Phaedra and Dominic's Apartment

[Phaedra]

For the past hour, the apartment which Phaedra Laskaris shared with Dominic Izzard was filled with the soft, gentle sounds of relaxation... which apparently consisted of little more than slow - read as; boring - tracks over which were the sounds of waves lapping at the beach, with the occasional whale thrown in for good measure. It has to be said that 'The Greatest Chillout Album In The World EVER III' was severely misrepresenting itself, at least for Phae, who would ordinarily be inspired by the various albums she was sent to review; whether the thoughts she had were flattering or not so flattering, she was almost always inspired with something. This album, however, was so boring, and filled with the same sort of tripe that Phae had heard time and time before that the notepad that her pen had been resting on since she turned the CD on and sat at her desk was still devoid of any thoughts about it.

Phae sighed as the previous track bled into the next, apparently to ensure that whoever happened to be listening at the time didn't have to 'suffer' the actual end of a song. She scribbled the words 'it's crap'. Then, shaking her head and making a frustrated noise she scribbled at the words. Back to square one.

She tossed her pen across the desk and rested her chin on her hand, soon finding herself thinking about Dominic. Even though it had only been a couple of nights she missed him, and although she tried not to dwell on it too much she found her thoughts turned more and more paranoid, with the worry and concern from his crash many years ago still affecting her to this day. She tries to keep busy, and during the times that Dom is away she finds herself getting more work done. She would most certainly not tell him about it, because this is her own problem to deal with; planes are safe these days, she knew that. Her fear just tends to get the better of her. One day she'd be able to overcome it, preferably soon, but-

As a sudden loud splash jerked her attention away from her thoughts and back to her current location. She glowered at the CD player, which continued playing, unhindered. God, she hated this CD. This was not her idea of fun, listening to the sounds of whales which were not just humping at high tide but also suffering from random seizures with some piano track that's been remixed and reused so often it's a wonder anybody remembers who actually composed it. Ooh, that's a good one. She grabbed her pen and scribbled it onto her notebook in a haphazard manner, not really taking note of the lines that are there to keep one's writing straight. After a few more minutes and failed attempts to get an actual review out she gave up, turning the CD player off and turning the television on instead.

The humping whales can wait, she mused as she threw herself onto the couch, remote in hand.

[Phaedra]

"...in short, this album is nothing but the same 'classical chill out relaxation feng-shui' dealio rehashed time and time again by people who are interested more in the contents of your wallet than your wellbeing as a stressed out individual. I could find a similar album for a fraction of the cost at any music store's bargain bin."

Phaedra sighed, leaning back in her chair and stretching her muscles, tensed from hunching over the keyboard trying to figure out what on earth she could say in the review other than 'same old, same old'. Hopefully the next CD she'd be sent to review wouldn't be so utterly boring. As she gave her writing the once over a wry grin tugged at her lips as the thought entered her mind that, after this review, she probably wouldn't have to suffer another CD from the makers of this one, at least. Adding a note at the end of the review to give it one star out of five, as if she really needed to remind herself, she saved her work and shut her computer down and decided to curl up on the Sofa with a tub of ice-cream, feeling satisfied with her evening's work.

As she shovelled spoonfuls of cookie-dough ice-cream into her mouth she kept glancing at the clock, willing time to hurry up. She missed Dominic when he had his frequent trips away, and found her wolf was mighty restless as it drew closer and closer to the time he'd return, whining relentlessly. So she shovelled more ice-cream into her mouth.

There's nothing like delicious calories to make one feel better.

[Phaedra]

It hadn't taken long for Phae to move from the sofa back to the chair in front of her laptop, typing away at an email with a spoon hanging out of her mouth. Let it he said, Phaedra loves modern technology, can't get enough of the stuff; if there was a new gadget out she wanted to know where it was and how she could get one. She had never struggled to move with the times and keep up with any current trends in technology, and marvelled at the things humans kept coming out with to feed the insatiable need that people had for things to be made just that little bit easier or more entertaining for them. Phae herself couldn't even dream of living without her mobile or her laptop, like most people she keeps practically her entire life on there and, having grown so used to relying on it she would need a while to adjust to life without them if she should ever find herself in such a situation.

That's not to say she prefers it over meeting people face to face because there are some things that can't be conveyed or discussed over the phone or in an email but it just made that first step in communication that much easier.

As she clicked the 'send' button on the email she leant back, taking the spoon from her mouth and smiling satisfactorily. Not a minute later the phone started to ring and, having a pretty good idea of who it was Phae bounded out of her chair, crossing the room in record time before picking the receiver up. "Hello?" She probably sounded overeager, but never mind.

[Phaedra]

Phae always got anxious during Dominic's trips away, partly because of her own fear of flight which tried to tell her that something terrible would happen to the flight that her mate just happened to be piloting, but mostly because of the accident that he had suffered all those years ago when Phae was so close to losing him which was a thought that was almost too much for her to even entertain. Ironically the former of the two was as a direct result of the latter, but she didn't want to let Dominic know too much about that. She wanted him to have an easy a trip as possible and telling him about her own woes wouldn't help him one bit, so she remained as strong as she could be, for him.

She refrained from squeaking at him down the phone and instead began to bounce gently on the spot as she held the receiver to her ear. "Dom, hi, oh I missed you" she replied, feeling her anxiety relax but her excitement escalate at the sound of his voice. "Oh," she went on, "not bad, had a couple of reviews to do but nothing major or anything. How was your flight?"

[Phaedra]

The rest of the phone conversation was far shorter than Phae would have liked - then again even if it had lasted for hours it wouldn't have been long enough to her. She relayed a short shopping list to him at his offer of swinging by the shop, top of the list being some more ice-cream when she'd caught sight of the empty tub on the desk (it was a very good thing she had a high metabolism) and just managed to squish in a quick 'love you' before Dom had to hang up. She sighed as she replaced the receiver, feeling her shoulders relax as the pent up tension started to ebb away with the knowledge that he was safe on solid ground without any problems.

If there was one thing Phaedra was thankful for above most other things it was that Dom didn't really have a clue about the extent of her fear of heights or her fear of flying (which was probably just an extension of the former fear); over the years she'd read those self-help books and seen a couple of hypnotists on the side so that it was much less of a problem than it used to be so she'd been able to learn to hide it.

It wasn't just to hide the fear from Dom, mind you, since she did want to be able to be near a window on a floor above ground level and not be physically sick, but yes, Dom was a major part in her trying to 'get over it', so to speak. She knew that if he ever found out he would be crushed by guilt and do all sorts of rash things, probably including giving up flying, which Phaedra will most certainly not have, so she worked hard to try and fix herself. She loved him too much to even entertain the thought of letting him feel any more pain than he already had done. Besides, she wasn't nearly as bad anymore. She probably wouldn't be sky-diving any time soon, but she's okay with elevators and being on relatively high floors and even being near windows! So all in all, it probably wasn't that big a deal anyway.

With a start the realisation that it wouldn't actually be that long before Dom got home hit her and while the flat wasn't a pigsty by any stretch of the imagination, it isn't what Phae herself would like to come home to after a tough few days at work. So, after quickly padding through to the kitchen to grab some cleaning items, she rolled her sleeves up and set to work.

[Dominic]

Continued from: Los Angeles International Airport: Baggage Reclaim

As a rule, Dominic liked to bring back a little gift for Phaedra whenever he was away for a couple of nights. A little memento of the place he had visited and a little reminder that he hadn’t forgotten about her; as if that would be possible. He couldn’t bring something back every time of course, and the male doubted she would expect him too but if he could, Dominic liked it. He liked seeing her face as she accepted the gift. The flights had been squeezed in too tightly next to each other for him to have a chance to get Phae anything this time, with only just enough time for him to snatch enough sleep before having to turn around and fly them home.

At first, he had hoped that the ice cream and other items he had picked up in the store would be ‘gift’ enough for her, Dominic just loving to see a smile and happiness on the face of his mate. It wasn’t until he was settled into his taxi for the second time that night that he finally dug out his cell phone, belatedly realising that he might have missed an important call – as indeed he had. For a few moments Dominic simply stared at the text message on the small screen, the power bar flickering a little but still holding out. He read it a second time and then a third, just to make sure that he wasn’t reading it wrong. After all this time, his secret gift was finally ready.

For ages now Phaedra had wanted a pet, a puppy of some kind and Dominic wasn’t used to refusing her anything. It was just a question of finding one she liked enough and considering her habit of cooing over every set of puppies they had gone to see, that had proved a challenge. He only hoped that the one he had finally secretly bought was the one that she really wanted, Dominic swinging by to collect the small dog before heading home.

Inside the taxi once more, Dominic had placed the carrier on the seat next to him, finally giving his home address. As much as he wanted to relax, to just think about Phae and how – he hoped – she would be delighted with the pup, he couldn’t. Inside the carrier he could just made out the quivering form of the animal, the small dog clearly never having been in one before now, let alone separated from his mother and siblings, from all that he knew. Seeing the helpless puppy in what was at heart a cage, scared and alone, brought uncomfortable memories to the forefront and Dominic couldn’t handle that particular set of memories. They were the start of a whole linked series of memories that were painful, impossible to think of without loosing a little of himself every time he did and so he reached out, unhooking the door and letting the small animal jump up on him.

The puppy snuggled up inside his jacket, tail thumping against his chest, firmly settled there and refusing to move even when the taxi stopped and Dominic once more couldn’t bring himself to put him back into the crate, stuffing the food in there instead. It was a tricky balancing act but somehow he managed to get inside and at the door to the apartment, carefully easing it open, pet still curled up by his chest.

[Phaedra]

Phaedra has just about finished her cleaning when Dominic got home. She had actually finished a while ago but then decided that some dusting was in order, and then there was the polishing of not only every item in the house that was on display but every shiny surface. She was definitely one of those people who started to clean when she got anxious, that's for certain, though Phaedra sees nothing wrong with having a nice, clean house. Besides, it helped to pass the time so when she heard the front door open it was a little bit of a surprise. Luckily she had been putting the remaining cleaning products back into the cabinet in the kitchen so it wasn't as if she's been caught completely unawares... thank goodness. She quickly shut the cabinet door before rushing out to greet him.

The little gifts he brought back had become something of a habit for Dominic, something that Phae had never encouraged nor expected, but had thought was the sweetest thing ever. Most of the time it never really matters what exactly it was that he bought her, the fact that he got her something showed her that he had been thinking of her during his trips and that made her ridiculously happy.

When Phae approached him she had been ready to pounce on him when something made her stop: something was a little off. Dom was holding a small crate in one hand, inside which Phae was sure was the shopping she had asked Dom to collect on his way home. That was... a very weird way to carry shopping. She was about to shoot him a questioning look when she noticed that his jacket was moving, as in, of its own accord. Having been completely distracted by this mystery she got close enough that she could peer into his jacket and what she found was a little bundle of fluff all curled up and snug.

When it turned around to look back at her she realised, rather belatedly, that this was a puppy, and possibly the cutest puppy she had ever laid her eyes on and she had seen a lot of cute puppies - she had dailypuppy.com set as her homepage after all.

Phae nearly keeled over when the puppy leant a little further and licked her on the nose. "Oh," she breathed, looking up at Dom without straightening up, then looking back down at the puppy again. "Oh, oh my god. Did... That's... You..." Apparently the cuteness had broken her mind somewhat, or t least rendered her unable to form complete sentences.

[Dominic]

He could tell that Phaedra had been cleaning, the faint and pleasing scent of pine and other cleaning fluids invading his senses a clear giveaway. To each their own and while Dominic admitted the place looked incredibly nice when it was all clean and sparkling, he would be just as happy living in a mess if that was the kind of person Phae was. He wasn’t going to expect her to clean because she had to, only clean if she wanted to, because in the end, all he really cared about was that his home was with her, no matter how soppy that made him sound.

The sight of her exiting the kitchen and moving towards him made his heart pound a little faster, as the first image of her after he had been away for a while always did. It never failed to stun and amaze Dominic, how beautiful she really was and how incredibly lucky he was to have her.

Of course, the heart pounding was also slightly because of nerves, Dominic hoping desperately that she would like – no love – the puppy that he had picked out for them both. Phae had been there when they had first gone to see them and he remembered her cooing over this one in particular but for all he knew she had found one she preferred even more while he had been gone. A faint smile appeared on his face as she looked at the small animal, little puppy staring right back and then having the cunning to lick at her in what was a sure fire adorable ‘you want to keep me right’ way. Clearly, the pup had already worked out who he needed to impress.

“Do you like him?” Dominic asked, a slight hint of his nerves threading into the question.

[Phaedra]

The smell of cleaning products would very soon be overpowered by the smells of dinner, which she had begun preparing between her bought of dusting, just before Dom got home. In Phae's opinion, as nice as a clean smelling house was, the smell of a good, home-cooked meal was better. Tonight she had decided to do Dom's favourite... or, a selection of Dom's favourites; a platter of different South African meals on one platter. She'd decided on that mostly because she couldn't decide on which dish she wanted to make for him, and hey, if they didn't get through it all in one night they had delicious leftovers for tomorrow.

As she had bounced over to Dom she'd felt his excitement, felt it mingle with hers, making her all the more elated that he was home and finally within reach. Well, sort of, with a puppy between them. She'd been staring at the cute little creature for a full minute without moving, and it wasn't until Dom asked if she liked him that she realised this.

She had an idea of why he'd asked; normal people do not stare gormlessly when the cutest puppy in the world was in the arms of the man you loved. Finally snapping back to reality, she straightened up a little before throwing her arms around Dom's neck and hugging him as tightly as her concern for the cute puppy getting squished would allow. "I love him!" She quickly replied, kissing him on the cheek as she loosened her grip to rest her head on his shoulder as she scratched the little puppy's head. She had immediately recognised him as one of the cutest of a litter she had cooed desperately over not that long ago when she had dragged Dom around window-puppy-shopping, and she had wondered whether he'd managed to get a good home, convincing herself that he was already gone so it was no use trying to get her hopes up by ringing them up to see how he is and whether he was still there.

Words would not be enough to describe how happy she was at that moment.

[Dominic]

Phaedra knew him only too well to know that the scent of food would be an even better homecoming; the thought of a home cooked meal was mouth watering, more so if and when he realised that the meal in question was his favourite. It was always such a delight to get that little taste of childhood. He still enjoyed some of the more tradition dishes however, especially the platter where you could pick and chose your amount, although Dom has long since stopped considering South Africa as ‘home’, that title belonged to America right now or rather any place with the beautiful woman standing opposite him.

The complete silence from Phae had been more than a little nerve wracking. Dominic knew his mate, knew she was wonderfully open – for the most part – when it came to her likes and dislikes. She had never shied away from speaking her mind and her heart; just one in a huge list of things that he loved about her. Still, there were times when even Phaedra was quiet and he wasn’t sure how to read her, not when his own nerves got in the way. His body relaxed slightly at the simple three words, some inner tension unwinding in knowing that the little puppy had been the right choice.

He rested his head against hers, chin brushing against her thick hair as he watched her coo over the small animal that was clearly enjoying all the attention. The little creature didn’t seem to mind that it was being fussed over by two predators in nature, clearly having either come to the conclusion that they were his new protectors and thus not a danger or the tiny puppy brain just hadn’t worked out it could be in any danger. Dominic wasn’t going to offer the second suggestion up to her, the last thing he wanted to imply was that their chosen pup wasn’t smart. Instead he remained silent, content to stand there with an arm around his mate, happy because she was happy.