Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:06:21 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: The Dreamtrap - chapter 22

This is a story of fiction, all resemblances (dead or alive) are eerily
coincidental. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved. Contains
descriptive sexual scenes between males, if you are not supposed to read it
then don't. Feel free to e-mail me.

****

- XXII -


            He told Gabriel about that dream, mentioning in the end that he
didn't think it was really that important.

   "I don't know," Gabriel said doubtfully. "I mean, it's clear that he is
the only one who is able to recognize you. Why is that?"

   "Hell if I know," Desmond shrugged, glad about the fact that Rayhe
managed to come back home earlier than usual. "Maybe Salamander's blood
makes him immune or something."

   "Right," Gabriel snorted. Then he seemed somewhat hesitant for a few
seconds. He looked like he was about to say something, but then he sighed
and shook his head instead.

   Desmond rolled his eyes.

   "Fine," he grumbled, and Gabriel blinked at that. "Fine," Desmond
repeated with a nod. "Get the damn handcuffs."

   Gabriel blinked more rapidly, and then he narrowed his eyes, as if
expecting some nasty trick from Desmond.

   "Seriously," Desmond nodded again. "Get the damn handcuffs..." He hemmed.
"It actually *was *fun that one time... We never finished it," he shrugged.
"Thanks to Blair..."

   Gabriel looked like he was about to say something, but then he decided
against that, grabbed Desmond's arm and dragged him into the bedroom as if
afraid that Desmond would change his mind.

   ...Several hours later, Gabriel ran his trembling hand over the metal
rings of the cuffs on Desmond's wrists, causing those rings to fall apart
with quiet clanking noise, and then he fell down on the pillows, panting for
breath. Desmond slowly brought his arms down from the bedpost, his breathing
as fast and shallow as Gabriel's, and then he just lay there, unable to even
rub his wrists, it seemed.

   "Mmm..." he said several minutes later. "Yeah, we will," he answered
Gabriel's silent question whether they would do it again. "Hell, yeah..."

   Rayhe smiled at that, rolled onto his side, and wrapped his arm around
Desmond's waist. Desmond entwined their fingers together and closed his
eyes. He knew that it was only 8:30 in the evening, and he didn't care. He
was about to fall asleep, and he knew that was Gabriel's case as well. He
was right – Gabriel fell asleep two minutes after Desmond did, and when he
woke up again, it was nine in the morning.

   ...Rayhe woke up because of Desmond's rather loud moan and violent jerk,
which shook the entire bed. He opened his eyes, trying to figure out what
just happened, and Desmond sat up in bed, his eyes wild, breathing almost
raspy.

   "What happened?" Gabriel muttered in a low from sleep voice when Desmond
wouldn't say anything. "Des, what happened?"

   "Fucking hell..." Desmond muttered and looked at him, his breathing
somewhat calmer by then.

   "Raven again?" Gabriel frowned, and Desmond nodded.

   "Yeah," he said. "Except, this time, it wasn't just bizarre, it was
downright freaky!"

   "How so?" Gabriel sat up as well.

   "Give me a cigarette," Desmond asked and nodded a silent `thank you'
after Gabriel handed him a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "To begin
with," he started saying after he lit one up. "We were in some very weird
place, and he said that he has never been there before, which was strange to
say the least, because I was in his dream and that meant he should've dreamt
of his past again..."

   "Maybe he just didn't remember," Gabriel frowned, and Desmond shook his
head.

   "Mm-mm," he replied, dragging on his cigarette quickly. "That's what I
thought at first, but then I tried leaving and..." He looked at silent
Gabriel. "Rayhe, I couldn't leave," he said quietly, and Gabriel's eyes
widened. "I tried calling a ripple, but nothing happened...! I knew that the
only way for me to get out of there, would be him waking up, which was an
issue as well..."

   "He couldn't wake up?" Gabriel sounded quite concerned right now.

   "No," Desmond dragged on his cigarette. "That idiot popped two Noxums
right before he went to bed... That shit knocks you out for at least six
hours."

   "Why couldn't you leave?" Gabriel muttered. "Des, this is scary..."

   "I don't know why I couldn't leave," Desmond stabbed his half-finished
cigarette in the ashtray and pulled another one out of the pack. "It felt
like something was blocking me... Oh, and then it gets even better!" he
nodded energetically and threw the lighter on the bed after he was done with
it. "Someone shot at us! With a bow," he nodded again.

   "Someone *shot *at you?" Gabriel asked incredulously.

   "Yeah," Desmond said darkly. "The only reason they didn't get Raven with
that arrow, was because I sensed that something was majorly off, and I
pushed him on the ground..."

   "Holy hell, Des," Gabriel said slowly. "This is serious... I mean, if you
couldn't get out... What if it happens again? How did you get out, by the
way?" he narrowed his eyes.

   "Someone was about to get to us," Desmond sighed. "Oh, by the way, Raven
can make himself invisible," he nodded.

   "Huh," Rayhe said thoughtfully. "I didn't know that..."

   "Neither did I," Desmond agreed. "Not only himself, but he can cover
someone else along, except, he can't last too long if he does that...
Anyway," he shook his head. "Someone was about to get to us," he continued.
"And he was in no condition to pull invisibility trick again, so I screamed
`Wake up!'' in his face as loud as I could... I guess it worked," he
shrugged, and then frowned. "Oh, yeah," he added slowly. "There was some
weird sound; Raven said that he has been hearing that sound for the last
couple of days... In reality," he nodded.

   "What kind of a sound?" Gabriel asked tightly. He did not like this a
single bit.

   "Sounded like chimes," Desmond said as slowly as before. "Almost like
some kind of a doorbell..."

   "Des..." Gabriel bit his lip for a few seconds. "Dammit," he muttered
finally with frustration. "There is no solution to this...! I mean, it's not
like you can stay awake forever, and there is no way you can know whose
dream you are about to visit... Dammit...!" he repeated with dark feeling.

   "Tell me about it," Desmond agreed gloomily. "Let's go raid a coffee
shop," he stabbed his cigarette in the ashtray. "I need some serious
espresso, my hands are still shaking."

   Gabriel nodded silently and got out of bed, reaching for his clothes.

   ...They stayed in that coffee shop for almost an hour and a half, Desmond
downing one cup of espresso after another. Finally, he sighed and pushed the
cup away.

   "Let's go home," he said and yawned, making a small, meowing sound in the
end. "I want to go back to sleep... Now that he is awake, it should be
safe," he nodded.

   "Back to sleep?" Gabriel asked incredulously. "You just had ten cups of
espresso, and you will be able to go to sleep? Are you serious?"

   "Yup," Desmond nodded firmly and yawned again. "Caffeine doesn't affect
my sleep much," he shrugged.

   "I'd say..." Gabriel muttered, and they left the coffee shop.

   ..."Do you want me to wake you up?" Gabriel asked when they got home and
Desmond immediately headed towards the bedroom.

   "Nah," the other man said lazily. "I'll wake up in a couple of hours
probably..."

   "All right," Gabriel nodded. "Stop that...!" he winced at yet another
yawn, feeling a yawn of his own forming in his throat. "It's contagious...
Aah, damn..." He closed his eyes, yawning helplessly.

   "Take a nap as well," Desmond grinned without slowing his pace – he was
in a hurry to get to bed finally, it seemed. "Couple of hours of peace..."
he muttered after they walked into the bedroom. "The greatest gift of all,"
he nodded, pulling off his clothes hastily. "Mm-mm," he quickly shook his
head and slid under the covers. "After I wake up, yeah, sure... Right now,
however, I am going to sleep!"

   "Fine," Gabriel sighed in mild defeat and started getting undressed
himself. "I guess I *will *take a nap," he nodded. "Might as well," he
glanced at Desmond and grinned, seeing that his mate was already asleep, his
mouth slightly open, his expression peaceful.

   Rayhe slid under the covers, wrapped his arm around Desmond's waist in a
quick, habitual gesture, and closed his eyes, almost positive that he
wouldn't be able to fall asleep.

   "Not after all that coffee..." he thought with a small sigh, enjoying
Desmond's scent.

   To his own surprise, he felt himself sliding into comforting sleep ten
minutes later.

   "Huh, I suppose I am becoming immune to caffeine as well; I guess they
are right when they say that if you live with someone for a while, you
start..." and then he fell asleep without finishing his thought.



 ****



   Gabriel woke up a few hours later, and lay still for a couple of minutes
without opening his eyes, his arm around Desmond's waist.

   "Des, you awake?" he asked softly, and sighed when there was no answer.

   He opened his eyes and looked at his sleeping mate. Desmond was lying on
his back, his expression serene, breathing slow and steady. Gabriel noticed
that his mouth was now closed. Then he thought of something and grinned to
himself. He leaned closer to the sleeping man and slowly ran his lips across
his soft, unresisting mouth, prying it apart easily.

   To his surprise and frustration, there was no reaction from Desmond
whatsoever, not even after Gabriel hardened the kiss and involved one of his
hands. There was a definite reaction from Desmond's body, but not Desmond
himself – his breathing stayed the same, expression unchanged. Gabriel
sighed and pulled away.

   "I guess he really needed this nap," he muttered under his breath while
getting out of bed.

   He took a quick shower and went into the kitchen, his stomach growling
somewhat loudly. After he finished his lunch, he glanced at the clock. It
was 2:15 in the afternoon, and Gabriel frowned slightly. They fell asleep at
eleven in the morning, which meant Desmond was out for longer than three
hours. Then he shrugged to himself, figuring that he would just let him
sleep.

   "He needs it," he thought again and headed towards the couch in the
living room where he turned on the television and threw his legs on the
coffee table in front of the couch.

   ...At five in the evening, Rayhe finally turned off the TV and got off
the couch.

   "Are you kidding me?" he muttered after he walked into the bedroom.

   Desmond was laying in the exact same position as Gabriel left him three
hours ago, his expression as serene as before.

   "Des, wake up!" Gabriel called somewhat loudly. "Des..." he called again
when there was no reaction from the other man. "Desmond...!"

   He quickly walked towards the bed, frown deepening on his forehead.

   "Desmond..." he shook his mate by the shoulder lightly. "Des, wake
up...!"

   No matter what he would do, Desmond would not wake up and neither would
his breathing change. Half an hour later, Rayhe was panicking after
realizing that it was not one of Desmond's jokes as he thought at first. He
made a frantic phone call to one of their friends who was a doctor.

   "Johan!" he almost screamed into the phone. "Can you come over? Something
is wrong with Desmond... He won't wake up! No, he is breathing," he shook
his head violently. "He just won't wake up...! No, it's not one of his
jokes... Please, come...!"

   ...Several hours later, after the doctor could not find anything wrong
with Desmond, and after they transported him to the hospital, Rayhe knew
that his mate was trapped in one of his dreams.

  ****

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