The Memoirs

The next morning, Lionel woke to pain. Physical, emotional, psychological. Physical was first to be catalogued. His back was screaming, his neck was stiff, and he'd fallen asleep leaning over the bed. No wonder he was sore. His hands were empty, as Dominic's grip had never answered his during the night, and his wrists were sore from the unnatural angle he'd left them in all night.

Emotional and psychological was so much harder to catalogue, and he just... didn't. He did what he always did; locked them away and threw the key into a dark abyss in his psyche, and stretched, wincing at the sheets of pain that racked over him.

He was curled up, in the patch of cool shadow left on the bed. Wrapped up tight, deeply asleep, the pillow pressed to his chest. They hadn't even pushed the blankets back, and he was cold, but it didn't really matter. His breath came in and out, softly, quietly, and he was dreaming. About he and Lionel getting in the car and going to McDonalds on their way home, and his eyes opened as he woke to the thought. Woke to his tears, crying, clenching the blanket to his chest. There wouldn't be anymore McDonalds and no more home, and the trails trickled down his cheeks as he rose to sitting without a word, and rose. Coffee needed to be brewed, something to eat gotten, a call to Smallville to let them know they were still alive.

Woke up almost already in motion, and he walked into the kitchen to brew a pot of coffee.

Lionel watched as Dominic walked right by him, without noticing. He shook his head gently, and reached for the phone by the bedside table. A call to Lex, a message on Lex's voicemail, letting Lex know that neither he nor Dominic would be available today. Another call to the LuthorCorp garage, to have car sent over and left in the building's parking lot, and Lionel unplugged the telephone and shoved it under the bed.

He shifted his weight onto his hip as he rubbed his concave belly, marked with the button of his jeans from sleeping in them, as he dolled out coffee grinds and filled the coffee maker with it. Set it to going as he opened the fridge...then the freezer. Bacon from the last time they'd spent the night, and sausages, as well as a small canister for biscuits. He could do biscuits. He took them out and closed it, piling the first two into the microwave to defrost, and popped open the biscuit canister.

He flipped the oven on and took out the cookie sheet inside, spreading the ten biscuits on it before putting it in, and began to always painful search for the frying pan.

Slowly Lionel got up, moving despite the pain in his back that radiated down his legs, and he made it out to the kitchen. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked softly, speaking for the first time that morning.

Didn't look up, just shaking his head as he bent down to the cabinets and got out the frying pan. He put the top of the stove on and set it on top, before going into the small closet pantry off the side for the Pam and the jar of jelly for the biscuits. The microwave beeped its song and he took both packages out, setting them in the sink to cool off as he spoke, as well. "Don't you have to work?"

"Yes, I do, but it can wait. Some things are more important."

"Oh." He opened the side drawer and took out a sharp brown knife… and stared at it, for a moment, poised over the bacon. It would be so easy. it would be over.

He stabbed the package of bacon instead, tearing it open and began to take off any fat he found, setting the pieces that were alright on a plate he pulled from the cabinet above. Twenty pieces, and the rest he threw in the trash, before he cut open the package of sausages and set them on the plate to broil. No eggs, no bread, but this and coffee, as well as some orange juice he was about to make, would do. He set the bacon to fry on the pan and opened the freezer, bending down for the Florida orange juice he usually had down there, setting it in the sink, as well as an enormous clear pitcher, in the sink.

Lionel took a step forward as he saw the knife hesitating, but relaxed when Dominic started sawing the bacon and not himself. He paused in the middle of the kitchen, unsure of what to do with himself. "Do you have aspirin, Dominic?"

"The cabinet above the phone." Was all he said, motioning with his shoulder over to his left, beside the sink. The bacon fried lightly in the very light oil he put on, because he knew how Lionel liked it. Took out cups, and the biscuits, and put on a new set of bacon slices before he washed the mugs, and two small glasses. He set them to the side in the stainless steel dish rack he'd bought some time ago to dry, and did the same with three plates and a bowl.

"Thank you." Lionel reached carefully over his lover, keeping on eye on the bacon in the pan, and pulled down the aspirin bottle. He shook out two, paused, and then shook out two more, swallowing them dry before replacing the cap and the bottle back in the cabinet.

Dominic finished frying the bacon, and the sausages, setting them on their own plate. The biscuits, as well as a small cup of honey, went on another, and he carried them to the stools, four of them, that sat in a square along one edge of the large island. The pot of coffee on a small wooden cutting board, as well as the pitcher of juice, a small container of sugar, and since he didn't have any creamer, put out the small powdered creamer he always had in the pantry. Napkins, as well, and the bowl full of ice and a spoon for the orange juice.

"I left a message on Lex's voicemail; I told him not to expect us today."

"I hope he's not worried." he answered quietly, and slid onto one of the stools. "Is there anything else in particular that you'd like?"

"I doubt he will be." Lionel sat on one of the stools. "Just coffee."

A slight nod. "There's a little old lady, across the hall. I'll bring her whatever isn't eaten." As it was, he just poured a small glass of juice for himself. He hadn't known what had compelled him to cook, but here it was, and he glanced over his shoulder to make sure the stove was off... found it still on, and rose to turn it off before seating himself again.

Lionel poured himself coffee, added nothing, inhaled the scent, but couldn't bring himself to lift it to his mouth because he knew nothing would go down his tight throat.

"I should call Charlie. Let him know he's in charge today." A slight nod, but he didn't move, just moving the ice around in his juice idly.

"I think Lex will take care of that once he gets the message."

He dropped his head, and rubbed his face with his hand, rubbing his aching eyes, his thumping head, and rose to get himself some Motrin as well. He got them from above the phone, uncapping and shaking some back before tossing them back, swallowed with a drink or orange juice. "There isn't much to do here. You're wasting a day. Can't afford that."

"If Lex and Charlie cannot pick up the slack for a single day, then Charlie is fired and Lex is out of the company," Lionel said shortly.

A slight nod, as he slid back into the seat in front of Lionel, and tried not to think about what had happened the night before. Except.. "What... happened, last night?

"We fought."

He pressed the backs of his fingers softly to his lips, as he looked at him. "That was more than a fight."

"Yes, it was," Lionel agreed softly.

He looked down, at the juice. "Im sorry."

"I'm sorry, too."

There wasn't much to say after that, and he climbed to his feet and went under the counter, for the Tupperware his sister had bought sometime the winter before last. He loaded it with the food he'd just made, and snapped it shut, before picking it up and walking to the front door. Opened it and crossed the hall... knocked softly.

He was gone for only a moment, and he returned, shut the door, locked it, and returned his seat on the stool. "Social Security doesn't give her enough. She never accepts money from me, but always food."

Lionel had pushed his coffee cup away, but pulled it back when Dominic came back in. "Something should be done about that."

"Not much to be done." He rubbed a hand through his hair, let his eyes close.

He was darkly swamped in guilt, and pain. He knew exactly what he was doing, and that was hiding, everything. Hiding it away, putting on a brave face, when all he wanted to do was die. "Maybe we should visit Elaine today."

"We do have an appointment with her this afternoon," Lionel agreed.

This afternoon. It seemed like a lifetime away.

A slight nod. "What do you want to do until then?"

Before last night, there wouldn't have been a question of what to do. "I... don't know."

He'd thought the same thing, but there wasn't a chance in hell Lionel was going to touch him like that right now. As numb as he felt, he doubted he'd get it up at all, let alone feel good about it, and even if he could, he was worthless, and Lionel didn't need to be touching him. "We could go out. Rent some videos? Go to the grocery store and get a few things for the day."

"Videos. Grocery store. Sounds all right. I want to stop by the penthouse; I need to pick up a clean suit and shirt."

"Alright." A moment. "We broke the promise we made to one another."

"That we would never go to bed angry?"

"That, too." he looked up. "That we'd not fight during the move." He stopped, and looked down at his juice. He didn't feel as bad as he had last night, mostly because he knew he was intensely numb, but he rose a shoulder, softly. "I did something inexcusable. And I meant what I said last night. If we can't possibly get past this, we need to get divorced. You can raise Aurora, because I'm not suitable right now to have any type of child."

Lionel got to his feet. "There will be no Aurora without you," Lionel said firmly. "If you don't want to be with me, or if you don't want to have a child with me, then I will have Lex destroy the embryo before it's implanted in anyone."

He shook his head. "I want to be with you, and I want a child with you. I'm just telling you what's here."

"If you still want those things, then we will have them. Together." Lionel was emphatic about it.

"Everything we have has fallen apart, hasn't it?"

"I can't answer that, Dominic. Not without knowing the answer to one question."

He just looked at him, with the most defeated feeling he'd ever felt.

"Do you still, anywhere in your heart, love me?"

"Yes." He answered, softly. "Yes, I love you. Its something you've never fully comprehended. I loved you fifteen years ago, and I love you today." He watched Lionel, quietly. "I love you enough that life without you is not life at all, and had you left last night, I would have killed myself."

"Then I'm glad I didn't leave." He crossed the room carefully. "If you still love me, then we will still have a chance. It hasn't all fallen apart yet."

"Your trust in me is gone." And he wouldn't say it, but any hope and faith he'd put in Lionel was dead. There was nothing for him, but pain. He would just have to accept that. Everything he'd fought for so hard, every scrap of self worth, every piece of dignity, was gone. "Your faith in me is gone."

"No." Lionel crossed his arms over his chest. "If I thought that, for a second, if I felt that, I wouldn't be here."

"You told me. You told me you gave me everything inside of you, and I betrayed you." His voice hitched, and he dropped his head, rubbing his stubbled cheeks. "And that my I'm sorry wasn't enough."

"I did give you everything inside of me, Dominic. And yes, I did feel like you'd betrayed me, but I was angry and I was hurt."

"Last night? You betrayed me, too. I put everything I was into you for fifteen very long years, and to know you were ready to walk out on that, because I made a mistake, the first mistake I've made in all the time I've known you, and it wasn't enough that I loved you enough to do everything I have for you. It wasn't... enough, because I'll never be enough. I am stuck in this limbo, between living and death and I thought for a while maybe I wasn't in it anymore. But there I am. I'm back." he looked up at him. "Its how I feel. I'm not trying to accuse you, and I'm not trying to be mean to you. I am telling you how I feel."

"I would not have left you, Dominic. You have to know that. Yes. I would have walked down the stairs and around the block to clear my head, but you had to know I would have come back. You had to know that I could not, would not leave you. Not after everything else we've been through." Lionel's arms tightened across his chest.

"I'm glad you didn't leave." Was all he said, very quietly, as he looked down and rubbed both palms through his hair, letting it hang between his arms as he fought the pounding headache. "I'm a human being. I'm not some super strong man, or super intelligent, or whatever. I'm Dominic, and there are times when I simply do not say the right thing. But you can't... judge stupid comments on my love for you." He let go of his hair to look up at him.

"Then don't judge me on the things I say when I am angry and hurt." He crossed the space between them, touched Dominic's cheek lightly with his fingertips. "Believe that I love you and judge me on that."

His chin trembled, hard, as he looked up at him. "I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't," Lionel said softly, without hesitation.

"You're still angry. I can tell." he said softly, as he looked down again. "Tell me something?"

"Anything I can," Lionel answered, reaching to tilt Dominic's face up.

He looked up at him, at his soft fingers. "Would you have bought the crib without me?"

"No. I would have gone, looked at it, probably run my fingers over the woodwork again, but no. I wouldn't have bought it."

A slight nod, and he reached up and touched Lionel's arm softly with his palm fingers coming around it as he spoke. "Can I tell you something?"

"Always, I hope." Lionel brought his other hand to gently touch Dominic's.

He thought for a moment… before shaking his head. "Never mind. Lets get dressed and go out. You left a few things from last time you spent the night."

Lionel's grip tightened. "No. Tell me."

Could never tell him anything again. Not without his anger, the possibility of this happening again. "Some other time. I'll get the shower running for you. I'm going to go get my mail."

"Don't do this, Dominic, please." Lionel pled with his lover. "Don't."

He just shook his head, softly. "There's nothing to not do. Go shower." He let Lionel go, and climbed to his feet. "I'll get it started, find you some clothes."

"If you don't talk to me... then that means we're never going to have the relationship we had before. That's not a threat, it's just a statement."

He looked at Lionel, so sadly. "I was just thinking, that I--if... that w--when we fight, you shouldn't… shouldn't lead on, so. I thought… you were going to buy the crib and leave me here, Lionel. If those weren't your intentions...say them, because I wasn't joking when I told you what I did. Had you gone on a walk about the neighborhood you would have returned to find me dead. Do you... you understand, what it is I'm saying?"

Lionel's grip tightened to almost bruising. "Don't ever say that again," he said with a gentle shake. "I understand what you are saying, but I don't ever want you to say it again. You are not going to leave me." The shake turned into a tight, too-tight embrace, his cheek muffled against his lover's shoulder. "You can't leave me."

This time, he wrapped his arms around Lionel's shoulders, and held him gently close, as Lionel squeezed and shook him. "I almost did." he whispered, against Lionel's hair. "Lionel, I can't live my life without you in it. I can't, it is simply not something I am capable of. I have loved you for as long as I've known you, and now when I finally have you..." His throat bobbed, hard, and he shook is head tightly. "I won't leave you."

"You can't." Lionel repeated it, over and over again. "You can't leave me." His hands gripped his lover's shoulders hard, too hard but he didn't care. "You can't leave me, Dominic. I don't know what I would become without you."

"You would be who you've always been." He answered softly, as his face trembled again, and he set his cheek in the hollow of his lovers throat. "You would be strong, and smart, and beautiful. You would be who you always where." His heart was beating like a drum against his rib cage, and he rubbed it gently against Lionel's as he grasped him softly. As much as he possibly could. "Come now. Enough. We've had a hard night, lets not talk of it for a while, alright? We're both here, and we're both well. Come, now. Let me get you a hot shower running."

"I don't want to be anything without you." Calm, quiet, sure of himself as he said it. "I don't want to be anything or anybody without you." He felt Dominic's heart pounding, and wondered if it was his own. He didn't let go of his lover, just kept Dominic pressed tightly to him.

"Shh." It was he who climbed to his feet and let Lionel go, turning to get his cup of coffee and hand it to Lionel without a hitch. "There we are. Drink up. Would you like a bath instead? It might calm you down a bit. I'll clean up out here, while you're in. The little market down the street should be open at this early hour," a glance at the stove told him it was just nearing seven now. "And we can get some fruit and things for the day. You don't mind Blockbuster, right?" A little smile that just barely curved his lips. "We can rent some video games. Raiders of the Lost Ark for Playstation 2. Fabulous invention."

Lionel didn't realize his hands were shaking slightly until Dominic put the coffee cup in his hand, and he drained it. "Yes. I think... hot bath. A hot bath would be nice."

In that instant, his heart kicked, violently, to calm him, and stop the shivering and shaking. And yet, for the first time, something in his heart wouldn't allow him to, and he just motioned for Lionel to follow him. Retrieved a few towels from the linen closet in the hallway and led the way into the bathroom. He'd cleaned it just the week prior, and it still smelled softly of pine sol. And puke, but not so much. He slid open the curtain, which housed the claw bathtub he so adored with marble inlay, and began to fill it. He sat on the edge and adjusted the temperature, until he could get it right, before adding a little bit of Jasmine from the shelf beside the knobs. "There. I'll find you some clothes, mmkay?" He slid around Lionel in the doorway, and closed it quietly behind him, before bursting into tears. Didn't even know what they were for, aside from the obvious, and he looked through the clothes in the closet until he found the blue slacks and soft, pale gray polo Lionel had left here the time that Dominic had given him his star.

He set it out on the bed, thankful for whatever illness remained in his body that he couldn't smell the clothes, smell Lionel on them, and lay them on the bed before walking out into the living room.

Lionel leaned against the door, hands shaking as he tried to finish unbuttoning his shirt from where it had been opened last night, and he couldn't. He growled sharply in anger as he wrenched the shirt off, buttons popped off and scattering across the floor of the bathroom as he wadded it up, throwing it to the side before falling back heavily against the door.

He cradled his head in his hands, breathing deeply as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Dominic was anal by nature, and he set about to cleaning up what they'd left out last night. The liquor bottles he threw away, as well as the glass. The couch cushion he foamed up with carpet and upholstery cleaner, scrubbing it in and letting it soak, and vacuumed the few carpets in his house. Which of course led to mopping, which he did quickly, as his house wasn't all that big. The guest bathroom right off the kitchen and around the little corner, and he scrubbed it down and mopped it, as well. Busy work so he wouldn't have to think. He needed a shower, badly, but he wouldn't dare go in his bedroom until Lionel was dressed and out here to wait for him. As soon as everything was relatively clean, he perched a hip against the countertop, and made a list of some of the things they needed.

Lionel Luthor wasn't an emotional man, by his very nature. However he remained in his position, bent at the waist, elbows resting on his knees and his fingers raking through his hair. He didn't even try to hold anything in any longer; his shoulders shook with silent sobs, the tremors matching the ones in his hands. He was still half dressed and didn't care. Thought he was silent until he heard soft, quiet keens coming out of his throat, hitching with every breath.

He hadn't felt this broken since his wife's funeral, and never thought he'd feel it again. His grip tightened in his hair, yanking his curls cruelly, doing anything to hold himself together.

Chips. Some salmon, perhaps, or some beef. Eggs, milk, juice. Fruit. Some toilet paper, paper towels, and air freshener. He wrote it all down, opening the fridge and holding it so with his hope as he peered at what they had.

Stopping at the little liquor store down by the market would do well, too. He wanted beer. Nothing special. Just beer. And perhaps a bottle of wine for later tonight, though he sincerely doubted Lionel would be staying that late when there was so much work to be done.

It had been nice. While it lasted. It had been the happiest time in his life, in fact, and now... now he was back to being numb, cold, indifferent and unfeeling. He knew Lionel wasn't in the tub by the sounds he heard, and he looked up at the wall where, on the other side, the bath was still running, but no one was in it. He didn't know if he could find it in himself to move.

But that man was his husband. For better, and for worse, and that's what put his feet to moving, as he walked down the short hall, pen and tablet of paper still in hand, and he set both on the bed before knocking softly. "Everything alright, Lionel?"

"No, it's not all right," Lionel said softly, not even sure if his voice would be heard through the door. "It's not all right at all. I don't know that it will ever be all right again."

His heart slammed in his chest, and he set his palm flat against the wood. "Open the door, please."

"It's not locked," Lionel said quietly.

Dominic opened the door quietly, and looked down at his lover on the floor. The man who he'd loved, so desperately, for so long, and even though the wrong they'd caused each other was deep, Dominic couldn't let him suffer. He sank to the ground on his knees before him, and his chin trembled at the tears he saw on that lovely, handsome, strong face. He reached out to stroke his thumbs over wet cheeks, scooting a little closer before he sat down in front of him, and quietly tangled their legs. Slid his arms around Lionel's chest and brought him in close, sliding close to his lovers side, like always, and brought Lionel's head down with tangled fingers in his hair, to set their temples together. "I love you."

"I love you, Dominic. I'm sorry; I was stubborn." He couldn't stop the shaking and loathed himself for it. "I love you so much." He held his lover as tightly as he could, choking down the cries and the noises.

"Don't cry." He whispered it, because he felt his throat choking as his own built. "Because I'm going to start. Come here. Come here." He pulled him in, even closer to him, and held Lionel's face tightly to his shoulder and chest, as he pressed his face into all the soft, long hair, and let out his own sob. "You weren't, weren't stubborn. I was horrible... horrible to you, I'm sorry. I never m--meant to give you an ultimatum, I never meant to hurt you like I did. Please don't h-hate me, Lionel, don't think you can't love me now." He hugged him, tightly, rocking softly as he did so.

"I do love you. I don't hate you, Dominic, I love you. I love you more than anything." He rubbed his face on Dominic's shoulder, hugged him tightly. "I love you, I don't think I could ever hate you."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I was so horrible. I made a horrible mistake, horrible mistake that nearly cost everything. I'm so sorry." His fingers tightened and stroked through all that hair, as he let his eyes close, just as tightly. "I'm so sorry. I love you, beyond imagining. I'm so sorry. I'm so scared, of what you'll think of me, what you'll keep from me now. I'm so sorry."

Lionel shook his head. "No. Don't be. I won't keep things, Dominic. I give you my word, I won't keep things from you. I'll tell you anything, everything you want to know. Just please... don't go. Don't hurt yourself to get away from me. I promise not to hurt you again, please, don't hurt yourself to get away from me."

"I won't. Beloved, I won't. Stop, please, stop." His heart was breaking, all over again, and his shoulders were tensing with his sobs. "I won't, please, no. Beloved, stop. " He pulled him closer to him, as tightly as he could, and rocked.

They were like that, for a long time. He lost track of time, just sitting with their backs to the wall, wrapped around one another. He rose, only once, to take the bathtub off, and came back to sit in Lionel's arms, and let Lionel sit in his, holding one another as the birds chirped in the crisp morning air. It would be at least fifty before the day was over, as the radio had said yesterday, and Dominic just didn't feel like moving. Sitting there, with his lover, in the quiet silence of his home. A silence they hadn't had in ages, a peace in even longer. Ever, if he thought of it. They'd never been in their rooms without the fear of someone barging in, never had just... peace. Where they could forget about their work, their responsibilities, and their lives, and just rest. There was something very quiet, and very calming, about the realization, where they were just themselves with their titles taken from them, and the joy in that had the bit of his belly, tied in hard, tense knots, sliding loose, just a little.

Lionel had stopped crying in his arms... stopped shaking, and just lay against him, breathing quietly, and he just stroked long hair softly every few moments, letting it slide through his fingers every few minutes.

Lionel didn't say anything; he was too afraid of shattering the silence, and he wasn't afraid of saying afraid any longer. He just sat in the floor, beside Dominic, as close as he could get without crawling into Dominic's skin. One of their hands were clasped and sitting on Lionel's knee, and his eyes were closed as his head rested on Dominic's shoulder, feeling the gentle strokes through his hair.

The shaking had stopped a little while ago but he hadn't noticed, just sitting there quietly against the wall, braced against his lover.

Despite the horror and pain from last night, Dominic was completely sure that he'd never leave this man he loved so much. Even if they almost had, and he would beg forgiveness from Lionel until the day they died for it, he could never leave him. He knew Lionel believed it, just as he did, and he pressed his lips to a smooth temple before murmuring, "Lets go out. We need to get out of here for a bit. Would you like to?"

"I don't know," Lionel answered, still not moving. "What do you want to do?"

"I think so. We need the sun. We can go to the fitness center I do...swim in the pool for a while. Go, get some groceries? Maybe, if you stay, we can go out and shoot some pool this evening. Want to?" He asked it softly without moving, his thumb moving gently over the thick knuckles of the hand holding his.

"If I stay?" Lionel asked. "I'll stay, unless you tell me to go."

A moments pause, as his fingers tightened on the hand holding his. "I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go." His hand tightened in return.

"Then we'll hang out today. Your slacks? I think they've got a hole." He looked down at him slightly. "I can patch them. Or you can wear some of my jeans, I've got a long pair Megan bought me that didn't fit. Tucked in in all the wrong places, and I've a big ass. They'll fit you." Which was all he said, as he looked at the bath.

"I don't think I've ever worn jeans before," he said mildly, staring at their hands. "I think... I'd like to try."

For the first time that day, his lips spread, as he looked down. He knew how much Lionel needed this, time away from being the richest man in the world, and he rubbed his lips against his lovers temple, very softly. He was scared to show too many shows of affection and Lionel to flinch away, and his throat bobbed softly. "I think you'll like it. And we should get some video games. Definitely video games."

Lionel turned into the light kiss on his temple, quietly longing for more but not saying a word, not pressuring his lover. "I'm sure I'll like it." He gripped Dominic's fingers tightly. "Megan taught me how to play some of the games she brought."

"I know. She said you were addicted to them." But he smiled it again, as his fingers squeezed Lionel's tightly, and because his lover had moved into the kiss, he kissed right back, softly, on his cheek. "Maybe we can stop, too, so I can pay my phone bill." He didn't bother saying he'd taken his lovers cell phone off, and his own, and hid them in the bedroom. Unplugged the phone in the kitchen. No one was going to be bothering them, for as long as Lionel was willing to stay. "I love you. Will you forgive me?"

"They didn't cut your phones off," Lionel said quietly. "I unplugged the one in your bedroom."

He leaned down, to catch Lionel's eyes. "I did too."

Lionel couldn't quite smile, but he touched Dominic's cheek gently. "Of course I forgive you. I love you, Dominic."

"Promise me, we won't let it get that bad again. Promise me, Lionel." He said it, almost silently, his voice tiny as he pressed his lips to the center of Lionel's hand, and then cupped it to his cheek.

"I promise you, Dominic. It won't get that bad again. I won't let it." He turned and kissed Dominic's hand, holding it against his cheek. "It won't. Ever again."

"I'm just… I'm so sorry. I don't know h-how else, to tell you. I did what I always promised not to do. How… how can you care for me, after that?" He shook his head, eyes closing tightly before opening, as he gazed at his lover. "You're stronger than me. I didn't think… I didn't think it would happen the way it did, last night. I'm just sorry, for not being more adult about it."

"I just... I do." Lionel stroked his lover's cheek softly. "You love me, I love you, and nothing can change that or come between that. Nothing, no matter how hard we try. It can't come between us, because we're stronger than that." He squeezed tightly. "We just are." He paused, and swallowed hard. "Don't be sorry, it's done, it's over."

"Last night... I told Elaine about our quarrel." He looked up, in fear, because maybe he shouldn't have, and his throat bobbed. "She... she showed me, what Id done wrong, and in a way, told me the extent of it. I've never felt such dread in my life. So when… when you were so cold, and so angry, I tried so hard to tell you I was sorry. It wasn't… enough, and I betrayed you, betrayed what we have, and all the times I told you just how deeply I loved you didn't... didn't seem to be enough anymore. And w-when, you told me you had… had loved me, and how badly you felt, and... and you still loved me.." His eyes closed, tightly, as he let his head drop and bury in Lionel's hair. "I don't deserve someone like you."

"I'm glad she can help you." Lionel rubbed his lover's neck gently. "I'm glad she is good for you; we'll keep going to her as long as she's good for you." Soft kisses. "You do deserve."

"No." And it was all he said, as he pulled Lionel in closer, his arms vicing around his shoulders tightly, and kept his eyes closed, so he didn't have to see Lionel right now. A few moments of it and he was calm, in control again, and he opened his eyes to look down on him. "Lets get out of here for a while."

Lionel nodded. "Okay. Anything you want." He looked down at himself, and then at his lover. "But we both need to clean up, and are you sure you feel all right, after last night? You were sick an awful lot."

A quiet nod. "I was just upset. I'm okay, now."

"Are you sure?" Lionel stroked his lover's stubbled cheek softly. "I don't want you to be ill."

"I'm sure." he rose his hand and pressed Lionel's fingers in, tightly to his face, gripping them close. "When I get like that, I throw up. I'm fine now."

"Good," Lionel said softly, fingers stroking over Dominic's cheek. "I'm glad you're all right now." His other hand rested lightly on Dominic's shoulder, stroking carefully.

Dominic let go, very gently, and climbed up to his feet, before offering his hands down to his lover. He didn't quite know what he was doing, and knew it was a mistake, but his lover never believed unless he was shown. He'd show him. He couldn't... touch Lionel, in that way, in this moment, but.. "Would you take a bath with me?"

He nodded. "I would. But... only if you're sure. I understand if you don't want to; you don't have to on my account." But he got to his feet with Dominic, hands clasping tightly around his lover's as he pulled himself up.

"I want to." He said it, softly, and gave his lover a gentle look as he rose with him. Lionel's eyes were puffy, his face was a mess, and Dominic gently kissed a cheek bone, lightly but extremely tenderly, and pushed Lionel's hair around his face just as he liked before he let go and turned. Draining the bathtub would take a moment, and he quietly left, returning only a moment later with another towel. He undressed, softly and shyly, with his back turned away, as the bathtub drained, and he stopped mid way to bend down, recap the tub, and begin to fill it with fresh, steaming water.

Lionel reached out quietly, but stopped himself. You don't have to hide from me, he wanted to say, and yet, he knew that Dominic did.

All the progress Dominic had made was decimated. "When we get out of the bath, I'll call Lex again, and have him cancel our appointment with Diane Sawyer. Reschedule it for next year."

The phrase had him turning, an eyebrow coming up and a snicker escaping him. "Right. Because she'll go for that, law suit or no lay suit. Come on, get in." He added a healthy dose of bubbles before sliding quickly, from nudity to the water, and sighed softly as he folded his legs, Indian style in the big tub, and waited for his lover as he lay his head back.

"If she doesn't like it, she can what is more vulgarly known as, kiss my Luthor ass."

He flat out laughed at that. "Could you imagine her expression? She'd be appalled. She wears really dumpy dresses, you know? And I can't stand her little," He locked his neck and moved about robotically. "She looks like a Guatemalan Pea Plant farmer who has crooks in his necks from seeding all day."

"I don't care how appalled she is. If she doesn't want to respect the fact that we are simply not speaking to the press at this time, then the kiss my ass response is the most appropriate I can think of. She is not God--I am. If she doesn't like it, that is most assuredly, her problem." Slowly Lionel started to slide down his slacks, wondering if he should be hiding behind a towel or something else.

Another snicker, for that. "Maybe you're God. But right now, you're just Lionel, and you're going to take a bath with Dominic, and that's how things stand. No one knows about us in this corner of the big bad world, and those who will find out will be pleased. Its my place, where I've always lived. You've come to be known as Dominic's Cute Boyfriend."

A soft chuckle. "Do you know I've often wondered why a grown man of my age is still referred to as a boyfriend? Manfriend, I admit, doesn't work nearly so well. And yet."

"Manfriends?" He choked on the laugh. "Could you imagine? Going around, telling people we're manfriends. Its like what they say on TBS specials. How horrifying." He didn't look at Lionel below the belly button, and simply moved his legs so he could get in, waiting for him. "Life partners? Even worse."

At that, Lionel shook his head. "No. Life partners... I like. Because in truth, that is what it is. Partners... for the rest of our lives."

"Partners, though, is a very spicy and difficult subject." He nodded it, as he handed over the soap, the hand-held shower nozzle, big and wide, lay in the water between them, not turned on as of yet. "Because with it comes a big set of rules. Like... what type of partners? Partners that by the same cheese? Partners in business endeavors? Partners in bed? And who's to say what goes where, and who does what?" A shake of his head as he picked up a big gloop of bubbles, and set them on top of Lionel's head, without a word about them. "Who's to say you're partners in cheese buying?"

Lionel settled into the tub. "Partners, in everything. Everything is shared; split simply down the middle. Cheese buying, bed-sharing, business-making."

"What happens, though, when those things aren't split?" He tipped his head. "What's it called then? Sixty forty?" He reached out and made a design in the bubbles, putting more of them on top of Lionel's head, big bubbles everywhere, and blew one so it popped on his cheek. "Man and woman? Dom and sub? And you know, whoever made up the whole dominant and submissive thing was an idiot."

Lionel startled slightly as one of the bubbles popped on his cheek, and rolled his eyes up to see the bubbles sliding down his forehead. "If it's not split, it's an unequal partnership. And those... never last." He dipped his fingers in the water, drew them through the suds floating on the surface. "I don't want it to be Dominant and Submissive with us. I want... I want someone who can stand up to me. Who can tell me to take a hike if that's what I need to be told."

"Its understandable." He said it, without a hitch, though a little quieter than before. "No, but really. Submissive people aren't truly submissive at all. Sometimes...most times, the dominant are. Because the submissive can chose what he or she wants, what they'd like to do, etcetera, etcetera. That's the power in being submissive, when its healthy, anyhow." He pushed the bubbles off Lionel's forehead, and instead set them back on his head.

"But the submissive only has that power if the dominant gives it to them." He tightened his hand and watched his fist fall like a rock. "If the dominant... is an uncaring, insensitive bastard... then he doesn't care what the submissive wants, or needs. The submissive is powerless."

"Right you are. Some people get off on that, on the pain because its real. When the dominant cares, or even loves, its just a game. Well, sometimes its a game." He pushed locks of Lionel's hair up into the thick bubbles, playing with it because he could. "Sometimes its a really fun game."

Lionel was still, just letting Dominic play with his hair because it felt good. "I can testify to it being... enjoyable." His hand flattened in the water, and it rose to the surface as he watched.

"Definitely." He plopped Lionel's hair on top of his head. "But partners. That's a hard word to decipher, and sometimes, a word that's not true to life. I've never seen a partnership that is just that. There's always an influx of power, you know?"

"I realize that. But there has to be some kind of partnership, some kind of understanding because no matter how much power fluxes in and out, there is always a balance, because eventually, the power shifts and ebbs. From one to the other, and there's equality in it."

"I wonder of the truth in that, you know. What if one of the people in the partnership aren't especially understanding of that situation, or what if one of the people happens to crave power, or crave submission? Does that mean that the power will always be in a state of turmoil? And what is the power in a relationship anyway? Isn't it just a means to an end, a way to get what one wants? And isn't that the complete opposite of what a partnership is trying to accomplish?"

"As long as you write in an idiot clause, and realize that misunderstandings, overdone pride, and hurt feelings cause far more problems to blow out of proportion than they are, then understanding comes when you realize the other partner... is nothing but a hurt, angry idiot who lashes out for no reason." Lionel leaned back, just a little, in the tub. "I don't think there's always turmoil or imbalance, because even the most submissive person craves the other side sometimes."

"I think the idiot clause might be beautiful. There's usually an idiot clause for every relationship, because we're all human. And just as the person who was hurt and lashes out needs it, then the other person, who happens to be an outrageously, fabulously sexy individual, stops feeling so worthless all the time. Low self esteem is never good, in any partnership. It disallows for certain things to be said, you know." A suave nod, as he tipped his head and gave his Alfalfa hairstyle a peer. Lionel would look good with a Mohawk. "But that's just what I heard on the street."

Lionel felt his hair standing up and was afraid to look at it. "I think your street informant is correct, in everything he--or she--told you, in fact."

"Neither. It was a little bird." Dominic nodded it, and wished for a camera as he bit his lip and looked at his lovers head. "Though I don't prefer partnership. Rather... friendship. Everything in any relationship knows you've got to be friends, the best of, with the person you love to make anything work. Friendship is the key that so many people forget about."

"Mmm. I agree. Friendship is the most important part of... any kind of relationship." He turned around in the tub then, on his knees as he faced his lover. "Are we friends, Dominic?"

He cupped his chin in his hand, and set his elbow on his thigh as he rolled his eyes. "Duh." Oh, but how he smiled, tipping his head and watching him.

Lionel raised his hand, and caught Dominic's wrist. "I am serious."

"I am too." He looked up at him. "We're best friends."

Brief tightening of his grip before he dropped his hand. "Good. Now. Does my best friend have a mirror?"

His lips spread and he couldn't help laughing, as he reached up out of the tub, craning until he could reach the mirror that sat on the side of the sink, and turned it, so Lionel could see into it. "Paint it green and I could take you moshing."

Lionel just stared in horror at his reflection, and he raised his head to touch the pointy spike on top. "It's... rather unique, I must admit."

He snickered. Loudly. "Alfalfa." Pause. "If you tell me you've never seen the Little Rascals, I'll beat your head in." He reached up and touched it too, poofing it as he spread the side burns, long like the rest of his hair, so they stood out from his head.

"No, no, I've seen the Little Rascals, thank you. I know who Alfalfa is, and this is... definitely a throwback. I look like you could poke holes in a tin can with me."

"Of course you do. I've made an art out of making Alfalfa spikes. Ask Megan. To this day, she hasn't been the same." He reached behind Lionel, getting so, so close to him, as he turned on the faucet so that the shower head would start going, on its long coil under the water.

Lionel's arms shot out and wrapped around his lover's waist, holding him tightly and pressing him firmly against his body. The mirror fell into the water, but didn't break, and Lionel forgot about his hair as he looked down into bright, deep emerald pools that were still hollow around the edges.

Fuck. So maybe when he fell into Lionel's arms, the water sloshing around him, Lionel's dark hazel eyes looking down at him the way they were, he had to kiss him. He slanted his head and dove, driving his mouth as close to Lionel's as it could be, tongue diving in and stroking as he kissed. Hard, very hard, but very soft and very sweet and almost scared at the same time, as he kissed him, his fingers sliding into all that long hair and holding it, as the spike came undone, uncoiling and sliding down his fingers.

Lionel's hands flattened over Dominic's back and shoulders, sliding up and down his spine as he opened his mouth for the kiss. Encouraged with soft whimpers, Lionel tugged until he was leaning back again and Dominic was settled over him. He reached up into his hair, dislodged Dominic's hands, slid them over until his lover's hands pinned his wrists to the rim of the tub.

Didn't care, he was too busy kissing to understand, look, contemplate, anything else. He kissed him because he thought he'd never do it again, soul hot and hard in it as he begged forgiveness with each lick, each nip and bite, each kiss. He was over Lionel, all over his body, feeling everything and he was in no way ready to pursue anything like what his body wanted, but he could kiss. And kiss, he did, as his fingers stroked up and caught Lionel's fingers, twining them in his own.

Lionel tightened his fingers around Dominic's, nearly crushing the lovely, slender digits in his grip as he sucked on Dominic's lips and tongue as they were offered to him. The water sloshed and lapped around them, but he didn't care, only arching up into the welcomed kisses, raising his head to give them back as fiercely as Dominic took them, licking and making noises deep in his throat.

His fingers tightened on Lionel's as they kissed, and he took in a breath through his nose as he did it, kissing once, twice, three times to the soft lips before letting go enough to look down at him. His lips were swollen now, with hot, lovely kisses, skin flushed, and his eyes glassy and stormy with pleasure as he looked down at Lionel quietly, rubbing his cheekbone softly.

Lionel's lips were parted as he breathed softly through them, eyes half-closed and staring up at his lover's dark eyes. His hands stayed over his head, where they'd been from the beginning of the kiss, and his chest rose and fell with the soft pants. "I love you."

"I love you." Dominic repeated softly, and brought the hands from above Lionel's head to wrap around his waist, and hold him close. Lionel's arms around him were wonderful, and he shook his head, a little, as his thumb traced the swollen lips. "No more right now. Lets finish, and get out of here." He smiled at him before sliding down off his body, to get the shower head that was making bubbles beneath the water.

"All right," Lionel agreed quickly, and his hand fished in the water for the mirror he'd dropped earlier. "There we go." He put the mirror on the sink by the tub, and rubbed his hands over the small of Dominic's back as he shook out his soapy hair. "Let's finish."

He lifted the shower spray, and shot his lover in the face, bursting out laughing before he'd even done it and already figuring out a way of escape.

Lionel blinked, very slowly, and wiped off his dripping face.

Right before his hands slipped under the water and splashed his lover.

Face full of bubbles and water, and he gasped, blinking through a head full of soap, and stared. Yeah, well. He leapt at him, sending water splashing all over the place and another laugh out of his throat. The shower spray was going everywhere but he'd never been happier, as he splashed his lover right back.

Lionel rolled slippery and wet under his lover, wrestling for control of the shower spray, and when he got it, for a brief moment, he sprayed his lover in the face gently, rinsing off most of the soap bubbles he'd splashed there in the first place, and then was promptly hit in the nose with a handful of suds.

"This means--" Before Lionel could say it, a mouthful of soap suds hit him and he spat them out quickly.

He let out another laugh, just... cracking up, and fought for control of the spray as he slid like an eel around his lover, rolling over and over. Most of the water in the tub was on the floor and he couldn't help cracking up over it, ending up tangled with an arm around his lover, legs all tangled, fighting for the spray. "What?"

"I was going to say, this means war, but I'm not opening my mouth again," Lionel groused, getting a half-spray in the face as water hit his cheek and his beard as the oily water made their bodies even more slippery as they were tangled together, half panting.

His hips rose. He couldn't help it. The slippering, the squirming, the moving, and his throat bobbed hard as he looked down at the two of them pressed together. It was on his lips to apologize for the half hard cock pressing into Lionel's flank now, but he knew his lover would very possibly spank him raw for it, and his jaw locked, instead.

Lionel's eyes widened in surprise as he felt the hardness pressing against his thigh. He hadn't thought Dominic would respond to him--frankly, ever again--but at least not this soon, and he had half-turned to hide his own reaction. However, when he felt his lover's, he turned again, letting his own rising erection bob lightly against his lover's as he stroked Dominic's jaw.

He was surprised to feel it tight, and his brows furrowed, even as he stroked.

He was darkly ashamed, and he turned his face away, his throat bobbing tightly. So ashamed of his own body, and he swallowed again, even harder, as he tried to stutter out an excuse. "I... it… from..." You.

"Don't look away," Lionel pled softly. "I didn't--I didn't think you would. To me, ever again." He let his hand rest on his lover's hip. "Don't... be ashamed. Please."

"Of course, I would." He looked up at him at that, his eyes filling at his lovers expression. "Of course, I would. You're mine, and I… I would have. I'm just... I'm n-not ready. Not yet. I don't w--want you to think I'm… I'm leading you on, or--or..." His throat worked again, as he fought to keep talking. "Or t-that all I want from you is sex."

"I don't think that. I don't think either of those things about you." Lionel's brows knit in distress. "I'm not--I don't know. I don't know what I'm not. Ready, sane, deserving, choose one." He slid his hands over Dominic's shoulders. "Don't feel bad because you want me."

"Its not... not that. I feel bad because.." He was hardening even more, and he couldn't help the keening sound of both sadness and pleasure, as he rubbed against him again, lifting his hips enough to do so. "I hate being young. I hate it."

"I don't hate it." He let his hand slide as far down as Dominic's hip, squeezed the bone gently, and then slid it back up his side to rest on his shoulders. "I don't hate it." Lionel opened his legs under the water, spread them enough so that Dominic could nestle between them if he chose. "Here. Come to me."

He always chose. He could never not, and he wrapped his arms around Lionel's shoulders as he slid where Lionel was allowing him to. "You don't embarrass y-yourself. You don't have to worry about getting like... like this when you shouldn't b-be."

"Yes, I do," Lionel said quietly. "I've just learned to hide it better. I've had to learn, but don't think for once that you are embarrassing yourself. Nor are you alone. Because you're not." His arms came around Dominic and held him tightly. "Reach down, and see."

His fingers did as they were told, looking up at him before sliding down. He only touched, only a little, and felt it, his throat bobbing, hard. He didn't w-want to, not right now, and he looked up at him even as his body fought him. Blasphemous piece of mutineering shit. He was harder, even harder as he touched his lover, and his throat moved again as he looked up. "Y-you... too?"

"Yes. Me too." His arms tightened around Dominic. "So you see, you're not embarrassing yourself. Or, if you are, then I'm embarrassing myself too and I'm simply refusing to admit it." His hands stroked soothingly.

The words broke the sad place he was in and he laughed, softly, his eyes brightening a little as he looked up at his lover softly. "I can accept that. You don't think... they'll mind? If we wait?"

"They, Jiminy?"

"They." A raise of his hips, and he looked at him, very quietly, and very tentatively.

"Oh." Lionel nodded, with complete sincerity. "I think that Little Lionel and Little Dominic, as I've heard them called, won't mind a bit if we wait."

Gratitude, in his heart, in his eyes, as he reached up and hugged him. He wasn't… no. Not right now, and he slid up from under him, sitting up and blinking around his bathroom. Water. Everywhere. "I think... we're clean by now. Hose ourselves off and we'll go?"

Lionel looked around at the destruction. "Shall I call for LuthorCorp housekeeping to come over and clean this up while we're out?"

A shake of his head. "We can do it when we get back." He looked at him, tentatively, and picked up the shower hose still going, hosing the water off himself before he handed it to Lionel and climbed from the bathtub, sopping wet, and stepped into a puddle of water.

He'd never had so much fun spreading so much water in his life.

And he was absolutely scared sick of Lionel and what his body could do to Dominic's own.

He offered him a towel, though, and smiled a little, shyly and softly, as he hooked his own around his hips. His cock had softened, almost immediately after getting hard, and he didn't know what was wrong with it but it had better behave itself.

Lionel took the shower head and rinsed himself off, then made sure his towel was tied around his waist before he stood up, adjusting it around his waist and nodding at his lover. "I'll go and get dressed in the bedroom, if you want to finish in here," Lionel offered softly, guessing from the shy little smile that his lover was still uncomfortable around him.

"Alright." He agreed it, and nodded at him before turning to the sink for his toothbrush and paste. He uncapped and put some on the brush, before sticking it in his mouth and began to scrub. He brushed his teeth, quickly and efficiently in his little way, shifting in the puddles on the floor as he looked towards the door to the bedroom and hurt, all over again.

Lionel was standing in the door, watching Dominic brush his teeth, towel held tightly around his waist as he watched.

For which he had to stick his tongue out, full of paste and foam, at his lover.

Lionel burst into soft laughter at that, leaning against the doorjamb. "You look like a rabid wolverine."

He almost choked on his paste at that, grinning at him before he spit it out, wiping his mouth clean as he snickered. "I've been called many things, but a rabid wolverine was not on the list." He rinsed out his brush and offered it, tipping his head. "I'll find the jeans for you. We can forego swimming, until tonight, perhaps?"

Lionel shook his head at the offer of toothpaste. "Too early for that, but the schedule? Is yours to set, Dominic. I am yours to command."

He smiled, at that. "Alright. Lets go get some videos and games, and some food. I feel like sacking out. How about you?"

"Sacking out?"

"Lounging. Kicking back." Another suave nod.

"Relaxing?"

He chuckled again, leaning his hip against the sink. "Relaxing."

A blink. "Then why didn't you simply say so in the first place."

"Because I enjoy teaching you the lingo?" He walked past his lover and chuckled at him again, as he unhooked his towel and dried his feet before walking into the bedroom. He wasn't okay with nudity right now, so he went into his closet and pulled on the first pair of jeans he found, foregoing underwear as he fastened them around a concave belly and tugging on a green polo shirt and running shoes, as well. He still had a great deal of clothes in the closet, some of which would stay, some that would go with him, and he looked through the several pairs of jeans on the shelf before finding the ones he wanted. Still had the ticket on and everything, and he unfolded them and shook them out. Oh, yes, these would fit his lover beautifully. He put them over his shoulder and hunted for a pair of socks for Lionel, finding some he'd left last time and set both things on the bed before glancing back at the door. "Feel free to use anything you need, Lionel."

He shook his head gently. "I'm all right; you've already laid out the turtleneck to go with the jeans, and my other things." He gestured to the pile of clothes already on the bed. "I think I can handle getting dressed," he said with a small smile. "I don't think you want to watch, though."

"Yes. I do." And he did. He really, really did. At the mention of the turtleneck, he realized it good for him to put something on a bit warmer than the polo, and he pulled it over his head and walked back into the closet. Hunted a moment… came back with a very light sweater that did all the right things for him, hugged and accented the nice things, and he pulled it on over his head, trading running shoes for black shoes. It was the best thing about jeans, and he flopped on the bed a moment later, rolling on his side and smiling at Lionel with an eyebrow raised. "I wouldn't pass up you wearing jeans for the world."

Lionel reached out to run his hand over Dominic's back but stopped short, thinking his touch might not be quite welcome. Instead, by the time Dominic came back and turned around, Lionel was already sitting on the side of the bed, ready to unfold the towel. "Better get your camera, because I sincerely doubt you'll ever see it again in your life."

"Yes I will." He rolled onto his belly, feet in the air behind him, and looked at him innocent as a little lamb.

"You must have left your halo in your other pants," Lionel scoffed gently, sliding into his underwear and tugging it up over his hips before untying the towel and sliding his legs into the jeans. "All right, Dominic. Here we go."

Lionel stood up, pulling the denim up his legs and over his hips to button across his stomach.

His heart was somewhere in his throat. He watched the denim slide up long legs, thick, powerful thighs, and button across a slender, tight little waist, and his heart was gone. Oh. Boy. They looked...amazing on him, and a violent reaction to grab that ass melted in tight jeans was in his mind as he watched. "Handsome devil." His voice might have cracked just a little. "Fit alright? Uncomfortable?"

Lionel took in a deep breath, ran his hands over his thighs, smoothing out wrinkles, and adjusting the fit. "No... they seem to fit just fine." He ran his hands over the back seams, making sure they were straight, and then bent his knees. "Mmm. New experience."

"Yes." Dominic said, very softly. "Indeed, it is." He reached out, smoothing a thigh free of wrinkles, and peeked over the bed at Lionel's bare feet peeking from the long jeans. "They're just long enough, too. You can imagine how long they are on me."

Lionel saw Dominic peeking at his feet, and wiggled his toes.

He could have sucked each one, and he looked up, smiling. "Do you like them?"

His toes wiggled again as he thought. "Yes, I think I do. Rather... casual, but comfortable. I see why most people wear them."

"The thing about jeans is that they're a changeable sort of thing. You can dress them up, or dress them down. Like… you're going to put on those black shoes of yours, and the turtleneck, and I'll lend you my leather coat. And you're going to look like the million dollars you have in your wallet right now."

Lionel reached for his wallet, and counted the large wad of hundred-dollar bills in it. "I don't have a million dollars in my wallet. I'm fifty thousand short."

Dominic snorted. Loudly. and rolled up to his feet, to walk around the bed. "I'll go find that coat. Be right back, beloved."

"I'll be waiting." Lionel watched as his lover walked out the door, and then unbuttoned the jeans, sliding them part-way down on his hips. He picked up the turtleneck, then paused, picking up the towel to dry his hair again, fluffing it in the process of rubbing it dry, not realizing he'd left his pants unbuttoned and they were riding low as he scrubbed at his mass of thick, wavy hair.

Eye. Candy. Dominic returned a few moments later with the coat in hand. It had been hanging in place where it always was, and he stopped in the middle of the room.

And his jeans got a whole lot tighter.

Again.

Lionel, standing there, with the low riding, slightly boot cut jeans, with the dark pubic hairs peaking from the waistband of his underwear; his lovely, long hair being rubbed at, the muscles in his chest, and he was at a loss for words as he stood there, like an idiot, with the jacket in hand.

Lionel didn't notice that Dominic had come into the room until he dropped the towel to the bed and looked up. Then he looked down at himself, realized what Dominic was staring at, and cleared his throat, grabbing his turtleneck and tugging it over still-damp hair. He paused in tugging it down to fluff out his hair, chest half covered as he pulled the neck down so his hair flowed freely down his back, and then he tugged it down the rest of the way, tucking it into the waistband of the jeans before buttoning them back up again.

His fantasies were going to be fueled for the next eight months. "I--" His voice squeaked, broke, and he cleared his throat, gruffly, coughing. "Have. The jacket." He cleared his throat again and stepped up to him, offering it as he made himself busy with fixing the neck of the shirt around his lovers throat, just as he'd always done. Fixed his hair around his face, too, and stroked the wrinkles free of the shoulders and neck of it, as he smiled. "You look very handsome. Do you need a belt?"

"No, I think I can live without my belt for one day." He smiled down at his lover, brushed the back of his fingers across Dominic's. "Thank you, for lending me the jacket. If you'll look in my suit jacket, there should be a pair of silver sunglasses." He sat down on the side of the bed again to tug on socks and shoes.

His lips spread in a smile, and he turned to the big chair in the corner of the room where he'd dropped everything that morning, and fished out the glasses. Ignored everything else, including the cell phones he'd hid under the suit pants, and offered him the glasses as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Thank you." Lionel tied his shoes, sat up, tossed his hair back over his shoulder, and slid the silver glasses on. "There. I believe I am ready to face the world."

"And handsome, you are." He leaned in to press a soft kiss to his cheek, before rising and gathering his watch and wallet from the bedside table. Slid his wallet into his back pocket, his watch on his arm under the long sleeved shirt, and reached for his own soft leather coat he'd tossed over the char as well. "We're going to have to walk, as we've been stranded carless." An adventure, in itself. "You don't mind a short walk?"

"We're not carless. I called LuthorCorp this morning, and there's a company car waiting downstairs. One of my Signature Series, is what I ordered, so if we are lucky, it will be one of the new Azures."

He looked up at him. "Screw the car. Lets walk."

"Walk we shall, then." He smiled. "But, I wouldn't leave us stranded. I wouldn't... I wouldn't fail to take care of you."

He smiled, right back, and rolled his eyes as he picked his keys up, pocketed them, and led the way out the door. He took care of himself as well as Lionel, but he wouldn't let that particular bit of information out as he linked his fingers.

He locked his apartment up and led the way out of the building, and a few moments later he and his lover were on the street. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and the little neighborhood was full of life. Little German women with their rolling carts were coming home from the store, bicycle riders rang by, and people who had to work at eight rushed to get their before the clock turned. Children littered the street, on their way to school, and the birds sang happily as the very early spring sun shone down on them. But, unlike most parts of the town, people greeted one another with friendly gestures and words, talked, and laughed.

Dominic didn't once let go of Lionel's hand.

"The markets a bit down this way." He smiled up at him. "You look like the devil in blue jeans."

Lionel just shook his head. "I have been called the devil quite a few times in my life, and yet, I don't believe that I've ever been called it to my face, nor do I think I've ever been called devil in anything before."

"I bet that's because no one ever had the nerve." He tucked his free hand in his pocket and slid his arm around Lionel's waist, catching firm. For the love they shared... for the statement he was making. That he wasn't ashamed to be in public, have everyone know, how much he loved him, even after all they had just gone through, and he held on tightly as they walked.

"No, no one has ever had the nerve." Lionel slid his own arm around Dominic, tossed his hair back over his shoulder, and pressed a soft kiss to his lover's temple. "Do you realize this is the first time we've been able to do this without someone shoving a camera up our asses?"

"Mmhmm." he smiled up at him again, tenderly, as he let his head rest on Lionel's shoulder. "Yes, I know. You're getting attention, anyway. Your ass looks really good in these jeans."

Lionel shrugged. "Really? I thought my ass looked good in anything." He straightened his shoulders, however, and adjusted his sunglasses briefly. "Tell me there is a fine liquor and spirits store close by, because I'm afraid I drank the last of your brandy last night, after you went to sleep."

"It does. But it looks really, really good in those jeans." But that's all he said, as he brought him closer as they walked down the street. Waved at O'Malley cleaning the store, and turned the corner. The doctors office was right across the street in the big lovely white building, and right across from it, was the market. Half of it was an out door market, with fruits and vegetables on the little street, which had been closed for the morning because of it. Every morning, same thing, and right next to it was the liquor store he'd been coming to for the last fifteen years. "Blockbuster is around the corner. Want to go there first, so we won't have to lug our groceries in there?"

"Yes, please. Or, shall we split up? Because if we go to Blockbuster first, we'll be lugging our videos into the liquor store."

He nodded, smiling softly. "Sure. I'll get a few things, you get liquor… we'll meet up right here?"

"Right here." Lionel didn't let go, however; instead he tugged his lover in closer and kissed him deeply, hand coming up to gently cradle the back of his head. "On second thought... no. Let's not split up."

He kissed back, his lips curved in a smile as he did it, and kissed a few more times, gently, on the lips, tiny peppered loving kisses. "I like that, even better." Another few kisses and he winked up at him, as he slid his arm back around to hook on his waist and hold, tightly and warmly.

"Good." Lionel tightened his grip on Dominic's waist. "I even have some small bills in my wallet, just for you."

His lips twitched and he pressed another kiss to his lovers jaw, snickering as they walked through the produce, hardly noticing anyone and hardly anyone noticed them. It made him feel... very much at home, very comfortable, and he set his head back on Lionel's shoulder as they walked.

Lionel stopped at a small display of tropical fruits. "Mmmm. Do we just... choose the fruits and help ourselves? Or do we merely look to get an idea of what we want and it's packaged for us later?"

Realization. Dominic looked up at his lover, and looked at him for a long moment. "You've never been grocery shopping, have you?"

"Only to buy you that carton of ice cream several months ago and never again."

He smiled up at him. "Well. You take a basket...see, those blue ones over there?" He pointed at the hand held little baskets. "Fill it with whatever you like. Go in the store... do the same thing. I know where everything is, so we won't have to hunt things down. And pay."

"Paying, I comprehend." Lionel looked at the little blue baskets. "How... sanitary are those things?"

His shoulders shook with the suppressed chuckle. "Sanitary enough. You have to wash the fruit anyway, Lionel, so don't have yourself a heart attack." A grin up at him. "Do you want to shop first, then? And videos second?"

"How many other people have handled those baskets, Dominic. God only knows where their hands have been." He looked down. "I don't know; what's the proper order of things? Videos, then shopping, then liquor?"

"We can do whatever you like." But he answered himself by picking up a basket, and peered at the fruit. "What do you feel like?"

"Melon, if they have it. Honeydew. Also, mango and kiwi, breadfruit and lime, and strawberries."

"Mmm. They have fabulous strawberries here in Kansas, you know." He set the basket in the crook of his elbow and expertly pressed on the honeydews, before selecting one he liked. Set it in his basket, and he motioned, with a grin. "Pick the mango's you like. You've eaten them a lot, you know which ones are good."

Lionel quickly examined the selection and ended up choosing four of the medium-sized fruits, adding them to the basket over Dominic's arm and making sure not to touch the plastic with his hands. "I didn't realize that, no, but I usually have them imported from other places, where they're grown specially for consumption."

A smile up at him. "They're grown specially for consumption here, too." He got three kiwi's, as the stuff wasn't his particular favorite, and set them in there, as well, and he motioned towards the crates of little plastic boxes with holes for freshness, that said Smallville Grown on them. "Those are the best. Get a few of them? They're so good with sugar and whipped cream."

"All right," Lionel said softly, peeling the lid off the crate, and dusting his hands off. The sheer number of little green pint cartons surprised him, and he carefully examined most of the top layer before choosing four pints full of fat, red, ripe berries, and dropping them carefully into the basket.

Dominic shifted with the weight of the fruit, though it wasn't bad at all. The bread fruits and the limes were already in there, as well, and little Mr. Srwenkavitz would wrap them up well for them. "Come on. We may need another basket... do you mind getting another one?" Asked with a grin twitching his lips.

Lionel recoiled from the stack of blue plastic. "You are serious?"

Raised brow, and he just hummed and entered the store.

Lionel looked at the baskets, looked at all the people milling around, looked at the baskets again. He took a handkerchief, scrubbed the cheap plastic handles as clean as he possibly could, and tucked it over his elbow, holding it slightly out to the side as though it were a dead animal hanging off his arm.

Dominic turned back once he'd entered and couldn't help chuckling, rolling his eyes as he walked in. "Come on, it won't bite you." He motioned with his shoulder for his lover to catch up, his eyes dancing as he did so. He had since retrieved a half gallon of milk, and just had a few vegetables, bread, lunch meat, and probably some beef or some sort of thing to make for an evening meal left to select. "You're nuts, you know."

"I... am not nuts. I am merely conscious of common germs," Lionel corrected, and he put the milk into his own basket so they didn't crush the fruits.

Dominic stopped in a sliver of the sunlight coming in through the windows, crowded with goods, and smiled at him, rolling his eyes heavenwards, mouthing dramatically, why me?, and took a step to be next to him. "French bread or the normal? We can get some luncheon meats and make subs for lunch."

"French bread, and why would I be consuming a sub?" Lionel asked. "I can just as easily have both lunch and dinner delivered to the suite by my chef, as he's not doing anything but sitting on his thumb on LuthorCorp's dime during the move." Then he blinked. "I do believe I've been around my son too long."

His lips curved softly, as his fingers gently rested on his lovers for a moment, so he'd look at him. "We can make our own food. We're grown men, and if you like, I'll even show you how to make that potato salad you adore."

Lionel turned to look at Dominic, and in his eyes saw the desire for quiet and alone. "All right," he answered softly. "We can make our own food. Lillian was the chef, but I think I learned a few tricks here and there." He kissed Dominic's forehead softly. "What else do we need?"

Gratitude, and he squeezed Lionel's fingers tightly before looking out over the store. "Hmm. Well... lunch meat, indeed. Tomatoes... some lettuce. What else do you like in your sandwiches? Mayo, onio--.." He looked up, then. He and Lionel had had a little ongoing joke for at least ten years now, about onions and the dangers of it, and he quoted softly, amused as he took on his best Lionel imitation. "Onnn-ion," Enunciated exactly as his lover would do it, eyebrow up high. "Is for those of us who are without lovers. Are you... without a lover, Dominic?" His lips spread, then. "You used to get me with that, Lionel. Every time. Still do, whenever it comes about."

"Lunch meat, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, no onions, no mayonnaise, please. Pickles, yes, and Dominic? I will insist that we get fries at some point during today's sojourn."

"Of course." He looked at him for a moment as his little joke was ignored, and turned back to the shelves, swallowing a little bit as he peered. Olives, asparagus, pickles of every kind, and he selected a bottle of green olives stuffed with anchovy from Greece that he'd been eating since he was a little boy, and a small jar of full dill pickles. "They taste better when you slice them up yourself."

Lionel put his hand on Dominic's shoulder. "Dominic... you are not without a lover. I hope you know that."

"I know." He said it softly, and walked down the aisle a little bit, towards the pimientos, peering at them. "Do you like spicy? Or not so spicy?" He rose his head, looked at his lover, and set both jars down. Own question answered. "Mayo... there's fourteen different types now. With bacon, with ranch, with fucking bits of cow in there for all I know. " His lips quirked. "Which do you want? The normal?"

Lionel stifled a smile, though it was sad around the edges, as though he knew there was a brittleness to Dominic's amusement. "I think the regular will suit us just fine."

"I think so, as well. A small jar, too, as we won't be needing much. Ah... what about tuna?" He glanced up.

Gentle shake of his head. "Not unless you have a craving for it; I don't touch it unless it's in steak form, grilled over an open flame, lightly dusted in lemon and pepper and served with rice pilaf."

Blink. "That is possibly the most disgusting thing you've ever said, way past all of the dead cow on a plate thing." But he nodded it, and walked back to join him again, peering in the basket and doing a quick estimation of how much they'd spent, so he knew how much to take from the ancient ATM in the corner. And glanced up, taking his lovers arm in the same moment and linking their elbows. "What else can you think of?"

"I'll have you know that fresh tuna steak is a delicacy. None of the heavily processed fishy taste that canned tuna possesses." He tightened his arm around Dominic's. "Balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic cloves, and freshly ground black pepper."

Didn't ask why, he just got it, pulling his lover into the next aisle of the small store, where all the spreads where. He selected a bottle of vinegar of which he normally bought, leaving his lover to the soy as he selected the garlic cloves, and wasn't even going to attempt the Worcestershire sauce.

Lionel wordlessly changed the bottle of vinegar in Dominic's basket for dark balsamic instead of light, added Kikkoman's soy sauce to his own, and chose the brown-wrapped Lea and Perrin's bottle of Worcestershire sauce. "Now... point me towards... beef. We need... about a three-pound roast."

"What is it you're thinking of?" His eyebrow came up as he shifted the heavy basket to the other arm, and led him around the corner to the butcher with his glass window of items. "He'll cut you anything you need. What're you going to make?"

"Spicy Beef Roast. I'm not particularly fond of spicy foods, as a general rule, however this particular recipe is one that Lex left lying around a few weeks ago, and it seemed, at the time, quite delicious."

"By all means, then." A little smile up at him. "I'm going to retrieve the deli meats… anything in particular you feel like? If not, I'll get the usual things I do."

He thought. And couldn't come up with a single, non-custom meat. Then he closed his mouth. "I think I will leave the selection up to you, since you seem to have that well in hand."

His lips quirked and he nodded, as he walked around the little aisle to where the deli meats were sold.

And spoke, in flawless Arabic, to the man behind the counter, requesting a pound of Genoa salami, smoked nor'eastern turkey, a half of pastrami, a half of proccuito, and a quarter of roast beef, as well as a quarter of Swiss cheese.

Which was just about all he knew in Arabic, aside from a little bit of conversation, but the man smiled at him and spoke to him in his broken English about his family. Three little girls, one already going to marry, the other two just getting through middle school, and he smiled politely even if he only understood a quarter of what the gentlemen was saying to him.

Meanwhile at the butcher's block, Lionel perused several cuts of meat, from shoulder to rump, until he found what he wanted. Three pounds of bloody rump roast was wrapped in brown paper, tied with a string, and passed to him.

Lionel took it warily, seeing the blood already seeping through the waxy butcher paper, and placed it in the bottom of his basket so the blood could drip onto the already-stained sidewalk.

He heard Dominic conversing in Arabic, and it made him more than a little proud to see his lover--or, hear, more accurately--showing his intelligence and his worthiness.

Dominic smiled at the poor man as he was handed the deli meets, and with a bit of thanks set it down in the basket he'd set by his feet before standing again and grasping everything tightly so it wouldn't fall. He strolled back down the aisle towards his lover, and reached him with an eyebrow raise at the two baskets they were carrying. "It'll be about three bags. Do you mind that much to carry? We'll be loaded down by the time we get back to the apartment, as we have to stop by the liquor store, as well. Anything in mind over what you'd like?"

"I don't mind at all, as we've each got two hands." But he gave a small grin. "I do know what I want from the liquor store; I've already decided as I was perusing the meat selection. I can carry the most of it, while you pick out the videos and the liquor."

"No, you won't. I'll help." Spoken as he picked his basket back up from where he'd set it down. "Come on, lets pay and get on with things. It stinks in here. Ms Lupcheky must have dropped a jar of pickles sometime this week. The woman does it on a weekly basis, but as she's ninety five years old, we can all forgive her for it."

"Yes, and can we get an extra bag for the beef? I think it's beginning to bleed. And while I don't usually mind it, I also don't want it all over my clothes." He reached into his jeans pocket, and slid out the slim line wallet, fat with money, and pulled out a fifty. "Here, do you think this will cover it?"

A glance at it, and the fight they'd had refreshed in his mind, and Dominic's eyes came up. "From our checking account?"

"If you'd like, though I haven't had a chance to deposit it yet," Lionel said calmly, also remembering.

Dominic looked at him, for a long moment, before reaching out, and taking the money without bringing attention to it. He picked his own basket up and set it on the countertop, smiling at the robust, large man behind the counter. "Mr. Srwenkavitz."

"Hello, Dominic. It has been long time, since we see you in here." His voice was accented by a beautiful accent from Egypt, and he smiled at them both as he began to check their things into the register. He knew who the man with one of his favorite customers was, and he knew the scandal, the intrigue, that surrounded them. It had hurt him to hear all the lies on the television box, and he smiled at the both of them as he kept checking with an expert hand. "You forget bread, Mr. Senatori."

"Shit! I'll be back in a moment." he scooted off from the register, going down the aisle before turning, going down a second one, and looking at the bread of the day. Took him all of ten seconds to chose a soft loaf of bakery style bread that he liked, and for the hell of it, snagged a bag of potato chips on his way back to the register. "Thanks. I always forget the damn bread."

"For long time, consider moving bread to front so you not forget." A chuckle, as he bagged their things with an expert hand, and began the tedious, but lovely, process of wrapping the meat and the fruit tightly in thin brown paper.

Lionel had to smother a laugh. "Dates, appointments, phone numbers, and names you remember, but bread you forget?" A soft smile to let his lover know that he wasn't making fun of him, only teasing. He slid his arms around Dominic's waist and snuggled him close as he watched the elderly man bagging and wrapping.

And if Mr. Srwenkavitz noticed, which he did, he didn't say a word. He wrapped the fruits tightly, so they wouldn;t get smushed, and wouldn't leak, setting them in their own bag. The meat as well, so it wouldn't drop anywhere, wrapped in several sheaves of brown paper and tightly taped up, wrapped in a plastic bag, and then set in another bag. Four bags all together, and he hit the button, glancing to the ancient cash register. "Forty two fifty five."

Dominic handed over the fifty dollar bill, as he glanced up at his lover and smiled. "Always. Every single time, actually. Bread eludes me, in a painful sort of manner."

Lionel dropped a kiss to the back of his lover's neck. "I'll start adding bread to every list I give you. We'll get you trained to remember it in no time. I should feel guilty, I suppose, for filling your head with so many other things and pushing bread right out."

"He try everything." The older gentlemen gently interrupted, smile gracing his face as he handed over change. "String, note, written on hand. He forget, every time. I remember for him, though." Another smile, as he handed over the bags. "We miss, come back soon."

"I will." Dominic thanked him, in Arabic, as well as thanking him for not saying anything about Lionel, even as he smiled at him and glanced at his lover. "You carry your dead cow." He grabbed two of the bags, one containing the fruit, and motioned for him to follow as he stepped out.

Lionel laughed and picked up the other two bags. "You'll like what I do to this dead cow." He nodded over his shoulder to the Arabic man, and fell into step beside his lover. "Video store and liquor store?"

"Indeed. We'll hit the liquor store on our way back." He glanced at him, as he put the lighter bag on is arm, and reached out to wrap his fingers around Lionel's elbow softly. "How did you like your first shopping experience?"

"It was... definitely an experience." He rubbed his cheek against his lover's. "I'm not sure that I'd repeat it any time soon, as I'm finding that I mix less and less well with the masses of humanity as I grow older and perhaps crankier, but all in all, it wasn't a bad experience."

"Mmm." He looked up, then. "Thank you."

Lionel's brow furrowed. "For?"

"Paying. You didn't have to, but thank you, regardless." He nodded, a little bit. "I've got the video store, and the liquor store. Alright?"

Lionel almost protested, but nodded. "That's fair. And yes, I did have to. I'm going to be eating and cooking this, and I'm a guest in your home. It's my responsibility to make your housing me... a little more palatable." Another soft grin. "Or, it could just be a flimsy excuse for me wanting to take care of you."

His lips curved a little. "Our. Our home." He nodded, quietly, as he kept on down the street beside his lover. "I'd like for us to have our own home. Down the road."

"I'd like it, too. The castle... isn't home. It isn't just ours; we share it with too many others. We need... somewhere that is ours alone. We could start looking for architects, if you like, during the time Aurora's gestating, and at least have it started by the time she's born?"

A smile, and a nod, up at him. "Yes. Id like that, very much. I miss doing these things. Cooking, cleaning, laundry. I'm a neat freak. And not doing it for too long gives me hives."

"I've been thinking... Clark and Lex will be leaving soon, in a year or two, at most, for college." Lionel was quiet as he looked down, at their linked arms and their feet. "Graham, your mother, and Shayla will be moving, too, as soon as Graham completes the purchase on the house he saw. That would leave us alone in the castle, but it's not a home. I don't want... I don't want our daughter growing up in a museum."

"Neither do I." Dominic said softly, as he looked up at him. "I don't, Lionel. I don't want her to be scared to touch things, or cry when she breaks something that simply cannot be replaced. I want... toys all over the living room, and her room done in pink, with little frilly things, and a kitchen that's got more burned pots and pans in it than we can imagine. Something… that is ours."

"Then that's what we shall do. Next week, when things have settled down, much as they are able to, we will find an architect, and we will begin having him draw plans for our home. We'll also need to look for land, though--" A thought dawned on Lionel. "I'll have to talk to Clark and Lex on Monday. But perhaps... if they know where he... landed? I suppose, is the term? We can build there. So that nothing is disturbed or ever found about him. Bury it beneath the house."

He smiled, softly. "Yes. That's a good idea. But lets not make plans today, okay? Lets... just worry about what movies we want." And so saying, he pulled blockbusters door open, and walked in, smiling at him and motioning with his shoulder.

The interior if the store was cool, cold with the AC that seemed to always be running, but it brought out that unique movie smell that Dominic could never quite pinpoint. He knew, more or less what he wanted, and looked first to the little casher girl. "Mind if we carry these in?"

"Sure, you can lug 'em if you want, or you can leave 'em here at the counter and pick 'em up when you leave. Your choice, mister." The girl was popping her gum loudly as she sat behind the counter, filing her nails and looking at the nearly empty store.

Dominic took one look at her nail filing and shook his head politely. "Thank you, we'll carry them." He turned back around and shuddered at his lover, making a completely grossed out, silly face before putting on the pleasant Dominic face as he turned back and walked over to where the video games and such where. "Any ideas on what movies, Lionel?"

Lionel rolled his eyes at the girl behind the counter, but if she noticed, she didn't say anything. "I don't think I'm even aware of what's been released in the last twelve months."

"Go figure, neither am I. Aside from Lord of the Rings, of course." He set his bags down, and peered at the wide selection of Playstation two games, humming in thought.

"Gran Turismo 3 is nice," Lionel answered casually, inspecting the row of movie titles.

Dominic turned very wide eyes at his lover.

He felt, more than saw, Dominic staring at him. He turned his head back over his shoulder. "What?"

Blink. Another. And he turned back to the games, shaking his head with a snicker choking his throat. He took the one Lionel had said, though he'd never played it, as well as getting Getaway, and Destiny Warrior four. "Race driving, and fighting warrior."

Lionel nearly suggested the Hitman, but there was enough strain on the truce they'd created today. And rather than bring a killing game into it, he nodded. "I don't think Destiny Warrior was one that Megan brought with her."

"Its not a well known game, but quite fun." He reached out for another game, Race Car Driving with Pete Serelli, and offered it, wriggling his brows.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Lionel asked as he took the case and inspected it.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" innocently asked, his eyebrow back up as he grinned at him. "Look at it while we chose some movies."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to give me an outlet where I can drive without causing you to fear for your life, body and sanity." He kissed his lover's cheek, then a soft one to his mouth. "Movies."

His lips curved when those soft lips pressed to his mouth, and he kissed right back, catching his coat to do it and bring him in a little to kiss again. "I've seen enough dead bovines to last me a century."

"You're talking about cows again, while you're kissing me," Lionel whispered. "Is there something about my mouth that makes you think of deceased bovines?"

"Just the thought of you eating them." But the comment couldn't stop when he snagged that full lower lip with his teeth, giving it a nibble and tug before letting go to bend down and get the groceries he'd been carrying, all four video games in hand. "Mooovies. Are we thinking old movies, new movies, what? We've got to get Braveheart. I love that movie."

"Braveheart. All right. But you've got to give me Spartacus."

"Liiionel." A stuck out tongue of blahness, but he relented, smiling as he put it on his list of must haves. "Nothing… out? Seems even… worth it." He looked at the endless array of 'romantic comedies' and 'thrillers', rolling his eyes at the lot of them. "I think getting movies we like might be the best."

"I think so too, because this?" He held out one between his fingers, as though handling a dead carcass. "Maid in Manhattan? No, thank you."

Dominic cracked up. Couldn't help it, shaking his head as he motioned where the old movies were and started that way. "Shay begged Pete to take her to see it, and when they returned, the young man looked like death."

"In this case? I certainly sympathize with the young man." He followed Dominic over to the other movies, the Playstation games tucked under his arm. "If you don't like Spartacus, I will settle for Ben Hur, but neither is particularly accurate."

"Hmm?" Comedies… action... drama. He grabbed the two tape set for Braveheart, peering at the box a moment before turning around, and right across from it where the S's. "I've never seen either one, actually."

"Then you'll be pleasantly surprised. Spartacus is set in late Rome, during a slave revolt. They have it set after the Caesars, which is fairly close to accurate, as there seems to be a power vacuum that Marcus is trying to take."

"There's a fabulous movie you should see sometime... its called Helen Of Troy. Its wonderful, reminds me of what you just said. Get it, we'll watch it tonight." Big sigh. "Four faggy hours of two men and their epic dramas." And damned if he wasn't ecstatic about it, all but beaming at his lover. "Anything else you'd like?"

Lionel obeyed, and chose it. "Helen of Troy. Spartacus. Braveheart. We've chosen all epics, and two of them were for me. It's your turn; you get to choose the last movie."

"Hmmm." A long moments thought. "There are several films I love, though none of them I will ever tell you about. Ever. Its much too embarrassing. What of... The Matrix?"

Lionel's lower lip wrinkled with distaste. "You're going to subject me to Keanu Reeves?"

A snicker. "Alright... how about... Jerry Maguire?"

"To Tom Cruise, Gay Icon of the Film Industry?"

His eyebrows wriggled. Wickedly.

"No, Dominic. Nothing with Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves. If you want someone to watch those movies with, try Shayla or Chloe. I'm sure either young lady will be thrilled to squeal."

He sighed. "Julia Roberts?"

"She has more teeth than Mr. Ed."

He laughed softly, and instead bent down for their bags. "Then this is enough. The games will leave us with much to do."

As Dominic bent down, Lionel slid in behind him, and hugged his waist gently, so that when Dominic stood up, he'd slide against his body. "Thank you."

"For?" His voice was slightly gruff, as he swallowed and looked to the side, so he could look at his lover from the corner of his eyes.

"Today," he said simply, then stepped back just enough to be decorous and still be close to his lover.

"Get used to it, because we'll be doing it a lot more often." Was all he said, though he smiled back at him and took the movies under his arm, as well as the games. "Lets pay, get our booze, and go home."

"And a box of cigars," Lionel added, as he took one of Dominic's bags from him, so that he could more easily manage the three movies and four video game cases. "Imported, I hope."

"They have that at the liquor store, I think. I haven't had a cigar in quite some time." He set the cases and moves on top of the counter, and slid a hand under his jacket and into his back pocket for his wallet.

Lionel's hand met his, clasping his wrist and fingers gently once before letting go.

The girl behind the counter sighed as though put upon, and started scanning the movies, popping each case open to make sure the right tapes were in there. "Kay. You're gonna have to have these back by next Thursday at 8 PM, and I'm supposed t'ask if ya want popcorn or anything with the movies. The games are due back on Monday."

"Alright." Dominic lifted a slender blond brow at her. "No popcorn, thank you." A glance at Lionel, same brow up, and he braced his weight against one hip as he watched her. Incompetence and youth he recognized on sight, and he shook his head slightly.

"Kay. Whatever. Your total's $16.50. Need a machine for the games?" She held out her hand for the money.

He wanted to snap at her, but instead carefully handed over a twenty, as he grit his teeth.

"Good man, Jiminy. Be proud of yourself. You didn't rip off her pretty little head and shat down her neck." Lionel's hand squeezed his lover's shoulder gently.

The cashier rung up the $20 and handed him back $3.50 change. "Need a bag for the tapes?"

Dominic's lips quirked as he looked up at Lionel, shaking his head at him with a grin as he leaned up to kiss his jaw. He took the money from the girl, slid it in his wallet and back into his back pocket, before nodding. "Please."

"Kay." She snapped open a plastic bag, and dumped all the tapes and video games into it, then double-bagged it. "There you go, have a nice day, thank you for comin' and see you again soon." Her voice was completely bored as she rattled off the courtesy greeting.

And god it amused him, as he chuckled, took the bag, grabbed his groceries, and motioned to Lionel. "Come on, Lionel, the young lady needs to be left to her filing." He pushed the door open with his back, gave an eyebrow wriggle, and held it open with a foot for his lover.

"Good day, Miss." Lionel shouldered the door open, letting his lover move his foot, and they exited the building. "Now. Do we take this back to the apartment and then come back out for liquor, or do it while we're out and hope we can carry it all?"

"Hope we can carry it all. You know, I need to buy one of those old lady carts the old women are always tugging after them. And don't think I won't, before its all said and done. He slid the blockbuster tape bag through his wrist, letting it hang off. "I can take this upstairs, while you buy the liquor? My apartment buildings right there, and I know it won't take you long. Here, give me your bags so I can refrigerate these things before they spoil."

Lionel shook his head gently. "It's all right; it's not hot enough to make anything spoil in half an hour, and besides... I thought we weren't going to split up?"

His belly warmed. A lot. "That's right... I'd forgotten, in the bag carrying melee." But he felt the pleasure of it, simple in his gut and heart, and nodded at him. "Well then, let us enter. Careful of the run away peach there on the floor, Lionel." He motioned to the renegade fruit which had fallen from its outdoor cart. It had barely struck nine in the morning but the sun was already out, and it was already heating up to its lovely promised fifty degrees as they made their way through the outdoor carts for the little market.

Lionel carefully picked his way around the fruit, paused, picked it up, gave the vendor a handful of change, enough to pay for at least a dozen peaches, and put the one that had been on the ground into the nearest trash can. "There we are." Lionel pushed open the door of the liquor store and smiled easily. "Aaah, home."

The pleasure warmed even more as he watched, quietly, and nodded at the man behind the counter. Bill Sanders, who had worked here for the last twenty years Dominic knew, and he'd come here more than once a month to refuel himself, and his fridge.

And to this day, he couldn't stand the man.

"Get what you like, you know what it is you want more than I."

"Mmm, yes." Lionel went over to the display of brandy first, and chose the oldest bottle of Auvignon in the display, weighing the bottle in his hand and listening to the slosh of the liquor to make sure the bottle was properly made. "Perfect." He placed it on the counter, and went to the scotch next, and chose a bottle of oak-aged Glenlivet, and added that to the counter as well as a bottle of currant-flavored vodka and a box of imported Havana cigars. "There we are, Dominic. What do you need?"

"Not a thing." The man, and his ever staring eyes, made him uncomfortable, and he hoped to God Lionel understood when he spoke next. "Not a thing, Mr. Luthor." He barely looked at the man, all but smirking, behind the counter, and took out his wallet again, handing over two hundred dollars for the things on the counter, and rose his eyes to him to dare him to speak. Dare it.

Lionel understood it. Didn't like it, but he understood it. He closed his mouth on whatever else he was going to say, and just stared icily at the man behind the counter.

Bill Sanders smirked. "Now now, no need to play coy, Mr. Luthor," he sneered. "Whole fuckin' world knows about you two."

It had been worth a try, anyway. "Indeed." He was waiting for Sanders to bag his shit so he could leave.

The man picked up the money and rang it up. "Gonna need to see ID there. Law, you know."

Grit. His fucking. Teeth. And he pulled out his wallet again, showing him his drivers license. "Of course. I couldn't have forgotten." Because your fucking classy establishment requires the upholding of the law, right?

Sadistic glee. "You guys need a box for these bottles, or you want another bag to carry?" He tapped the money on the edge of the register, trying to think of anything else he could do to make their trip difficult.

"A box. Please."

"One minute, it's in the back. And, because we're such close, personal friends, I won't even charge you for it." Sanders disappeared into the back room.

Dominic turned to Lionel, and just... shook. His head. "Ten years, because I told him off one evening when I was ready to get drunk off my ass. He hates my guts, and I can't say I'm too fond of him, either."

"He's an insolent bastard," Lionel replied, and he growled. "I don't care for him. At all. I'll have the state board check this place out with a fine toothed comb. See if he's as law abiding as he appears to be."

Dominic just shook his head softly. "He had a crush on me, Lionel. Part of the hate stems from hurt. Don't go too far, okay?" He reached up to press a kiss to his cheek before turning back, waiting for the man to reappear.

Lionel closed his eyes as Dominic kissed him, and put the bags on the floor, wrapping his arms firmly around his lover's waist. "He can go straight to hell."

"Here we are," Sanders sang out in false cheer. He tossed the box down on the counter and quickly loaded the bottles into it, then rang out the money and held out the change. "There you go, and do come again soon."

"Thank you. Ever so much." Dominic took the money and stuffed it into his pocket, keeping his receipt in his hands in case the box had something like a broken bottom. He slid his hand under the bottom anyway, setting the blockbuster tapes and the fruit in there as well so he could carry it all.

"Bye bye, and thanks for shopping!" Sanders didn't make a single move from behind the counter to help open the doors or anything, just picked up his magazine and started leafing through it again.

That was alright, because Dominic pushed it open with his back, rolling his eyes at his lover before out onto the street again. Immature bastard, and he kept his hand firmly along the bottom as he walked.

Lionel glared back at the man behind the counter, committing name, face and address to memory before slamming the glass door shut and picking up his pace. "Would you like to switch, Dominic? Let me carry the box?"

"No, I'm quite fine." He answered, his eyebrows furrowed softly. "I hate seeing him. But I'll be damned if I'm going to walk clear across four blocks to get to another liquor store." He glanced at his lover. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's quite all right; ignorant people don't often upset me so much as they irritate me." He let the hand not burdened with bags. "I'm sorry you have to face that bastard."

"Eh. Its a part of life, so what can you do." Was all he answered in return, but he looked up at Lionel and smiled a little, shaking his head. "Its not even nine and I'm already in need of a nap."

Lionel nodded. "I understand; I don't think either of us slept all that well."

"I had nightmares all night." He answered back, quietly as he looked down at the liquor in the box.

"I know," Lionel answered softly. "I woke up when you had them."

He looked up. "Was I loud? I'm sorry, Lionel, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You weren't loud. You barely even said anything. You just... cried. It broke my heart." He met Dominic's eyes. "That's what woke me up, you crying because of me. I didn't sleep much after that."

"I think... we're both, very sad." He nodded, quietly, and looked down at the liquor again as they made it to his apartment. "But I think...too, we're going to be just fine. If... if you want to be fine?"

"I want to be fine," Lionel said quickly. "I want to be... happy, with you, again."

"Me too." Dominic said softly, as his shoes crunched gravel on the sidewalk and he stopped, at the front of his apartment building door, and thrust a hip at Lionel. "They're in my pocket, can you get them?"

"And I'll be a proper gentleman and not even grope." Lionel's hand slipped easily into Dominic's pocket, and his fingers found the keys. He gave his lover's thigh a quick stroke as he pulled the keys out, and sorted through them until he found the one to unlock the door.

His eyes locked on the back of his lovers head, his neck, shoulders and back, and thought of other things... tried to, anyhow, as Lionel opened the front door to the building. "There, we are. We can get the elevator, to go up."

"I'll get it." He sprinted across the small lobby and caught the elevator just as the door tried to close. He stood in the doorway, blocking the sensor and glaring as it dinged at him. "Your elevator awaits, sir."

Dominic kept the box, not sturdy by any means, close, and stepped onto the elevator, even as his knees shook with the sudden gelatin feeling they got when… oh fuck, and his eyes widened into twin spheres as the doors closed, and the walls all but closed in on him. "Oh, f-fuck, Lionel."

Lionel swiftly caught the box and put it on the floor, dropping his bags on top of it and sweeping his lover into his arms. "Sssh. I'm here. I'm here. I have you; it's going to be all right." He didn't say anything else as he held Dominic close to him, and he barely let go long enough to push the button for Dominic's floor. "Sssh... I'm with you, Jiminy."

"Oh God. Oh, God." he could barely breath, harsh little breaths escaping him, and his fingers scrabbled on the wall behind him even as Lionel held him. He was going to pass out, not enough hair, gasping hard for breaths as he closed his eyes tightly and keened like a horrified animal as the elevator whooshed up to his floor. "Oh god, oh God, oh god oh god oh god."

"You're going to be all right." Lionel turned so that his lover was pressed against the wall and kissed him hard. Anything to distract him. He pushed the air from his lungs into Dominic's, stroking and holding him carefully. "I'm here," he whispered.

"Get me out, g--" Cut off by Lionel's lips and he kissed back, as much as he could, trembling and shaking but holding him now, closely, like Lionel was his only lifeline. The floor dinged and he let out a sound of fear in his throat, begging him with his scrabbling hands because they had to get out right now. NOW! "L-L...get-get out, hurry, g-oh, God."

As soon as the doors open, Lionel shoved his lover out of the elevator, into the open hallway. He hit stop, freezing the elevator on their floor, and blocked the sensor with the box. "Dominic!"

Oh FUCK and he had never been happier in his life to be on flat ground. He had pressed against the wall across from the elevators, and sank down quickly as his knees gave out, plunking on his butt hard. His throat bobbed in horror, in embarrassment, looking away from his lover and down into his lap in hot, dark shame. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Lionel left the elevator where it was. "Come on. Let's get you inside, and I'll be back for the box in a minute. Come on." He crouched in front of his lover and held out his hands. "Or do you want me to leave the bag with you, take the box, and come back for you in a moment?"

He nodded. Didn't really care to what he was nodding to, as he rubbed his hands, and then his face, pushing his hair from his forehead and letting his head hang as he got control of himself again.

Lionel slid to his knees from the crouch, kissed his lover gently. "I love you." Then he pushed himself up, and piled all the bags on top of the box, and slid both hands underneath it. "Don't move, all right?"

"No problem of that." Muffled, from his knees.

Andralina Carmichael threw open her door at all the commotion, and stared. A very handsome man was walking down her hall, or what she could tell, and Dom Senatori was sitting outside of her wall again. She rolled her eyes to heaven and sighed, as she tapped his shoulder softly. "Dom, sweet cheeks, you've got to stop doing this to yourself."

"I know." Muttered, muffled into his arms.

She stepped back into the house and went to the kitchen, to get him a glass of water as was their custom every time he got brave, and she came back out, sat on the threshold of her door, and handed it to him.

 

-fin-

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