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Okay, this is a Wilby Wonderful fic. *surprise*

And was beta'd by the fantabulous

byob_kenobi - thanks so much. So any other mistakes are my own.

This is part of what I've come to think of as the Cat!verse, which began here and continues here and here

Pairing: Duck/Dan (Dan POV)
Rating: PG-13 to R (maybe)
Summary: Dan finds the furrow Duck gets in his forehead endearing

Knowing

Dan knows things about Duck. He knows that Duck doesn’t talk much, but what he says is to the point. But never hurtful. He knows that Duck would never deliberately hurt him. He knows that Duck would never have pressured him into something more than he was ready for.

He likes that Duck was surprised when he gathered his courage and finally reached out. Smoothing his fingers over the stubble, in a mimicry of Duck’s first touch of him. His thumb running over Duck’s bottom lip. Duck’s stillness as he lightly pressed down, eyes watching, blinking slowly. His almost imperceptible relaxation as Dan stepped closer, sliding his hand into Duck’s hair, bending to touch his lips to Duck’s. The kiss was soft and tentative and when Dan raised his head Duck smiled and placed a hand on his hip.

Dan knows Duck had a hard life before returning to Wilby. He doesn’t know all the details but there are things Duck’s let slip that makes him think that Duck’s dark place was a lot deeper and wider than his could ever have been. He knows that Duck’s calm is hard fought and deserved, and there are scars both internal and external that he keeps hidden.

Cat is an important part of Duck’s life. He’d never say it, but he likes that Cat comes to him in the evening, sits on his feet and purrs. Cat’s slowly coming round to Dan. She occasionally even lets him pet her, but only on her terms. More than once he’s woken to her claws in his bare back, his yelps waking Duck next to him, who reaches over and gently disengages her before putting her down on the floor, where she sits and watches Dan smugly. Duck finds it amusing to have his cat and his lover fighting for his attention. It’s okay, he says, he’ll sleep with them both.

Dan’s surprised at the laughter in his life. He’d never had so much joy in his life before. He was happy with Val and loved her dearly, but their life together was never joyous. He tries to thank Duck for that in any way he can. He’s a disaster in the kitchen, but he tries. Although, Duck would often say he wished he wouldn’t because the smoke takes hours to clear, and more than one pot has been destroyed in Dan’s attempts to take care of Duck in the way Duck takes care of him. So Dan will order movies that he thinks Duck would like, or CDs from the mainland. Duck’s got a fancy stereo, so every now and then Dan’ll add to the collection. Sometimes they’ll dance, or try to. Dan has two left feet – and both have been broken. Still, it’s nice to sway together, touching, and Duck likes to tuck his head into Dan’s neck and ‘hmm’ into the skin on his throat.

Any boy who sniffs after Emily will have to go through Duck. He’s enormously protective of her, and proud. She often comes around, sometimes with her mother, but more often without. Dan’s not used to being around teenage girls and finds Emily’s chatter simultaneously amusing and terrifying. How do they learn these things? Her questions can be blunt and forthright, and often leave him blushing. Duck takes this in his stride and just laughs and shakes his head. He’s learning to talk to Emily. Learning that she just wants to be his friend, because of Duck and because of herself. Because she’s a good kid, who’s been raised right.

Duck likes to read The Sentinel. He’s a slow reader, but a thorough one. Dan finds the furrow Duck gets in his forehead endearing, but would never say it. When he’s concentrating, a marching band could walk through the living room and not disturb him. Cat will sit quietly on his feet, no scratching, no bids for attention, until the last page is turned. As soon as the paper’s folded she jumps up on his lap and butts her head against his chin.

Duck never pounces on Dan; he’s the master of the stealth attack. The first few times it happened, it was a complete surprise. Duck might run his fingers through Dan’s hair – Dan would absentmindedly smile up at him from his book – the next thing he would be aware of was that he was naked with Duck running a hand up the inside of his thigh. Dan recognizes the signs now, and his body will start to tingle.

He has an herb garden at the back of his place. It’s small but Duck often uses the herbs in his cooking – which is surprisingly diverse. Sandra browbeats recipes out of him when she can, much to Duck’s amusement. She periodically offers him a job in her kitchen. And he periodically declines. Dan’s never eaten so well.

There’s a spot on the back of Duck’s neck – right where the neck meets his spine, when bitten gently will cause Duck to drop his head down, exposing the knob of bone for Dan to lick, and goosebumps will pop up all over his back. A scar on the back of Duck’s right thigh that, when licked, will cause him to shiver. In bed, Dan likes to draw the outline of Duck’s tattoo with his fingernail.

The biggest surprise was when he realised that Duck loved him. Dan was running late meeting Duck at Iggy’s. When he got there Duck was sitting in their booth, back to the door with Sandra opposite him. Duck was nodding at what Sandra was saying. Duck turned when Sandra called his name and smiled. Dan hadn’t seen that particular smile before – Duck had lived a hard life, and most of the time it showed – this smile was young, full of delight, of welcome. The smile faded but the warmth in his eyes remained when he looked at Dan.

Dan watches Duck, because the warmth in his eyes, the love, when he looks at Dan is something Dan craves. He’s watched closely and knows he’s lucky. The only other person who has received a look that’s almost as warm is Emily. At home, Dan will sometimes stretch out on the lounge with a book, head in Duck’s lap, and Duck will run his fingers through his hair.

As Duck shuffles into the kitchen, eyes half-closed – he’s useless without his morning coffee – Dan has an epiphany; he’d already known that Duck coming to him that night is the reason he’s still alive. So when Duck traces the outline of his ear with his finger, Dan feels this internal click and knows, he knows he’s finally home.

Current Mood: productive
Current Music: Take a Picture - Filter

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From:

gammi-demon.livejournal.com

You've written one.

I love you. I don't even have to read it to love you.

But I DID read it and I DID love it so I love you more!

(blinks) That's a lot'a love...

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