears beginning to fall.
Feeling Trent's body crumble a bit, Dominic held onto him tightly, his heart racing. "Trent?! What's wrong? Rez!" He reached up to cup Trent's face. "I've got you no matter what."
Trent clung to Dominic, trying to focus on him thru his tears. "That song. It's...it's the one I wrote for Mary and Andrew. Their wedding song. Jared's playing us their song."
"That's perfect." Dom smiled gently as he brushed the tears off Trent's face. "It's like they're here with us. He's here and they are too. Their wedding and now ours. Perfect."
"Perfect. Just like you." Trent kissed Dominic, beginning to dance with him again, holding him tight.
Jared kept his gaze down, knowing he would lose it if he looked at his uncle. It was the only way he would make it thru the song and he had to sing all of it. But as the last note end, the guitar began to slide from his hands.
Anna grabbed the guitar, placing it on the ground as she reached for Jared. "I got you. It's okay. Let it out." She held on to him as he cried, running her hand thru his hair and murmuring to him as her own tears fell.
The band took over and other guests began filling the dance area.
"Wow..." Cillian said softly, feeling a little shaky on his feet as he watched Trent and Dom depart. "Reception now? Like a wedding?" He asked quietly.
Curling his fingers in Cillian's hair, Jason nodded. "Yeh, food and probably a very wild night. I caught sight of a "play room" just outside this room. Now you and I may just want to walk through there. Get a few ideas before running off to West though we may not make it all the way back. The Gardens are on the way and you never know what might happen there."
Leaning into the touch, Cillian listened to Jason's words with an even more wide eyed expression and blushing... if that were possible; though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't more than a little aroused... not just by the ceremony but by what his lover was... promising, as well. He knew he didn't need to ask, that his imagination was actually probably serving him well and not overreacting at the moment, but still, he found himself squeaking out "Playroom?" as he was led to where the others were dancing.
Elijah tapped Harry on the shoulder as they walked into the reception room. "Hey Harry?"
"You did good." Elijah said and impulsively hugged Harry tight before pulling back and grinning.
"Thanks, Brat," Harry grinned, kissing the top of Elijah's head. "I think we all did."
Grinning wider Elijah loped off to find Puck, waving madly as he saw him and grabbing him in a hug.
Trent kissed his boy again as the song stopped, than glanced around. He saw Jared and Anna, deciding to divert attention from them by addressing the party goers. "I warned you about eating and now dancing. For those more... ready for other activities, there is a special room for you. Oh, and on that table you will find small baskets with your names on them. Our gifts to our friends. Please, enjoy."
Harry laughed as he watched Elijah run off and turned back to Mum. "Gracious lady," he said, bowing low. "A dance with the mother of the... I call Dominic the bride, I'm gonna get me arse kicked. Either way - shall we?"
Liam watched Harry dance off with Juliet and smiled. He'd catch her later and say hello. Train food was horrible, though, and it looked like there was quite a nice buffet set up. He headed over to have a look.
Sean looked at the time, thought about going to relieve Orlando, saw Liam heading for the food and made his decision. Orlando would wait a little longer. He headed off after Liam and the buffet.
Giggling, Mum twirled around the floor with Harry. "I bet you're wishing you'd brought Orlando now aren't you luv? Well, I'm sure he'll enjoy sharing your party favors with you." She giggled louder at Harry's expression of mock fear.
Smiling, Mads tugs Ioan close, speaking in his ear. "Think you can be patient enough to dance with me before I throw you down and rip off your clothes, Kitty?" He let his hands run slowly down the boy's back.
Ioan shivered, pushing close. "Fast dance, slow fuck?" He said laughing.
Mads laughed heartily, hugging Ioan close as he listened to Trent -- raising an eyebrow at the word 'gift'.
Dominic looked around at all their friends and family. The mood loud and happy with celebration. Already more than a few were eyeing the play room but still being polite about sneaking off. Snuggling closer to Trent, Dom's hand lifted to touch first his collar then his man's armband, emotions chasing madly one after another through his body, one thought rising above all others - Claimed.
"Afternoon, Harry." Liam strode up and nodded a greeting. "Lovely day for a collaring, hmm?" He took in Harry's body language and deliberately didn't smile.
"Do collarings have an appropriate weather system?" Harry looked ponderous for a moment, then grinned at Liam. "I'll be fine, Liam. Honestly, it's as much the fact that it's Dominic then it is anything else."
Liam grinned back at Harry. "Well, considering what at least the main participants usually wear, warm weather is desirable."
Harry glared at Liam. "You are not helping. But then again, you're not really trying to, are you?"
Accepting a glass of champagne from David Bowie in the room next to where the collaring ceremony was to take place, Mum toasted him with it. "I'm extremely pleased to finally meet you David. Dominic was so excited that you could make the ceremony."
Relaxed and at ease finally with the inevitability of this day, David nodded and smiled back at her. "And you are just how Dom described you! Although I still am having a shock at how very young you are. You must have been a baby when Dom was born." He winked at her. "I hope you'll be so kind to point everyone out to me. Associate names to faces finally."
Mads entered with a smile on his face, quite excited about the ceremony for Dom and Trent, giving Ioan's hand a squeeze as they passed through the door.
Ioan smiled at Mads and followed him, interested in seeing everything.
Jason pulled Cillian with him into the reception room in the East Wing. A curious gaze all around the room as he took in this unfamiliar side of the building. "I see Dom's mother. Let's go say hello before things get too crazy." As they reached her, Jason smiled brightly. "Hello Juliet! Wanted to say congratulations and also introduce you to my boyfriend. This is Cillian. Cillian. Dom's mother, Juliet or Mum as most call her."
Cillian smiled shyly at Dominic's mother. "It's a pleasure to meet you...and congratulations."
Eying the two of them, Juliet grinned to see how Jason had Cillian wrapped closed to him. "Oh thank you two so much! It's going to be such a fun time, especially if no one faints. Jason you may have to let go of this beautiful young man to catch poor dear Harry."
Cillian flushed deeply, though he giggled at her comment. "S'going to be that bad? For Harry, I mean?"
Ioan looked around, staying uncharacteristically quiet for him.
Pulling Ioan closer, Mads kissed his cheek. "You okay, Kitty?"
Ioan smiled and nuzzled against Mads' shoulder. "Yeah, just want to see what all happens. You know." He shrugged and rubbed against Mads. "Just curious."
"I'm helping, certainly. Just not in a way you might appreciate at this point." Liam raised an eyebrow at Harry, a ghost of his earlier grin still remaining.
"Oh shut up," Harry growled. "Actually, wanted to talk to you if you've got a second before we go in - about Palace's newest future libertine," Harry said, good naturedly rolling his eyes.
"Oh? I take it Adrian's been enjoying himself, then?" Liam crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, cocking his head at Harry. "Not too much, I hope."
"Other than nearly killing Christian and Johnny - which I think is pretty fuckin' funny, actually - and sulking when someone doesn't want to fuck him, if the rumours are right, I think he's managed all right. But you've got to do something to temper that whole sense of entitlement thing he's got going on, mate. I'd love to take him on just because he's him and you're you when the time comes, but it doesn't work like that, and you know it. I tried, but he didn't get it." Harry said, a bit reluctantly.
Liam sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I honestly do think he has the talent for it, and he certainly has the looks. But he also has a lot of issues and he knows that. Unfortunately, one of his 'Talents' is the ability to assume things will work out the way he thinks they should. It was useful before, but it's getting in the way now. We're working on it, but thanks for the input."
"Curious is good..." Mads said with a smirk, content to just stand back and people watch a bit for now as they waited.
Ioan leaned against Mads, and nipped at his shoulder playfully.
David recognized Jason right away. He reached over to give him a hug as he remarked playfully. "Congratulations yourself dear boy! Cillian, I'm David by the way." He winked as he added. "Oh woe is me. Everyone so nicely paired up and no one to play with." David pursed his lips as he took in Cillian's features. "Hmm, unless you're open to sharing?"
Cillian wasn't sure which had him blushing more, the fact of David's words or the knowledge of who he actually -was-.
Kate strolled in, checking out the boys and girls assembled. Done him, done her, done her (a lot), done him, hmm... oh hell there's that little crazy tech dude Alan. Have I done him? Nope! Direction set, she headed over to the potted plant where he was practically hiding.
Having been doing his best imitation of a hat rack, it took Puck a moment to realize that the young woman was, in fact, headed his way. Kate, he thought.
Grabbing a drink off the tray Bar Wench was carrying, Kate groped him for grins then sashayed over to grab a chair and pull it very close to Alan. "Alan! You are a sight for horny eyes, my man. What brings you here? Dom really does know everyone I guess."
Eyeing Kate for a moment, Puck finally offered her a smile. "I'm with Elijah," he responded. "I don't really know anyone here." He shrugged.
"I can't speak for his abilities - although I did inform him that no, I do not take the prospective libertines for a test drive," Harry snorted. "and he does have the looks. And of course, you'd know more about the issues than I would. I'm not saying it's a no, I'm just saying that Palace is Palace, East is East, and, well, that's about all I had to say about it." Harry shrugged again, feeling uncomfortable.
Liam laid a hand on Harry's shoulder and squeezed. "Seriously, thank you. I am curious to hear how he conducted himself away from home -- I need the input." He glanced over at the open door, through which he could see a number of people milling around. He gestured to it and said, "Shall we?"
"Best get on with it, eh?" Harry grinned, following Liam inside and looking around.
Spotting Liam and Harry, Mads chuckled, tugging Ioan over with him. "I'm not sure if I should be worried that you two are skulking around together," he teased.
"Mads!" Harry said, grinning like all hell. "I've been skulking around with Liam since the barbarian times - where have you been?" He turned to Ioan and smirked. "Hey there, tawni Rúkkersaméngri (little squirrel)... how's it goin'?"
Liam grinned at Mads and said, "So long as you don't try to pass the hat back, you've nothing to worry about. I didn't have a chance to send you a congratulatory note when you took over the old office -- I was going to record about an hour of hysterical laughter, but I've been otherwise occupied." Liam's expression was mildly amused, but his eyes danced with mirth.
Mads tried to give Liam an evil look, but didn't quite succeed. "I don't think you've met Ioan, Liam. Ioan, this is Liam Neeson, he used to be the head of East...Liam this is Ioan Gruffudd."
Ioan smiled at Harry and nodded then turned to the other man. "Hello Liam, nice to meet you."
"Ioan." Liam nodded at the young man, running an appraising eye over him.
Ioan moved closer to Mads, feeling a bit intimidated and curled around him.
Wrapping an arm around Ioan, he gave the boy a smile before turning back to the two men. "I have to admit, being here is making me regret just a bit we haven't arranged some kind of ceremony sooner. I'm looking forward to this though, haven't attended a collaring in a while."
"Oh, Elijah's cute too. Two's nice, three's better is my motto. When four or five aren't around that is." Kate grinned and sat back content to wait a bit. If the little Alan didn't take the bait, there was likely to be someone who would. Weddings always brought out the horny.
Puck raised an eyebrow at Kate. "Well, I'm sure you'll have no trouble here..."
Guy scanned the room and walked over to Jason, giving him a sharp slap on the arse. "Didn't expect to see you here, Jason... although I really should have known - seeing people get bent into impossible positions is your specialty, and we can only hope T has something like that in mind."
"Hey!" Jason gave Guy a quick one armed hug and winked at him. "Guy have you ever met Cillian? Or Dom's mother, Juliet? Oh and this is David Bowie - a friend of Dom and Trent's." Jason pointed to Guy. "This is Guy. You'll probably recognize his ugly mug from all the new Palace literature."
Jumping a bit as Guy came up, Cillian looked him over before smiling in greeting. "Hi...we finally meet."
"And if you don't recognize my face, you'll probably recognize me arse," Guy smirked. "It's good to meet you, Cillian - and you too as well, David. Mum and I go way back," Guy added giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Guy..." Cillian said, smiling and meaning it, feeling only the tiniest bit of awkwardness, which was better than he had expected.
"Well darlings, I have to introduce David to a few guests before the ceremony begins, so would you excuse us?" As they all nodded and smiled, Mum linked arms with David and strolled over to introduce him to more of the crowd.
Elijah stuck his head out of the door on the side of the room and catching Puck's eye, waved and grinned before ducking back in to see if Dom needed anything.
Spotting Elijah, Puck grinned and waved before turning back to Kate.
Ioan glanced at Mads and blinked, smiling. A ceremony? He leaned closer happily.
"Mmm, look who you just made happy," Harry murmured to Mads.
"Weddings and similar ceremonies tend to do that -- spread the romantic feeling around, give people the urge to partner up and put on a show. Laura proposed to me at a wedding reception and it seemed like a good idea at the time." Liam's smile turned fond as he remembered his wife.
"Well, it's already official, we just haven't done anything public," Mads said with a shrug, smiling a bit as Liam mentioned his wife. He winked at Harry and gave Ioan another squeeze.
"Note to self, avoid all weddings and similar ceremonies," Harry muttered under his breath, trying to hide his grin.
Liam smirked, then looked around ostentatiously. "Yes, where is your better half, Harry? Or were you afraid to expose him to the atmosphere in here?"
"My much better half would likely handle this considerably better than I will, and then tease me for the better part of a week," Harry snorted. "He's covering Admin, pretty much. No Dominic, Elijah, me, and soon no Sean? Someone has to keep an eye on things."
"Good excuse. My compliments, Harry -- that was well thought of."
"It was, wasn't it?" Harry said, turning proudly to Liam. "Not a word of a lie either."
"No, no, of course not."
Ioan glanced over and saw Cillian, then tugged at Mads' sleeve and pointed. "There's Cill, I want to say hi."
When Ioan started to tug at his sleeve, Mads followed the boy's pointing, chuckling. "Okay Kitty, let's go." Turning back to Harry and Liam, he nodded his head. " If you'll excuse us."
Matt nervously adjusted his jacket one more time. He glanced back at the security escort and asked for the fifth time. "You're sure this is the right room? I won't walk in on... some thing else?" At the guard's smirk and pointing at the door, Matt forced himself to grab the handle and let himself in. Standing at the door, he was pleased to see everything looked like a normal party. Laughing at himself, he looked around and soon spotted Jason and Guy. "Hey Jason, Guy!"
Guy turned away from Cillian and beamed at Matt, crossing the room in a few steps and giving him a quick hug before dragging him over to Jason. "I had no idea you were coming - want me to go grab you a paper bag to breathe into when the time comes? Or, if you'd prefer, I can just drop to the ground and blow you - give you a nice distraction," he smirked.
Cillian blushed at Guy's words to Matt, but sniggered softly while Jason gave Matt a big grin and an air kiss.
Blushing, Matt swatted at Guy. "Maybe after?" He grinned and looked at the younger man with Jason. "Oh you must be the off the books guy. I mean, the guy that makes Jason not off the books. I mean, his boyfriend!"
Cillian blinked at Matt for a moment, trying to process that. What the hell? "Yeah..." he said, then giggled softly. "I guess I’m the boyfriend...My name is Cillian..."
"Hi, hi Cillian! Nice to meet you." Matt leaned closer to Guy. "Gosh you smell good tonight. I mean, you always smell good but you really, really smell good right now." At their expressions, he blushed again and raced on. "Um, you probably don't know but Dom is my half-brother."
Stunned, Jason stared for a moment at Matt. "He's your half brother?! I had no idea."
Guy looked carefully at Matt for a moment, then nodded. "Y'know, I can see that. So you've come to see your brother get married - good on you!"
Once introductions had been made, Cillian noticed Ioan heading over and he waved, grinning brightly -- disengaging himself from Jason for a moment to meet him and give him a hug. "Ioan!"
"Hey Cill!" Ioan said, happy to see him. "Isn't this wild?"
"I have a feeling I don't have any clue just how wild," Cillian commented with a blush, then gave Mads a shy smile in greeting -- causing the older man to chuckle. "Hi Mads..." The Head of East still intimidated him quite a lot. Grabbing Ioan's other hand he dragged the pair over to where Jason and the others were.
Ioan laughed at Cillian's remark and let himself be led. He looked around at everyone and stepped a bit closer to Mads, proud to be here with him.
Wrapping his arm around Ioan once again, Mads was content to just be a quiet part of the group now, letting Ioan and Cillian chat a bit.
Jason could see the resemblance as well. In fact, he realized he had subconsciously picked up on some similarities when he'd first met Matt. Looking over toward Cillian, he saw him bringing two more to their little group. "Hey baby. Found Ioan I see."
Matt looked over to see two more men joining them. His eyes widened as he took them in. Oh my gosh, oh my goodness! They MUST be from East. Aren't they? Normal people don't um look like that do they? Oh but wow, they're cute. Well not cute so much but oh my....
"Yup," Cillian said brightly. "Ioan -- I don't know if you know everyone? This is Guy, Matt..."
Jason noted Matt's wide-eyed gaze. "Matt, Ioan is collared too. Matt is Dom's half brother and a lawyer here at Palace. Plus a damn good client for Guy and I."
Mads extended his hand to Matt. "Nice to meet you, I’m Mads Mikkelsen, Head of East."
Ioan smiled and said hello to everyone there, hand automatically going to pet across his collar. "It's nice to meet you Matt."
Harry excused himself from Liam and walked over Matt, seeing his eyes getting a little glassed over. "Hey Matt - feel like ducking outside with me? I could use a break before the ceremony," he admitted, pausing and smiling at Cillian and Jason.
Cillian returned Harry's smile with a grin.
Still shaking hands with Mads, Matt noticed he had very nice eyes. Reminds me of Marton's.... "So you and Ioan did something like this as well? I've never heard of this before. Harry keeps telling me that Dom and Trent won't do any thing too wild but then Dom just laughs when I ask him so I have no idea what to expect." He turned toward Harry with a huge grin. "I was just saying you told me it wasn't going to make me sick or anything."
Jason couldn't help glancing at Cillian to see his reaction.
"Well, we've not had an official ceremony, but yes... I have collared Ioan, though our process was a little different." Mads chuckled, squeezing Ioan as Matt turned to Harry.
Cillian still wasn't sure exactly what was going to be happening here, but he gave Jason a nervous smile when he looked down at him, then stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah, but that's because you're a crazy woodsman," Harry said airily to Mads.
Ioan rubbed against Mads, grinning and then smirked at Harry.
"Wanker," Mads said affectionately to Harry, then chuckled as he nuzzled Ioan. "Careful Kitty, don't start something you don't want me to finish right here."
"Oh hush, tawni Rúkkersaméngri. Think I didn't see that look?" Harry muttered, sticking his tongue out at Ioan.
Ioan blanched a bit, blushing and grinning at Harry.
"What's a tawny rukkysammy?" Matt questioned cautiously. "Is that some East type thing?" Smiling he added. "I told Dom I would make a good attempt to understand a few of these terms."
Mads laughed, he couldn't help it. "No, it's a Wilding type thing," he grinned. "In my native language. It means little squirrel..."
Ioan squinted at Mads, "He really doesn't need any help you know Mads."
Harry smirked, violently resisting the urge to pat Ioan on the top of the head, fairly well aware that he'd be drawing a stump back if he did. "C'mon, Matt - lets go before Ioan brings out the claws... or is that Mads territory..." Harry drifted off, throwing an arm over Matt's shoulder and leading him away as Matt waved at them all.
Trent took a deep breath, only half listening to the voices in the next room. His finger lightly traced over Dominic's collar. HIS boy's collar. He sighed as he realized he hadn't stopped shaking yet.
"Relax, Uncle. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see."
"I know it will. Is Anna coming?"
"Right here. Just had to see about something." She smiled at Jared, slightly nodding her head at him.
"Okay," Trent closed his eyes, taking another deep breath. He slowly let it out, than fell casually into the chair, every inch now his boy's man. It was going to be perfect for his Dominic. He nodded to the other two, a small smile as he watched them walking down the aisle. He touched the hidden remote, a charring guitar chord sounding loudly as Anna and Jared pushed open the folding doors, allowing the guests to see the room for the first time.
At the head of the room was a big chair, wood and leather-backed. It sat on top of a pedestal with two steps, just enough to give it a little rise. The room was done in black and red, strips of cloth side by side hanging from the walls. Other strips are intertwined around the room. Next to the chair was a small table with a red pillow. On it was Dominic's collar. It was black, with red leather strips interlaced throughout. In the center was a small gold tag. "Rez's Boy" done in cursive script. Musical notes branded into the leather. On the tag to either side of the words was a circular emblem.
Speakers hidden throughout the room played soft music as the people filed in. Trent remained seated in the chair. Black leather pants, gloves and boots were all he was wearing. But his chest, arms and back were decorated with broad black lines and whirls, seeming to move across his skin..
Jason grabbed Cillian close and whispered in his ear. "Oh fuck! That's hot and scary and fucking hot!"
Cillian pressed close to Jason, eyes a little wide as he took everything in --sliding his arms around his lover's waist. "Wow..." was pretty much all he could conjure in his moment of eloquence.
"Go, T," Guy murmured, following behind Jason and Cillian as they walked into the room.
Ioan pressed in close to Mads and whispered in his ear. "I love you."
Mads entered the room, taking in everything with a quick sharp gaze, impressed by the set up and happy beyond words for both Trent and Dom; and if he was honest, already making plans in his head as he held Ioan close. "Love you too Kitty," he murmured.
David broke into a grin when he saw Trent like some pagan god. Oh Dominic is going to love this when he sees you.
When Juliet had come for Harry, Matt knew things were ready to get started. Nervously, Matt milled about for a second wondering where he could stand and be able to hide. Seeing a familiar face, Matt ran after Guy and latched onto him; relieved when Guy shot him a grin and wink. He was so glad Dom had let him pass on the escort thing. He really hoped he wouldn't pass out.
Sean was running late, a screw-up in the roster that had left the front desk without staff had almost kept him away entirely but Orlando had stepped in, literally taken the com right out of his hand and waved him out the door as he took over the conversation. He slid in through the doors, smiled at Trent and then looked around for Harry, weaving his way through the assembly to stand at his side with a dig to the ribs to let him know he was there.
Puck entered the room and viewed it with almost detached curiosity, hanging far back so he wasn't in anyone's way, smiling as he thought that soon he'd see Elijah.
Trent nodded to their guests as they entered. He was telling himself this was just like a scene. But he knew he was lying to himself and everyone else would know how much he was as his boy entered. He grumbled in his head about being apart since yesterday afternoon. It was far too long as far as he was concerned.
Mum gathered Dom's 'escort' and pushed and poked them into the small room where Elijah had been entertaining Dom all this while under the watchful eye of Laurence Fishburne. The two of them looked about to burst from sheer excitement while Fish wore his usual inscrutable face. Smiling proudly, she let the others see him for the first time.
Bowie grinned to see Sparky in all his glory. Dressed in only an assortment of black silk scarves tied to hang around his waist, Dom stood there like an offering. His slim, taut muscles and skin covered in tattooed patterns - song lyrics and chords from Trent's music. He had never looked more beautiful to David and more Trent's. With eyes prickly with tears, he forced himself to listen as Mum explained that they were to form an escort to bring Dom into the room. David noticed the frame that Dom's arms and legs were bound to.
Elijah turned to Dominic and patted his arm. "Okay buddy, this is it. You look great." Elijah smiled at him, feeling such a surge of pride and happiness for his friend. "We're all right here for ya'll. It's going to be - well - just fucking beautiful."
Harry's eyes opened widely as he took in the sight of Dominic tied and bound to the frame. You ever think that little boy you watched playing footie and stealing Mum's makeup was going to grow up and fall in love with an East Dom? Not in a million years. "Good on you, Dominic - Trent's going to love it. I'm proud of you," he smiled.
Anna and Jared took their seats near the front of one side of the room. "This is amazing." Anna whispered.
"I know. I never thought I would see a day like this." Jared carefully moved a strand of hair out of Anna's face.
Anna blushed. "Thanks. You ready, for you know what? Want me to be next to you or sitting down?"
"Next to me. Might need someone to keep me from bolting." Jared smiled as she tried not to laugh out loud.
Dom couldn't help a gleeful grin at their expressions though he almost cried at Mum's. Helplessly he looked away from her for a moment to get his bearings again. "Thank you all for helping me. You're my family. All of you and I love the hell out of each and every one of you. Especially the weak kneed ones who still agreed to be here." He winked at Sean and Harry glued to each other out of nerves, then grinned back at Mum, in control again.
Fish allowed himself a smile at David before he spoke softly to Dom "So Sweetness. I know you're ready for this." He laughed deeply before giving Dom a rough kiss. "More than ready I'd guess."
With a booming voice, Fish faced the rather nervous others. "Are you ready to take this boy to his man? To bear witness to his being worthy of wearing Trent's collar? To demand his man prove his right to have this boy? Say aye!"
A chorus of "aye's" followed, some quieter then others, a threat of tears in the voice of another, and a bit of a squeak in at least one... maybe two.
Fish ordered them to take up positions around the frame. He then moved to the door and opened it. Looking up to Trent, he waited until he had the man's eye. With a signal, he told Trent they were ready to bring his boy to him.
Trent nodded back, than touched the remote again. The soft music changed to a louder song. Trent lowered his eyes, thinking about how his boy had no idea he had planned to use the song. He remembered when he had challenged him, to do a remix of the song of David's that had been playing when they met, to the song of his that he had put to Fish's video. "Something for you as well, David." He whispered to himself.
Hearing the song, David looked up and caught Dom's delighted surprise. They stared at each other for a long moment, soft smiles saying everything. Dom forced his eyes and head down to be presented to his Rez. David's throat ached for long moments as he started to push the frame with the others.
Elijah concentrated on not stumbling.
When Mads first caught sight of Dominic, he smiled again -- thinking how perfect this was for the two of them; the layout...the music, everything. He pressed a kiss into Ioan's hair, a little more emotional than he had actually expected to be.
Cillian's eyes widened a bit as Dominic emerged ...tied to something. Oh yeah, he knew he had no idea what to expect, but he couldn't stop the small smile on his lips -- or the blush in his cheeks -- as he pressed closer to Jason.
Jason felt like his own heart was pounding to the music. "Fuck! This music alone is enough to give you a hard on!" he whispered to Cillian as he pressed against him. Just then Dom came into view, bound to some thing. "Oh fuck me!"
Maybe later," Cillian whispered back, giving a nervous giggle.
Harry focused on the frame, afraid if he looked at Sean or Mum or, well, anyone, he just might cry. And that was not going to happen. Right?
Puck caught sight of everything, still intrigued - grinning when he saw Elijah walking as escort.
Matt practically climbed onto Guy, fascinated and scared at the same time. "He's okay right? Those marks aren't permanent, or are they? Guy? Dom's okay?"
"He's perfect, Matt - don't worry," Guy murmured. "This is what he wants - what he loves, remember?"
Ioan let a tiny moan escape when he saw Dominic. He curled his fingers into Mads' shirt. "Damn, he looks great."
"He does, doesn't he?" Mads said, voice a whisper as he covered Ioan's hand with his own, a slight smirk forming. "But down Kitty..."
"Later then?" Ioan said with a crooked grin, settling back a bit.
Mads snorted softly. "Always..."
Fish gave the escorts a signal to stop. Turning to Trent, he waited.
Trent gripped the arms of his chair, than slowly looked up. As he took in the sight of his boy, he rose to his feet, not even fully aware that he had. His gaze was locked onto Dominic, not seeing anyone else. He bit back a groan as he recognized his rope belt. He walked down the two steps, than fell to his knees with his head bowed. His eyes were shut tight as he prayed for this not to be a dream.
Dom's heart was pounding with a heavy deep beat that seemed to want to jump out of his chest. He let himself sink even lower into his headspace, his whole being caught up in wanting to please Rez -- to prove himself worthy and to make his man proud. Soon his man would direct him and Dom knew he could then show him just how much he wanted this. Wanting to be claimed and proven worthy, his body was practically vibrating as he waited.
Elijah pressed lips together and blinked, remembering to just breathe and not bawl like a big tit.
Fish stared at Trent, pleased with him for realizing the magnitude of what he was doing. In a voice that carried across the room, he demanded. "Trent Reznor! You have made claims that this boy Dominic is to be your own. Your Only Boy. Is this truly your will? Is he worthy of your claim?"
Trent looked up, blinking back the tears. "It is." His voice carried throughout the room. "He is more than worthy. And I swear to have no other Boy than him. I wish him for mine. From now til forever. To be my boy in every way. To protect and care for him. To show myself worthy of being his man everyday of our lives. And may the gods strike me dead if ever I am otherwise."
Juliet couldn't help it. She looked helplessly at Trent, then Dom, then burst into tears. Pulling Elijah close, she sniffled into his soft hair, feeling foolish but oh so happy too.
Harry looked over at Sean and smiled, looking down again before either of them lost their composure. He moved closer to Juliet, putting his hand gently on her shoulder.
Elijah, grateful for the contact, held Mum tight and snuffled, not even caring if anyone saw him cry.
Dom's body swayed toward Trent's voice though his head didn't lift. Breathlessly he waited for his trial.
Mads' breath caught a bit at the words, his arms tightening around Ioan subconsciously as he watched.
Trent slowly stood up, tearing his eyes away from his boy to the ones that had escorted him. "I ask you for him. To let him be mine. To submit to any test you would want to give, to prove my worthiness of him. I wish the ones who know him best, the ones whom he belonged to before me. I wish them to look on me, and find me worthy of being his man."
David spoke first. "I find you worthy, Trent my friend. I trust this boy, my friend Dominic with you." He blinked hard to keep the tears back.
Jared reached for Anna's hand, needing to look down to compose himself. "I wish they had been here. To see this."
Anna smiled as she squeezed his hand back. "They are. Trust me on that."
Harry paused a moment before looking up and meeting Trent's eyes unwaveringly. "Dominic has chosen you, Trent, and I trust Dominic's judgment, whether I've ever told him that or not. You don't need to prove anything to me. Just love him. That's all I ask."
Elijah looked up from where his face was smooshed against Mum and blinked, then in a soft voice said, "Just take care of him."
Tears still streaming every so often down her face, Juliet finally found her voice. "You're an honorable man Trent Reznor. My Dom's Rez. And now part of my family. I find you worthy for my son and I know you'll love him as he deserves."
Pleased, Fish gave Trent a fierce nod of approval. He climbed up to the dais and retrieved the paddle from behind the chair. Stepping down to Trent again, Fish spoke again. "This man has been accepted as being worthy of claiming this boy as his own. Now it is time for this boy Dominic to prove his worthiness to wearing the collar of this man." He held the paddle up and handed it to Trent.
Cillian watched everything, still quite wide eyed and with what felt like a permanent blush -- gripping Jason's hand tightly.
Whispering again, Jason murmured. "Oh so that's Dom's kink. He never would say. You think we should ask them to borrow that thing sometime baby?"
Cillian hadn't really thought it possible, but he blushed more deeply, ducking his head a bit at Jason's question -- though he noticeably did not deter his lover from his train of thought.
Ioan's breath caught at the sight of the paddle and he rubbed his hand across Mads arm, flexing his fingers.
Mads smiled, looking away from the scene to Ioan briefly and smiling, kissing the boy lightly on the lips.
"Guy? What's that thing?" Matt was worried. What was going to happen? He looked over and saw Harry go pale. "Guy?! Harry's gone really pale! What's happening?"
Oh Jesus fuckin' god, Harry groaned mentally, reminding himself to keep breathing steadily, his hand a little tighter on Mum's shoulder as he set his feet wider apart, firming his stance. Just breathe, dammit!
Sean wasn’t bothered by the setting, the trappings, any of it really. Sure it was a bit . . . weird, it being Dominic and all, but he’d been around Palace, around East, for so long that it truly didn’t bother him as much as it might, well, Harry for instance. The ceremony was incredibly moving; anything involving true emotion and such obvious depth of feeling meant you’d have to be made of stone not to feel something and Dom was . . . one of his kids. He wiped away an errant tear.
"So he does have a bit of masochist in him... go Dom," Guy murmured, then turned to look at Matt. "Well, that's a paddle, Matt. And... look, I promise it's all okay, and it's what Dom wants - okay?" he said, reaching over and putting his arm around Matt. "If it's too much, just don't watch. No one will think less of you for it."
"A pad-dle?" Matt's whole face turned red for a moment. Laying his head down on Guy's shoulder, he watched with one eye, the rest of his face pressed up against the more familiar side of what he knew about sex.
Trent took the paddle from Fish. He wanted to touch his boy, but didn't trust himself to stop at just a touch. He settled for reaching up to one of Dominic's hands, interlacing their fingers as he leaned his head to whisper to him. "My boy. My beautiful boy. Gods I love you, Dominic." With that he drew his arm back, the hard smack ringing throughout the room.
Eyes rolling back in pleasure pain, Dom's breath hissed through his mouth at the sting to his body. His fingers tightened into his man's fingers, the world narrowed to just the two of them.
Cillian jumped as the paddle made contact with Dominic, making a soft sound as he half turned his own face into Jason's shoulder, though still half watching too.
Mads hissed softly, fingers tightening where they were on Ioan -- licking his lips as he watched the test.
Ioan felt Mads' fingers tighten and shifted a bit and rubbed his knee slowly against Mads' leg, just needing more contact.
Fish grinned fiercely as he watched them, feeling a surge of lust at the tangible connection of their bodies. Looking quickly over at David, he saw the longing but also the love and approval on his face. Reaching over, he stroked David's arm until he got his attention. Without saying anything, David agreed to meet Fish afterward. David's face lightened with mood while a flush spread across his cheeks as he thought ahead to what this ceremony might inspire Fish to do to him.
Liam watched Trent's expert swing of the paddle, and Dominic's ecstatically tightened face as each blow hit. He felt himself stirring at the sight and the remembered feelings; it had been a while, after all. He wondered if Christian would be busy later that evening....
Elijah's eyes went wide and he swallowed.
Mum was pretending quite well to remember what vegetables she had planted in every single row and which ones were due to be harvested. Oh, the tomatoes should be in soon. Dommie's bottom might even be that same color red by the time Trent finishes. Oh dear, onto the cucumbers....No! Let's think about flowers. Yes! Tulips and pansies.
"Okay, ow. And ow. And ow." Anna and Jared shared weak smiles, pretending they had seen this all before. And politely ignoring each other's wincing at each swat.
Oh my fuck - ANNA'S here? Harry suddenly noticed, finally finding something to distract him from the swish of the paddle and the cries of pleasure-pain coming from Dominic.
"Eight.... Nine.....Ten." Trent dropped the paddle, his arm going tight around Dominic. He buried his face against his neck for a moment, than lifted his head. "He has proven himself. Shown his worth. I claim him as mine. Do you hear?!" His voice raised. "HE IS MINE!! MINE!!! AND DEATH TO ANYONE WHO TRIES TO TAKE HIM FROM ME!!!"
He undid the knots on his boy's hands and feet, catching him and helping him to kneel. "One last bit, my love. One final thing." He walked back to the table, picking up the collar and holding it in front of him. "Do you accept my collar? Do you swear to be my boy, obey me in the ways we have chosen? Do you accept my claim of you?"
Body energized, lightening skimming across his skin into his brain, and yet boneless from the trial, Dom felt his man position him. Staring up at Trent, his voice was lost somewhere only Rez could reach. Swaying slightly, he forced his spine to go straighter. Speaking roughly at first, Dominic answered, his voice growing stronger. "I accept Rez. I swear to be your boy, your only boy. In the ways we have chosen and signed. I will wear your collar proudly. I am yours always, in every way, in any way. Only yours. By this I swear on my life."
Trent fell to his knees. He carefully put the collar around Dominic's neck. "You are mine. And I am yours. As we decided. As we chose." He cupped his boy's face in his hands. "Always." He pulled him to him, claiming his mouth in a hard kiss, his arms circling to crush his boy to him.
Touched and quite frankly, turned on, beyond words, Mads drew Ioan closer to him as he watched the pair -- actually feeling a little misty eyed.
Harry cleared his through softly, blinking hard trying to hold back the tears. He could hear Mum's sniffling but also laughing a bit as the happiness for them burst through.
Jared stood up, walking over to the two of them. He kneeled next to Dominic and held out the armband, identical to the collar in every way, excepting the words. 'Dominic's Man'.
Holding onto Trent, Dominic looked at Jared blankly for a long moment before speaking slowly as if in a daze. "My armband. My claim on him." Grinning as it suddenly hit him what Jared had brought over, Dom reached for it carefully. Looking back at Trent, Dom smiled softly. "My Rez, as I wear your collar, would you wear my symbol? This armband marking you as mine? It would please your boy so much."
"I would proudly wear it. I want everyone to know. Know who I belong to. Please, my Dominic. Claim me." Trent helped Dominic sit up, than held his arm out to him. "Yours."
Despite shaking fingers, Dom managed to close the armband around Trent's arm. With a small smile, he leaned down and licked along the leather to taste Trent's skin and the leather against it. "Mine."
Cillian sniffled softly, pressing a kiss to Jason's neck as Trent and Dom pledged themselves to one another, snuggling closer.
Pulling Cillian close, Jason stole a hard kiss then another. "Love you baby."
Harry leaned closer to Mum, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Look at our Dominic, Mum. Look at the man you raised," he murmured. "Congratulations to you."
Elijah grinned and clapped his hands. "Yeah Dommie!"
Nose pink, Mum laughed and hiccuped as she joined in the clapping sounding through the room. "It was so beautiful really. My heart is still going like mad." She hugged Elijah close. "Oh duck. I've made your lovely hair all wet."
Handing him a tissue, Mum reached over and hugged Harry close. "Oh Harry! You made it through the whole spanking. Good on you, luv!"
"Yep - didn't barf on my leathers or anything," Harry grinned, hugging her back.
“Proud ‘o you mate.” Sean whispered in Harry’s other ear. “Buy you a beer for that.”
Ioan shifted as close to Mads as he could get without just crawling onto him and whispered, "Um - how long do we need to stay?" He said in a low rough voice.
Mads laughed softly, turning his head to kiss Ioan lightly -- almost teasingly. "Patience Kitty," he murmured, though his own voice was husky.
Jared kissed both his uncle and Dominic on the cheek, than moved back. He glanced as Anna came up to him, than the both of them struggled to get the chair into the receiving hall before Mark came up and helped them. Smiling their thanks, Anna stayed by the chair as Jared went to speak to the band out in the hall.
Liam rose from his seat and applauded with the rest. Trent and Dominic were just recalling that there were others here with them; it was adorable and boded well for their lives together.
"You can look now, Matt - all over," Guy murmured, turning Matt's face back towards them and whistling loudly.
Matt lifted his head cautiously. "Don't tell Dom I couldn't watch the whole thing. I promised I would and I tried. The beginning and end were good though, don't you think so? And Dom looks really happy." He laughed and straightened up self-consciously. "Oh gosh, I wrinkled your shirt."
"I won't tell him anything - but you really did fine, Matt," Guy assured him. "And you weren't the only one who didn't watch." He looked down at his shirt, shrugged and pulled it off, tossing it onto the chair. "There - easy! Remind me to get that later," he said, taking Matt's hand and pulling him to follow everyone else out into the next room.
Trent pulled Dominic to him. "I love you. Love you so much." He stood up, than picked his boy up and carried him to the chair in the receiving hall. "You better not have us waste this food." He called over his shoulder to the others as he passed.
Dom felt some of the ceremony headspace lifting but knew if he stared at Trent too much it would come back right away. At the edge of his subconscious was an awareness of how Trent had dressed for the occasion but it hadn't really sunk it yet. He bit at Trent's neck, then licked it. "Your boy would rather eat you."
Anna smiled as she saw Trent and Dominic coming towards them. "Oh, no." She stopped them from sitting down. "Get that first dance out of the way, otherwise I have the feeling neither of you will want to get back up once you sit down."
Trent shivered. "So tempting, my boy. But we did promise to try to be good. And we did have a Royal order just now to dance. Think it best to stay on their good side. But later...." His voice trailed off as his eyes finished the sentence.
Shivering at the darkness of Trent's eyes and the wicked promises there, Dom had to force out an answer. "Mustn't disappoint Anna. And you know how I love to be made to wait."
"Yes I do." Trent lowered Dominic to the floor, than led him out to the dance floor. He waved blindly for the band to start, his arms wrapping around his boy and holding him tight. As the music started, he began to dance. But at the first words, he stopped eyes wide as he looked at the bandstand to see Jared playing and singing alone with a guitar and Anna standing behind him. "Oh gods." He choked out, tears beginning to fall.
Feeling Trent's body crumble a bit, Dominic held onto him tightly, his heart racing. "Trent?! What's wrong? Rez!" He reached up to cup Trent's face. "I've got you no matter what."
Trent clung to Dominic, trying to focus on him thru his tears. "That song. It's...it's the one I wrote for Mary and Andrew. Their wedding song. Jared's playing us their song."
"That's perfect." Dom smiled gently as he brushed the tears off Trent's face. "It's like they're here with us. He's here and they are too. Their wedding and now ours. Perfect."
"Perfect. Just like you." Trent kissed Dominic, beginning to dance with him again, holding him tight.
Jared kept his gaze down, knowing he would lose it if he looked at his uncle. It was the only way he would make it thru the song and he had to sing all of it. But as the last note end, the guitar began to slide from his hands.
Anna grabbed the guitar, placing it on the ground as she reached for Jared. "I got you. It's okay. Let it out." She held on to him as he cried, running her hand thru his hair and murmuring to him as her own tears fell.
The band took over and other guests began filling the dance area.
"Wow..." Cillian said softly, feeling a little shaky on his feet as he watched Trent and Dom depart. "Reception now? Like a wedding?" He asked quietly.
Curling his fingers in Cillian's hair, Jason nodded. "Yeh, food and probably a very wild night. I caught sight of a "play room" just outside this room. Now you and I may just want to walk through there. Get a few ideas before running off to West though we may not make it all the way back. The Gardens are on the way and you never know what might happen there."
Leaning into the touch, Cillian listened to Jason's words with an even more wide eyed expression and blushing... if that were possible; though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't more than a little aroused... not just by the ceremony but by what his lover was... promising, as well. He knew he didn't need to ask, that his imagination was actually probably serving him well and not overreacting at the moment, but still, he found himself squeaking out "Playroom?" as he was led to where the others were dancing.
Elijah tapped Harry on the shoulder as they walked into the reception room. "Hey Harry?"
"You did good." Elijah said and impulsively hugged Harry tight before pulling back and grinning.
"Thanks, Brat," Harry grinned, kissing the top of Elijah's head. "I think we all did."
Grinning wider Elijah loped off to find Puck, waving madly as he saw him and grabbing him in a hug.
Trent kissed his boy again as the song stopped, than glanced around. He saw Jared and Anna, deciding to divert attention from them by addressing the party goers. "I warned you about eating and now dancing. For those more... ready for other activities, there is a special room for you. Oh, and on that table you will find small baskets with your names on them. Our gifts to our friends. Please, enjoy."
Harry laughed as he watched Elijah run off and turned back to Mum. "Gracious lady," he said, bowing low. "A dance with the mother of the... I call Dominic the bride, I'm gonna get me arse kicked. Either way - shall we?"
Liam watched Harry dance off with Juliet and smiled. He'd catch her later and say hello. Train food was horrible, though, and it looked like there was quite a nice buffet set up. He headed over to have a look.
Sean looked at the time, thought about going to relieve Orlando, saw Liam heading for the food and made his decision. Orlando would wait a little longer. He headed off after Liam and the buffet.
Giggling, Mum twirled around the floor with Harry. "I bet you're wishing you'd brought Orlando now aren't you luv? Well, I'm sure he'll enjoy sharing your party favors with you." She giggled louder at Harry's expression of mock fear.
Smiling, Mads tugs Ioan close, speaking in his ear. "Think you can be patient enough to dance with me before I throw you down and rip off your clothes, Kitty?" He let his hands run slowly down the boy's back.
Ioan shivered, pushing close. "Fast dance, slow fuck?" He said laughing.
Mads laughed heartily, hugging Ioan close as he listened to Trent -- raising an eyebrow at the word 'gift'.
Dominic looked around at all their friends and family. The mood loud and happy with celebration. Already more than a few were eyeing the play room but still being polite about sneaking off. Snuggling closer to Trent, Dom's hand lifted to touch first his collar then his man's armband, emotions chasing madly one after another through his body, one thought rising above all others - Claimed.
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Date: 2005-05-16 06:53 pm (UTC)Angie