To Sleep... Perchance to Dream
Part One
To Sleep: Perchance to Dream - Aye, there's the Rub.
(Shakespeare's Hamlet)
Autumn in Rivendell is glorious. Golden light spills like syrup through the trees, touching the face
like a caress. Dominic shuts his eyes and gives himself over to pure sensation - the purling of
water over stone, the gentle susurration of Sean's breath beside him---the profound enjoyment of a
mid-day rest well earned.
It's been seven months since filming started, and the crew has been given permission to film in the
Kaitoke Regional Park for three weeks. Time enough to erect the beautiful Rivendell set and take
the stills needed for later blue-screen work. The cast has been brought in to film the necessary
outdoor scenes and Peter and Andy are off discussing the filters and color palette they will need
for the shoot, while the actors are taking a much-needed siesta.
His eyes snap open as a sudden cacophony shatters the stillness of the afternoon, and the rest of
the hobbits and their attendant elf race into view, scattering the painstakingly arranged drifts of
fallen leaves in their wake. Dom raises his head as Elijah throws himself onto the groundcloth
beside him. "Crew is goin' to kill you." he says mildly. "They spent all morning getting those leaves
just right."
"Nah, they won't mind. 'Sides, I like our arrangement better anyhow. T'would do those prissy elves
good to roll around in them sometimes. That's what autumn leaves are for." Lijah props himself up
on an elbow.
Dom smiles and regards his friend's sapphire gaze, where flecks of molten gold seem to have
taken up residence. Yeah, he muses. No one can stay mad at Lij for long. No one, from Pete, to
cast and crew seem to be able to deny him anything - lord knows I can't.
"Hey, Dom," Elijah's voice and elbow intrudes upon his thoughts. "Don't you go to sleep on me. Are
you still sleeping over tonight?"
Today is Saturday - another six-day workweek. The hobbits and Orli are planning to gather at
Elijah's house tonight to watch a movie and knock back a few beers. They're much too tired to
think of doing anything else.
"Uh uh, " Dom replies lazily. "But you better make damn sure we have something to eat besides
beer for breakfast." Break is almost over, and he sits up and surveys the scene before him. Lij is
lost in a brown study, absently gnawing at his ragged fingernails. Sean is snoring softly beside him
and Orli and Billy are looking over the elven sundial. He's a lucky man, he is - they're his best
mates - all of them.
"Hey Doodle, penny for yer thoughts?" Lij looks up at Dom and a tide of crimson stains his delicate
skin. "Huh? Er - erm - nuthin' - break's over. Gotta get back." Dom gazes after him, bemused.
What the hell was that about? he wonders.
~~~~~
"Don't sleep in, you guys. We'll be comin' to fetch you at ten sharpish and you better be ready and
waitin'. We've gotta catch the best waves!" With a beery wave, Orli staggers off to join Billy in the
car. Dominic shuts the door and walks wearily over to the couch, where Elijah is sprawled, already
in the hinterlands of sleep. The kid does love his beer so.
"Come on, Lijah, it's beddy-bye for you." Dom grabs Lij's hands and hoists him off the couch. Elijah
slumps forward, his face tucked into the curve of Dom's neck, his soft lips moving against Dom's
collarbone. His scent, carried upward on a column of heated air, blasts its way straight into Dom's
brain. Shitshitshit, his brain gibbers as it registers the hair-trigger response to the soft body
plastered so seductively against his own. "Down boy! Sheesh, another cold shower comin' up," he
mutters as he half-carries his friend down the hallway and tucks him into bed. "He can jolly well
sleep in his clothes - I'm not undressing him - no way."
~~~~~
The house is quiet, its rooms chilling as the night grows colder. Dom stirs in his sleep, groans, and
finally sits up. His bladder is bursting and goosebumps are marching across his skin as it comes
into contact with the chill air. Grumbling, he fumbles for the lamp, flicks it on and pads heavily
across the floor to the bathroom.
Finished, he props himself up in the doorway for a moment while he wrestles with the
light-headedness of an incipient hangover. His eyes half-shut, he senses a movement in the
half-gloom of the bedroom doorway and watches with astonishment as the door swings silently
open. Elijah comes slowly into view, moving with a peculiar gliding motion into the pool of mellow
light cast by the bedside lamp. He brings up sharp against the bed and stops, unmoving, his head
bent and his arms hanging loose. Dom pushes himself upright and walks over to the boy, whose
unusual stillness is beginning to unnerve him.
"Lijah, what..." he starts softly, but the words die unborn in his throat as he meets the boy's eyes -
eyes, blue crystal even in the gloom, soulless - inhuman - unseeing. He takes an involuntary step
back and a scream rises in his throat as he watches a slender hand make vague caressing motions
over the pillow and the coverlet.
Dominic swallows hard and his thoughts skitter around like mice in a maze as he tries to recall all
the old wives' tales he's ever heard about somnambulists. For this is surely a classic case - the
blank gaze, the vague, aimless movement - this sleepwalker - isn't the warm, vibrant Elijah he
knows - and yes - loves.
Steeling himself, he reaches over and turns Elijah around to face the doorway, his hands gentle on
his friend's shoulders, soothing murmurs meant to reassure. He meets no resistance as he guides
Lij down the hallway toward the bedroom but tangles briefly with him as he stops at the door and
Lij doesn't. Dom gets the next shock of the night when he feels the hard length of Elijah's cock
against his hip. Fuck! Bloody wanker's got a hard-on! he thinks wildly. Didn't know THAT was
possible. Resolutely ignoring the tight, smooth skin under his hands and averting his eyes from
the moist, half-open lips, Dom manages to get Lij under the covers. He snuggles in, sighs, and
shuts his eyes.
Elijah safely in bed and seemingly asleep, Dom shuts the door and slumps against it,
hyperventilating. Okay, he says to himself. This is totally friggin' weird. He glances down at the
insistent erection tenting the cotton of his boxers, and sighs. Better take care of this first, or I'll
never get to sleep . . . At least, the place doesn't have any stairs, or I'd have to find a way to lock
him in!
As he lies in his bed, his hands firmly around his cock as he strokes himself to an unsatisfying
climax, Dom revisits the events of the night. Confusion glazes his mind, and as he comes, he
remembers the slender hands caressing the pillow where his head would have lain. It takes him a
long time to fall asleep.
~~~~~
Part One
To Sleep: Perchance to Dream - Aye, there's the Rub.
(Shakespeare's Hamlet)
Autumn in Rivendell is glorious. Golden light spills like syrup through the trees, touching the face
like a caress. Dominic shuts his eyes and gives himself over to pure sensation - the purling of
water over stone, the gentle susurration of Sean's breath beside him---the profound enjoyment of a
mid-day rest well earned.
It's been seven months since filming started, and the crew has been given permission to film in the
Kaitoke Regional Park for three weeks. Time enough to erect the beautiful Rivendell set and take
the stills needed for later blue-screen work. The cast has been brought in to film the necessary
outdoor scenes and Peter and Andy are off discussing the filters and color palette they will need
for the shoot, while the actors are taking a much-needed siesta.
His eyes snap open as a sudden cacophony shatters the stillness of the afternoon, and the rest of
the hobbits and their attendant elf race into view, scattering the painstakingly arranged drifts of
fallen leaves in their wake. Dom raises his head as Elijah throws himself onto the groundcloth
beside him. "Crew is goin' to kill you." he says mildly. "They spent all morning getting those leaves
just right."
"Nah, they won't mind. 'Sides, I like our arrangement better anyhow. T'would do those prissy elves
good to roll around in them sometimes. That's what autumn leaves are for." Lijah props himself up
on an elbow.
Dom smiles and regards his friend's sapphire gaze, where flecks of molten gold seem to have
taken up residence. Yeah, he muses. No one can stay mad at Lij for long. No one, from Pete, to
cast and crew seem to be able to deny him anything - lord knows I can't.
"Hey, Dom," Elijah's voice and elbow intrudes upon his thoughts. "Don't you go to sleep on me. Are
you still sleeping over tonight?"
Today is Saturday - another six-day workweek. The hobbits and Orli are planning to gather at
Elijah's house tonight to watch a movie and knock back a few beers. They're much too tired to
think of doing anything else.
"Uh uh, " Dom replies lazily. "But you better make damn sure we have something to eat besides
beer for breakfast." Break is almost over, and he sits up and surveys the scene before him. Lij is
lost in a brown study, absently gnawing at his ragged fingernails. Sean is snoring softly beside him
and Orli and Billy are looking over the elven sundial. He's a lucky man, he is - they're his best
mates - all of them.
"Hey Doodle, penny for yer thoughts?" Lij looks up at Dom and a tide of crimson stains his delicate
skin. "Huh? Er - erm - nuthin' - break's over. Gotta get back." Dom gazes after him, bemused.
What the hell was that about? he wonders.
~~~~~
"Don't sleep in, you guys. We'll be comin' to fetch you at ten sharpish and you better be ready and
waitin'. We've gotta catch the best waves!" With a beery wave, Orli staggers off to join Billy in the
car. Dominic shuts the door and walks wearily over to the couch, where Elijah is sprawled, already
in the hinterlands of sleep. The kid does love his beer so.
"Come on, Lijah, it's beddy-bye for you." Dom grabs Lij's hands and hoists him off the couch. Elijah
slumps forward, his face tucked into the curve of Dom's neck, his soft lips moving against Dom's
collarbone. His scent, carried upward on a column of heated air, blasts its way straight into Dom's
brain. Shitshitshit, his brain gibbers as it registers the hair-trigger response to the soft body
plastered so seductively against his own. "Down boy! Sheesh, another cold shower comin' up," he
mutters as he half-carries his friend down the hallway and tucks him into bed. "He can jolly well
sleep in his clothes - I'm not undressing him - no way."
~~~~~
The house is quiet, its rooms chilling as the night grows colder. Dom stirs in his sleep, groans, and
finally sits up. His bladder is bursting and goosebumps are marching across his skin as it comes
into contact with the chill air. Grumbling, he fumbles for the lamp, flicks it on and pads heavily
across the floor to the bathroom.
Finished, he props himself up in the doorway for a moment while he wrestles with the
light-headedness of an incipient hangover. His eyes half-shut, he senses a movement in the
half-gloom of the bedroom doorway and watches with astonishment as the door swings silently
open. Elijah comes slowly into view, moving with a peculiar gliding motion into the pool of mellow
light cast by the bedside lamp. He brings up sharp against the bed and stops, unmoving, his head
bent and his arms hanging loose. Dom pushes himself upright and walks over to the boy, whose
unusual stillness is beginning to unnerve him.
"Lijah, what..." he starts softly, but the words die unborn in his throat as he meets the boy's eyes -
eyes, blue crystal even in the gloom, soulless - inhuman - unseeing. He takes an involuntary step
back and a scream rises in his throat as he watches a slender hand make vague caressing motions
over the pillow and the coverlet.
Dominic swallows hard and his thoughts skitter around like mice in a maze as he tries to recall all
the old wives' tales he's ever heard about somnambulists. For this is surely a classic case - the
blank gaze, the vague, aimless movement - this sleepwalker - isn't the warm, vibrant Elijah he
knows - and yes - loves.
Steeling himself, he reaches over and turns Elijah around to face the doorway, his hands gentle on
his friend's shoulders, soothing murmurs meant to reassure. He meets no resistance as he guides
Lij down the hallway toward the bedroom but tangles briefly with him as he stops at the door and
Lij doesn't. Dom gets the next shock of the night when he feels the hard length of Elijah's cock
against his hip. Fuck! Bloody wanker's got a hard-on! he thinks wildly. Didn't know THAT was
possible. Resolutely ignoring the tight, smooth skin under his hands and averting his eyes from
the moist, half-open lips, Dom manages to get Lij under the covers. He snuggles in, sighs, and
shuts his eyes.
Elijah safely in bed and seemingly asleep, Dom shuts the door and slumps against it,
hyperventilating. Okay, he says to himself. This is totally friggin' weird. He glances down at the
insistent erection tenting the cotton of his boxers, and sighs. Better take care of this first, or I'll
never get to sleep . . . At least, the place doesn't have any stairs, or I'd have to find a way to lock
him in!
As he lies in his bed, his hands firmly around his cock as he strokes himself to an unsatisfying
climax, Dom revisits the events of the night. Confusion glazes his mind, and as he comes, he
remembers the slender hands caressing the pillow where his head would have lain. It takes him a
long time to fall asleep.
~~~~~
