Fic: Home
Title: Home
Author:elleipsis
Pairing: Tom/Carl
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Summary: The house is dark when Carl finally arrives home...
Author's Note: I haven't written anything in a very long time, so any comments and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. Inspired by prompt 163. Darkness, here at the Challenge Master list. Probably not quite what the prompter had in mind, but hopefully it is alright.
Beta-ed by the lovely lapinx . Any mistakes you see are my own.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Diane Duane, I don't own anything.
He slips his key quietly into the lock, and then pushes open the front door, the soft yellow of the porch light briefly illuminating the dark hallway, before he pushes the door closed again, plunging the hall back into darkness. His keys jangle slightly as he places them on their hook by the front door. Annie briefly raises her head at the noise from where she lies on her bed in the living room. Upon recognising him, she lays back down again with a soft noise of greeting, falling back asleep almost immediately.
The house is quiet, though if he concentrates, Carl can pick out the gentle hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen, and below that the residual sounds, soft and almost intelligible, of Annie and Monty as they dream. He smiles slightly, recognising the words for squirrels, and makes a note to take them out for a day soon, maybe somewhere with woods.
He toes off his shoes, and slips his jacket from his shoulders, as he makes his way towards the stairs, the old floorboards occasionally creaking from his weight, the sound familiar and welcoming.
It had been a rough week at the office, and this evening he had had to stop at Grand Central; the World Gate had malfunctioning again, sending anyone who attempted to use it to Waterloo Station in London. Not exactly life threatening, but certainly inconvenient. It had taken him longer than he had originally expected to correct the problem, even with the help of Rhiow and her team. As he climbed the familiar stairs he could feel himself beginning to relax, and close at the heels of that he could feel the tell tale signs of exhaustion; working with Gates for any length of time tended to use a fair amount of power, and along with the strain of his work at the station, his reserves were starting to get low. He was glad that tomorrow was a Saturday; he hoped that he could at least sleep in, and with luck he might be able to persuade his partner to sleep in with him. There hadn’t had a lot of time recently to just be together, and Carl missed him.
He padded along the carpeted landing towards the door at the far end. It had been left slightly ajar, and a light could be seen from within. Pushing the door slightly, he couldn’t help but smile softly at the sight that greets him; Tom, curled up on his side of the bed, a book lying abandoned on the covers beside him, his dark hair a contrast against the lighter pillow. Placing his jacket carefully over the back of a nearby chair, he moves towards the en-suite to wash up, movements becoming sleep heavy as he cleaned his teeth, before quickly washing his face. Quickly getting changed into a clean pair of boxers and a ragged t-shirt, he slowly moves over to the bed, lifting the covers to slide in. He leans over the other sleeping man, taking in his features for a moment; the slight crease between his eyes, the laughter lines, the way his mouth has fallen slightly open as he sleeps. After all these years they have become familiar, still as beautiful as they have always been. Maybe even more so than before. Carl gently picks up the discarded book, takes note of the page number and slides it onto the bedside table, before flipping the switch for the light, plunging the room into darkness. Carl settles more fully under the covers, and moves behind Tom to slide an arm around his waist, sliding his hand under the soft t-shirt to the sleep warm skin underneath.
Tom stirs slightly, with a muttered questioning “Carl?” Carl shushes him softly, leaning to place a kiss on the side of his neck. “Yeah it’s me, it’s okay go back to sleep”. He feels Tom relax back into him, and Carl can feel a gentle undercurrent of relief, before Tom surrenders to sleep once more. Carl smiles, body relaxed and sleepy, before closing his eyes, and following Tom into sleep.
Author:elleipsis
Pairing: Tom/Carl
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Summary: The house is dark when Carl finally arrives home...
Author's Note: I haven't written anything in a very long time, so any comments and constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated. Inspired by prompt 163. Darkness, here at the Challenge Master list. Probably not quite what the prompter had in mind, but hopefully it is alright.
Beta-ed by the lovely lapinx . Any mistakes you see are my own.
Disclaimer: The characters belong to Diane Duane, I don't own anything.
He slips his key quietly into the lock, and then pushes open the front door, the soft yellow of the porch light briefly illuminating the dark hallway, before he pushes the door closed again, plunging the hall back into darkness. His keys jangle slightly as he places them on their hook by the front door. Annie briefly raises her head at the noise from where she lies on her bed in the living room. Upon recognising him, she lays back down again with a soft noise of greeting, falling back asleep almost immediately.
The house is quiet, though if he concentrates, Carl can pick out the gentle hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen, and below that the residual sounds, soft and almost intelligible, of Annie and Monty as they dream. He smiles slightly, recognising the words for squirrels, and makes a note to take them out for a day soon, maybe somewhere with woods.
He toes off his shoes, and slips his jacket from his shoulders, as he makes his way towards the stairs, the old floorboards occasionally creaking from his weight, the sound familiar and welcoming.
It had been a rough week at the office, and this evening he had had to stop at Grand Central; the World Gate had malfunctioning again, sending anyone who attempted to use it to Waterloo Station in London. Not exactly life threatening, but certainly inconvenient. It had taken him longer than he had originally expected to correct the problem, even with the help of Rhiow and her team. As he climbed the familiar stairs he could feel himself beginning to relax, and close at the heels of that he could feel the tell tale signs of exhaustion; working with Gates for any length of time tended to use a fair amount of power, and along with the strain of his work at the station, his reserves were starting to get low. He was glad that tomorrow was a Saturday; he hoped that he could at least sleep in, and with luck he might be able to persuade his partner to sleep in with him. There hadn’t had a lot of time recently to just be together, and Carl missed him.
He padded along the carpeted landing towards the door at the far end. It had been left slightly ajar, and a light could be seen from within. Pushing the door slightly, he couldn’t help but smile softly at the sight that greets him; Tom, curled up on his side of the bed, a book lying abandoned on the covers beside him, his dark hair a contrast against the lighter pillow. Placing his jacket carefully over the back of a nearby chair, he moves towards the en-suite to wash up, movements becoming sleep heavy as he cleaned his teeth, before quickly washing his face. Quickly getting changed into a clean pair of boxers and a ragged t-shirt, he slowly moves over to the bed, lifting the covers to slide in. He leans over the other sleeping man, taking in his features for a moment; the slight crease between his eyes, the laughter lines, the way his mouth has fallen slightly open as he sleeps. After all these years they have become familiar, still as beautiful as they have always been. Maybe even more so than before. Carl gently picks up the discarded book, takes note of the page number and slides it onto the bedside table, before flipping the switch for the light, plunging the room into darkness. Carl settles more fully under the covers, and moves behind Tom to slide an arm around his waist, sliding his hand under the soft t-shirt to the sleep warm skin underneath.
Tom stirs slightly, with a muttered questioning “Carl?” Carl shushes him softly, leaning to place a kiss on the side of his neck. “Yeah it’s me, it’s okay go back to sleep”. He feels Tom relax back into him, and Carl can feel a gentle undercurrent of relief, before Tom surrenders to sleep once more. Carl smiles, body relaxed and sleepy, before closing his eyes, and following Tom into sleep.