Blind (Domlijah) PG-13 (6/?)
Title: Blind - 6/?
Author: moit
Pairing: Domlijah
Fandom: Lord of the Rings RPF
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Warnings: Slash, violence
Summary: After a horrific accident, Elijah is blinded. Dom is left to pick up the pieces of their broken life.
Word Count: 2,092
Previous Chapters here
On Monday morning, a car came for Dom. Reluctantly, he left Elijah alone in the beach house.
“Call me if you need anything at all.”
“I’ll be fine,” Elijah said with a laugh. “What’s the worst that could happen? I’ll get bored without you? I’ve got my music to keep me entertained.” Before coming to Hawaii, Dom and Elijah had spent time organizing Elijah’s iPod. He’d memorized the number of clicks it would take to work through his music. He also had a clear enough memory of the order of artists and tracks that he could operate the device almost as easily as before.
“Just promise you won’t go into the ocean without me.”
“Not even to get my feet wet?”
“You can wade, but I don’t want to come back to find you washed up on the sand.”
“I’ll be careful, I promise.”
Elijah kissed him on the cheek and sent him on his way. His first task of the day was to do the washing-up from breakfast. He’d insisted that he needed to occupy his time alone. Privately, he longed to give himself tasks that would allow himself to work without his sight. He’d never become self-sufficient if he never worked alone.
When the dishes were done, he hunted up a towel, grabbed his iPod, and headed down to the beach. He walked to the water’s edge and backed up to ensure he wouldn’t be caught off guard when the water rose later in the day. He unrolled his towel and lay down. Headphones were put on and a few clicks later the Beatles were filling his ears.
Despite the loss of his sight, he was, as a self-proclaimed audiophile, thankful he retained his hearing. Had he been deafened, his world would have become mute-a state he would not trade for his sight. The thought of being without his music, never hearing the waves or Dom whispering “I love you” made his heart ache. He would be blinded ten times over just to be able to hear those words.
The heat of the sun and the music in his ears lulled Elijah into a peaceful sleep. He woke up some time later, realising that he’d slept for a couple hours, judging by the position of his playlist. He sat up and pulled his headphones off. The sound of the waves rolled in and he had to smile. Hardly anything could compare to that.
Gathering up his towel, he trudged back to the house for a shower and some lunch. He pressed the button on the clock in the kitchen-it read the time out loud.
“Twelve twenty-three,” the clock told him.
“Brilliant,” Elijah replied to the clock.
Dom wasn’t due back until at least seven or eight-studio meetings never got out early. That would give Elijah time to arrange the house to his liking and really settle in.
He went through the house: living room, kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, and guest bedroom. It wasn’t a very big house, but they were used to sharing the guest house back home, so this was quite a luxury. Elijah took his time, straightening things, memorizing walking patterns, and feeling the fabric of the furniture in lieu of seeing it. His favourite piece of furniture was the fuzzy chair in the living room. He had no idea what colour it was, but he’d covered every inch of it with his hands.
Sometimes Elijah liked to tell himself that he was colour blind, rather than completely blind. He could still see most of the things people with sight could, and he hated to think of himself as disabled.
Dom got home shortly after six, to Elijah’s surprise. He’d been laying in his chair, listening to one of his audiobooks. When he heard Dom’s key in the lock, he sprung up and put his iPod away. Picking up his cane, he tapped his way to the front door.
“Hey, babe.”
“Hi . . .” Dom’s voice trailed off into concern. “Elijah,” he sighed.
Elijah’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. “What? What happened?” The hand that held his iPod clenched reflexively.
“Baby, you’re so sunburnt. Can’t you feel it?”
Elijah looked down at himself out of habit. “I guess it hasn’t hit me yet. Is it really bad?”
Dom winced. “Yeah . . . a bit. How long were you out there?”
“A . . . couple of hours.” Elijah shrugged. “I fell asleep.”
Dom shook his head. “I tell you not to go in the ocean, so you fry yourself on the beach instead.”
Elijah had to grin at that. “Well, look at it this way: I’ll let you rub skin cream on me later.”
“Mmm.”
“How was your day?”
“Long. Costume fittings and script read-throughs. But I got to meet a lot of my cast-mates.”
“Any cute blokes?”
“Not as cute as you,” Dom replied, leaning in to kiss Elijah. “Josh, the bloke who plays Charlie, isn’t too bad, if a bit old for my taste.”
“Well, isn’t his character supposed to be forty-something, anyway?”
“You did read my script!”
Elijah shrugged again. “Guilty. I just didn’t want you think I was snooping-”
“Even though you were.”
“Yes, but that’s not important. Back to Josh.”
“You haven’t even met him and you fancy him already!”
“Yep. You’ve figured me out. I’m going to leave you for some forty-year-old I’ve never met. Try again, stud.”
“He’s only thirty-five.”
“Eight years older than you. Hell, you two are both practically forty! Maybe you should go out with him!”
“He’s not even gay-that’s not the point!” Dom smeared his smile into his shoulder.
“You’re insufferable, you know that?”
“I’m not insufferable. I’m yours,” Elijah replied, leaning in to place a kiss on Dom’s cheek.
“You’ve got me there. Wot’s for dinner?”
“Well, considering I’m still afraid to go near the stove, I thought we’d just order in.”
“I must say I like that idea, Mister Wood.”
“Why, thank you, Mister Monaghan.”
After much curry had been consumed, and both men were feeling relaxed and full, Dom convinced Elijah to strip down so he could rub some cream over his burnt skin. Eijah hissed in pain at the first contact, but soon relaxed under Dom's gentle fingers.
"You win. I did get burnt today."
Dom quirked an eyebrow. "You didn't think I was lying, did you?"
"I just didn't think it was this bad."
"That's the thing about sunburns," Dom said, smoothing the cream down to the tips of Eijah's fingers. "They're never as bad as you think until the evening. You don't feel sick or anything, do you?"
"No," Elijah shook his head. "I just can't believe I got sunburnt already."
"You've got such fair skin. I'm surprised you haven't gotten burnt more often."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I don't go to the beach very much back home."
"Point."
That night Elijah had to sleep very carefully. Any quick moves and he'd wake up, hissing in pain. Of course, Dom was always right there and awake, though there wasn't anything he could do aside from wince and ask Elijah if he needed anything.
*
Filming was due to start at the beginning of August, nearly a fortnight since they'd arrived. Dom talked often and fondly of his new cast-mates, particularly Evangeline and Matt, with whom he spent most of his time. Josh also got his fair share of limelight in Dom's stories, as well.
While Elijah enjoyed hearing about Dom's career, he couldn't help the pang of jealousy he felt at being excluded from the film industry. Though it was never explicitly stated that he'd never act again, Elijah knew it was true. The only roles he could play would be that of blind people, or perhaps incapacitated victims on medical dramas. Acting had always been his passion, and now he was left standing on the sidelines while his boyfriend's career took off.
Several newspapers and television networks had contacted his agent for interviews, but Elijah had turned them all down. He wasn't comfortable taking to his family about what happened; there was no way he'd be able to open up to the world. If he did do an initial interview, it would probably be with someone he felt comfortable with, not just a random segment for TMZ.
The first legitimate interview came from a local news show in Hawaii. Initially, they wanted to interview Dom and Elijah together, but Elijah insisted the first interview about his blindness be separated from Dom's first interview about his new television series. The producers of the show agreed to take Elijah first and hold Dom's segment off until they did an episode with the entire cast of LOST.
Dom offered to go with him, but Elijah insisted he go alone. If he was going to restart his career, he had to learn to do things like this without using Dom (or anyone else) as a crutch.
". . . Eijah Wood!"
With his cane in hand, Elijah walked out onto the stage amid a roar of applause. He and the producers had mapped out his rout to the chair he'd be sitting in, so he wouldn't have an trouble getting there in front of the camera. He sat down in the chair, smiling widely. The joy on his face wasn't fake--he hadn't felt this good since before he was blinded.
"Good morning, Elijah. How are you doing?" Luana, one of the show's hosts asked.
"I'm doing really great. Hawaii is beautiful."
"Well thank you. We really appreciate having you on the island. Have you ever been to Hawaii before?"
"A few times, but this is the only time I've been here for an extended stay."
"Elijah," the other host, Kani, said. "I have to ask the biggest question on all of our minds. How did you become blind?"
Elijah took a breath before answering. Around him, he could hear the crowd go silent. He was prepared for this. As part of his agreement for appearing on the show, Elijah and his agent had gone over all the questions the hosts planned to ask, to ensure they wouldn't step over the line. Interviews weren't normally in the hands of the actor, but this was a special case.
"I was in an accident on the set of Green Street Hooligans. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the film, but I heard they found an unknown to take my place."
"Is that what brings you to Hawaii?"
"You could say that. For right now, Hawaii is just a calm, pleasant place where I can heal and get back to myself."
"Do you plan to go back to acting?"
Elijah thought for a moment before answering this one. "I'd love to, let me just say that first. Acting has been my passion my entire life and I'd hate to think that it's gone forever. On the other hand, without my sight, my career is never going to be the same. I won't exactly be cast as the lead in the remake of Romeo and Juliet, unless the script involves Romeo being blind."
The audience chuckled.
Elijah smiled tightly in response. He didn't intend for that to be a joke.
"Well, I'm sure there's still a place for you in Hollywood, Elijah. Thank you so much for stopping by."
"Thank you." He smiled and waved until the cameras were off, but he couldn't wait to get home.
"How was the interview?" Dom called as soon as the door shut.
Elijah tapped his way into the kitchen and snagged a beer from the fridge. He flopped down in his favourite chair in the living room. "It was fine."
"Then why do you look so miserable?"
Elijah drank down several swallows of bitter. "I wasn't expecting the interview to remind me of what a shit show my career has become."
"Don't say that. You haven't--"
"Don't, Dom. Just don't," Elijah said, holding up a hand. He finished his beer off and tapped into the kitchen for another. As he popped the top off, he said, "I'm going to take a bath."
Dom watched him tap down the hallway, feeling for all the world like Elijah's bad mood was his fault.
Author: moit
Pairing: Domlijah
Fandom: Lord of the Rings RPF
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Warnings: Slash, violence
Summary: After a horrific accident, Elijah is blinded. Dom is left to pick up the pieces of their broken life.
Word Count: 2,092
Previous Chapters here
On Monday morning, a car came for Dom. Reluctantly, he left Elijah alone in the beach house.
“Call me if you need anything at all.”
“I’ll be fine,” Elijah said with a laugh. “What’s the worst that could happen? I’ll get bored without you? I’ve got my music to keep me entertained.” Before coming to Hawaii, Dom and Elijah had spent time organizing Elijah’s iPod. He’d memorized the number of clicks it would take to work through his music. He also had a clear enough memory of the order of artists and tracks that he could operate the device almost as easily as before.
“Just promise you won’t go into the ocean without me.”
“Not even to get my feet wet?”
“You can wade, but I don’t want to come back to find you washed up on the sand.”
“I’ll be careful, I promise.”
Elijah kissed him on the cheek and sent him on his way. His first task of the day was to do the washing-up from breakfast. He’d insisted that he needed to occupy his time alone. Privately, he longed to give himself tasks that would allow himself to work without his sight. He’d never become self-sufficient if he never worked alone.
When the dishes were done, he hunted up a towel, grabbed his iPod, and headed down to the beach. He walked to the water’s edge and backed up to ensure he wouldn’t be caught off guard when the water rose later in the day. He unrolled his towel and lay down. Headphones were put on and a few clicks later the Beatles were filling his ears.
Despite the loss of his sight, he was, as a self-proclaimed audiophile, thankful he retained his hearing. Had he been deafened, his world would have become mute-a state he would not trade for his sight. The thought of being without his music, never hearing the waves or Dom whispering “I love you” made his heart ache. He would be blinded ten times over just to be able to hear those words.
The heat of the sun and the music in his ears lulled Elijah into a peaceful sleep. He woke up some time later, realising that he’d slept for a couple hours, judging by the position of his playlist. He sat up and pulled his headphones off. The sound of the waves rolled in and he had to smile. Hardly anything could compare to that.
Gathering up his towel, he trudged back to the house for a shower and some lunch. He pressed the button on the clock in the kitchen-it read the time out loud.
“Twelve twenty-three,” the clock told him.
“Brilliant,” Elijah replied to the clock.
Dom wasn’t due back until at least seven or eight-studio meetings never got out early. That would give Elijah time to arrange the house to his liking and really settle in.
He went through the house: living room, kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom, and guest bedroom. It wasn’t a very big house, but they were used to sharing the guest house back home, so this was quite a luxury. Elijah took his time, straightening things, memorizing walking patterns, and feeling the fabric of the furniture in lieu of seeing it. His favourite piece of furniture was the fuzzy chair in the living room. He had no idea what colour it was, but he’d covered every inch of it with his hands.
Sometimes Elijah liked to tell himself that he was colour blind, rather than completely blind. He could still see most of the things people with sight could, and he hated to think of himself as disabled.
Dom got home shortly after six, to Elijah’s surprise. He’d been laying in his chair, listening to one of his audiobooks. When he heard Dom’s key in the lock, he sprung up and put his iPod away. Picking up his cane, he tapped his way to the front door.
“Hey, babe.”
“Hi . . .” Dom’s voice trailed off into concern. “Elijah,” he sighed.
Elijah’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. “What? What happened?” The hand that held his iPod clenched reflexively.
“Baby, you’re so sunburnt. Can’t you feel it?”
Elijah looked down at himself out of habit. “I guess it hasn’t hit me yet. Is it really bad?”
Dom winced. “Yeah . . . a bit. How long were you out there?”
“A . . . couple of hours.” Elijah shrugged. “I fell asleep.”
Dom shook his head. “I tell you not to go in the ocean, so you fry yourself on the beach instead.”
Elijah had to grin at that. “Well, look at it this way: I’ll let you rub skin cream on me later.”
“Mmm.”
“How was your day?”
“Long. Costume fittings and script read-throughs. But I got to meet a lot of my cast-mates.”
“Any cute blokes?”
“Not as cute as you,” Dom replied, leaning in to kiss Elijah. “Josh, the bloke who plays Charlie, isn’t too bad, if a bit old for my taste.”
“Well, isn’t his character supposed to be forty-something, anyway?”
“You did read my script!”
Elijah shrugged again. “Guilty. I just didn’t want you think I was snooping-”
“Even though you were.”
“Yes, but that’s not important. Back to Josh.”
“You haven’t even met him and you fancy him already!”
“Yep. You’ve figured me out. I’m going to leave you for some forty-year-old I’ve never met. Try again, stud.”
“He’s only thirty-five.”
“Eight years older than you. Hell, you two are both practically forty! Maybe you should go out with him!”
“He’s not even gay-that’s not the point!” Dom smeared his smile into his shoulder.
“You’re insufferable, you know that?”
“I’m not insufferable. I’m yours,” Elijah replied, leaning in to place a kiss on Dom’s cheek.
“You’ve got me there. Wot’s for dinner?”
“Well, considering I’m still afraid to go near the stove, I thought we’d just order in.”
“I must say I like that idea, Mister Wood.”
“Why, thank you, Mister Monaghan.”
After much curry had been consumed, and both men were feeling relaxed and full, Dom convinced Elijah to strip down so he could rub some cream over his burnt skin. Eijah hissed in pain at the first contact, but soon relaxed under Dom's gentle fingers.
"You win. I did get burnt today."
Dom quirked an eyebrow. "You didn't think I was lying, did you?"
"I just didn't think it was this bad."
"That's the thing about sunburns," Dom said, smoothing the cream down to the tips of Eijah's fingers. "They're never as bad as you think until the evening. You don't feel sick or anything, do you?"
"No," Elijah shook his head. "I just can't believe I got sunburnt already."
"You've got such fair skin. I'm surprised you haven't gotten burnt more often."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, I don't go to the beach very much back home."
"Point."
That night Elijah had to sleep very carefully. Any quick moves and he'd wake up, hissing in pain. Of course, Dom was always right there and awake, though there wasn't anything he could do aside from wince and ask Elijah if he needed anything.
*
Filming was due to start at the beginning of August, nearly a fortnight since they'd arrived. Dom talked often and fondly of his new cast-mates, particularly Evangeline and Matt, with whom he spent most of his time. Josh also got his fair share of limelight in Dom's stories, as well.
While Elijah enjoyed hearing about Dom's career, he couldn't help the pang of jealousy he felt at being excluded from the film industry. Though it was never explicitly stated that he'd never act again, Elijah knew it was true. The only roles he could play would be that of blind people, or perhaps incapacitated victims on medical dramas. Acting had always been his passion, and now he was left standing on the sidelines while his boyfriend's career took off.
Several newspapers and television networks had contacted his agent for interviews, but Elijah had turned them all down. He wasn't comfortable taking to his family about what happened; there was no way he'd be able to open up to the world. If he did do an initial interview, it would probably be with someone he felt comfortable with, not just a random segment for TMZ.
The first legitimate interview came from a local news show in Hawaii. Initially, they wanted to interview Dom and Elijah together, but Elijah insisted the first interview about his blindness be separated from Dom's first interview about his new television series. The producers of the show agreed to take Elijah first and hold Dom's segment off until they did an episode with the entire cast of LOST.
Dom offered to go with him, but Elijah insisted he go alone. If he was going to restart his career, he had to learn to do things like this without using Dom (or anyone else) as a crutch.
". . . Eijah Wood!"
With his cane in hand, Elijah walked out onto the stage amid a roar of applause. He and the producers had mapped out his rout to the chair he'd be sitting in, so he wouldn't have an trouble getting there in front of the camera. He sat down in the chair, smiling widely. The joy on his face wasn't fake--he hadn't felt this good since before he was blinded.
"Good morning, Elijah. How are you doing?" Luana, one of the show's hosts asked.
"I'm doing really great. Hawaii is beautiful."
"Well thank you. We really appreciate having you on the island. Have you ever been to Hawaii before?"
"A few times, but this is the only time I've been here for an extended stay."
"Elijah," the other host, Kani, said. "I have to ask the biggest question on all of our minds. How did you become blind?"
Elijah took a breath before answering. Around him, he could hear the crowd go silent. He was prepared for this. As part of his agreement for appearing on the show, Elijah and his agent had gone over all the questions the hosts planned to ask, to ensure they wouldn't step over the line. Interviews weren't normally in the hands of the actor, but this was a special case.
"I was in an accident on the set of Green Street Hooligans. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the film, but I heard they found an unknown to take my place."
"Is that what brings you to Hawaii?"
"You could say that. For right now, Hawaii is just a calm, pleasant place where I can heal and get back to myself."
"Do you plan to go back to acting?"
Elijah thought for a moment before answering this one. "I'd love to, let me just say that first. Acting has been my passion my entire life and I'd hate to think that it's gone forever. On the other hand, without my sight, my career is never going to be the same. I won't exactly be cast as the lead in the remake of Romeo and Juliet, unless the script involves Romeo being blind."
The audience chuckled.
Elijah smiled tightly in response. He didn't intend for that to be a joke.
"Well, I'm sure there's still a place for you in Hollywood, Elijah. Thank you so much for stopping by."
"Thank you." He smiled and waved until the cameras were off, but he couldn't wait to get home.
"How was the interview?" Dom called as soon as the door shut.
Elijah tapped his way into the kitchen and snagged a beer from the fridge. He flopped down in his favourite chair in the living room. "It was fine."
"Then why do you look so miserable?"
Elijah drank down several swallows of bitter. "I wasn't expecting the interview to remind me of what a shit show my career has become."
"Don't say that. You haven't--"
"Don't, Dom. Just don't," Elijah said, holding up a hand. He finished his beer off and tapped into the kitchen for another. As he popped the top off, he said, "I'm going to take a bath."
Dom watched him tap down the hallway, feeling for all the world like Elijah's bad mood was his fault.