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fox_confessorTitle: Home Is a Fire
Pairing: Karina/Dom (Incline of Trees middle-verse)
Words: 1310
Notes: This was written quite a while ago but I just found it again and decided to clean it up this morning. Posting here to be complete.
There's silence in the cab on the way to the airport. Dominic hasn't found the words with which to say good-bye and Karina is lost to her own thoughts, as she has been since they woke that morning tangled with Gian. Now, their hands meet in the middle of the bench, fingers entwining tightly, even as they look out opposite windows. They've cross the bridge, nearly there, and the meter clicks, marking the distance. For a moment Dominic is distracted. Twenty-five, 28, more than thirty dollars before he looks away. On the radio, Dominic recognizes the words to the song, sometimes I miss a step/I stumble here and there/I'm findin' my way home, and sings along softly with the measure, finding some comfort in a song whose title and artist he's forgotten.
He tried this nearly three months before--to leave, to go back home--but he recognizes now that he hadn't been ready then, though he's only marginally more sure now. He'd been stumbling along a path he hadn't been sure he wanted to take and hadn't known what he'd find, where he would stay, how he'd support himself. Not that it was the first time he'd tossed himself towards life to see where he would land. New Zealand had been a hard but he feels strangely grateful for the time he spent lost there. He'd finally grown up when he'd had nobody to catch him when he stumbled.
California was different and had really only been a sort of vacation, he supposes, between the hard and hungry times of finding his way. That'll continue when he lands in Manchester, when he calls his parents' house and hopes his brother answers--when he lets them know his intention to go to London and find a publisher, finds his purpose.
"Do you have your ticket, Dom?"
Dominic nods but says nothing. It's the third time she's asked this morning, the second time in the cab.
"And your passport?"
He still says nothing, but leans his head back against the bench of the backseat and smiles at her, at the way her cheeks color in a particularly un-Karina-like way. "I'm sorry," she murmurs, and he squeezes her hand gently.
The cab has started its circuitous route to the drop-off for international passengers and Dominic reads the signs as if he might help navigate. It's easier than trying to decipher the simultaneous desire to stay and leave.
"I'm sorry I won't be here when the exhibition opens," he says, just to have something to break the silence as the cab rolls to a stop. He watches as Karina opens the clasp on her clutch and count out the fee and a tip for the driver. She doesn't answer until the driver opens his door to retrieve Dominic's luggage.
"You were for what mattered, yes?" She finally meets his eyes, her chin tilting upwards in a distinctly regal way and it makes Dominic grin and blush, clearly remembering the night and the weekend that followed, remembering the moment Gian found inspiration after long months of nothingness. Dominic knows that feeling and is happy to have served as muse to help a fellow artist. "You were beautiful, too."
"Thank you," he says, still blushing but proud, too, in a way he hasn't been in so long. Too long.
"Shall we say good-bye now?" Karina asks, her hand on the door as she turns away from him suddenly. Her voice is business-like, familiar, and Dominic nods though she doesn't see it. "I thought perhaps I would come wait with you but."
Karina pauses in her speech, turns to stroke her fingers over Dominic's cheek before she curves her hand around his neck, bringing him closer until he can't see her face again, until he can't see the sadness that he knows she's trying to hide from him. "I need to get back. There's still so much to do."
Dominic nods, his hand finding her waist, leaning in to her hug and returning it. His chest flutters with the strange excitement tempered by fear and by homesickness for what hasn't even left his hands yet.
"Thank you," he says again and she nods, presses a kiss to his cheek, then pulls away suddenly, opening the door and sliding from the cab. He slides across the seat after her, lifts his bag onto his shoulder and takes the handle of his suitcase. In a lot of ways he's leaving with much more than what he came with and he reaches again for Karina, hugging her properly this time.
They say nothing else, Karina having already extracted her promises for phone calls and letters. Don't be a stranger she had said and he'd laughed and promised. He'd made promises to Gian as well when they'd said their good-byes in the early morning hours alone in his studio even though it had made Karina and Dominic arrive at the airport later than they had intended. He didn't regret it. He didn't regret anything. With a last kiss, Dominic turns and enters the airport.
Inside, Dominic checks his gate and departure time, digs out his ticket and passport, and walks slowly towards the plane that will carry him away. He's only just joined the long line for passport control
"Dominic."
Dominic turns, surprised, his face showing his confusion, and then twists to a smile when he finds Karina waving to him. He gives up his place in line to go back to her, to let her fold him into her arms. He drops the bag from his shoulder, his ticket and passport still his in hand, as he pushes the fingers of his other hand through her short red hair.
"I wish you weren't in love with someone else," she says plainly and for a moment Dominic is shocked into silence. "It's like before, in Baskerville. I wanted to keep you and Gian was willing, more than willing now, I believe."
"Karina."
"No." Karina straightens her back, this second bout of uncharacteristic sentimentality falling from her as if a blanket from her shoulders. "I would not just have part of you, Dominic, if I cannot have it all. It's like before, as I said, when you were in love. When you first fell in love."
"He would never have me back."
"There's no predicting the future."
Dominic shakes his head sadly, the memory of Billy still as clear to him as it was the night he left. "I'm sure of it. What I did was unforgivable. He could never love me again."
"What you did was a mistake but not, I think, unforgivable." Karina looks towards the line and then checks her watch while Dominic digests what she's said. He'd like to believe there was some hope, some basis for believing that one day Billy and he could be together again. It would be better, he's sure. He's positive. He couldn't say this to her, could barely say it to himself.
"I have to go, Karina."
"I know. I'm going to miss you." Karina puts the back of her cool hand against Dominic's cheek and smiles at him before he steps back and away.
An hour and so later, Dominic is sitting in his seat, the seat belt snug against his hips. He's ready for this, he decides. He has more in his hands than he had when he'd arrived in California. A draft, for starts, of a story--novel--that he hadn't known he'd had in him. Gian's friendship and more from Karina. His dignity back, his head on straight. The spark of something he's afraid to name but reminds him of bright green eyes and hands that held him so tightly, a heart that loved him so much. He shakes his head, dispelling the thought. For now, this is enough. For now, he's just glad to be finally on his way back.
Pairing: Karina/Dom (Incline of Trees middle-verse)
Words: 1310
Notes: This was written quite a while ago but I just found it again and decided to clean it up this morning. Posting here to be complete.
There's silence in the cab on the way to the airport. Dominic hasn't found the words with which to say good-bye and Karina is lost to her own thoughts, as she has been since they woke that morning tangled with Gian. Now, their hands meet in the middle of the bench, fingers entwining tightly, even as they look out opposite windows. They've cross the bridge, nearly there, and the meter clicks, marking the distance. For a moment Dominic is distracted. Twenty-five, 28, more than thirty dollars before he looks away. On the radio, Dominic recognizes the words to the song, sometimes I miss a step/I stumble here and there/I'm findin' my way home, and sings along softly with the measure, finding some comfort in a song whose title and artist he's forgotten.
He tried this nearly three months before--to leave, to go back home--but he recognizes now that he hadn't been ready then, though he's only marginally more sure now. He'd been stumbling along a path he hadn't been sure he wanted to take and hadn't known what he'd find, where he would stay, how he'd support himself. Not that it was the first time he'd tossed himself towards life to see where he would land. New Zealand had been a hard but he feels strangely grateful for the time he spent lost there. He'd finally grown up when he'd had nobody to catch him when he stumbled.
California was different and had really only been a sort of vacation, he supposes, between the hard and hungry times of finding his way. That'll continue when he lands in Manchester, when he calls his parents' house and hopes his brother answers--when he lets them know his intention to go to London and find a publisher, finds his purpose.
"Do you have your ticket, Dom?"
Dominic nods but says nothing. It's the third time she's asked this morning, the second time in the cab.
"And your passport?"
He still says nothing, but leans his head back against the bench of the backseat and smiles at her, at the way her cheeks color in a particularly un-Karina-like way. "I'm sorry," she murmurs, and he squeezes her hand gently.
The cab has started its circuitous route to the drop-off for international passengers and Dominic reads the signs as if he might help navigate. It's easier than trying to decipher the simultaneous desire to stay and leave.
"I'm sorry I won't be here when the exhibition opens," he says, just to have something to break the silence as the cab rolls to a stop. He watches as Karina opens the clasp on her clutch and count out the fee and a tip for the driver. She doesn't answer until the driver opens his door to retrieve Dominic's luggage.
"You were for what mattered, yes?" She finally meets his eyes, her chin tilting upwards in a distinctly regal way and it makes Dominic grin and blush, clearly remembering the night and the weekend that followed, remembering the moment Gian found inspiration after long months of nothingness. Dominic knows that feeling and is happy to have served as muse to help a fellow artist. "You were beautiful, too."
"Thank you," he says, still blushing but proud, too, in a way he hasn't been in so long. Too long.
"Shall we say good-bye now?" Karina asks, her hand on the door as she turns away from him suddenly. Her voice is business-like, familiar, and Dominic nods though she doesn't see it. "I thought perhaps I would come wait with you but."
Karina pauses in her speech, turns to stroke her fingers over Dominic's cheek before she curves her hand around his neck, bringing him closer until he can't see her face again, until he can't see the sadness that he knows she's trying to hide from him. "I need to get back. There's still so much to do."
Dominic nods, his hand finding her waist, leaning in to her hug and returning it. His chest flutters with the strange excitement tempered by fear and by homesickness for what hasn't even left his hands yet.
"Thank you," he says again and she nods, presses a kiss to his cheek, then pulls away suddenly, opening the door and sliding from the cab. He slides across the seat after her, lifts his bag onto his shoulder and takes the handle of his suitcase. In a lot of ways he's leaving with much more than what he came with and he reaches again for Karina, hugging her properly this time.
They say nothing else, Karina having already extracted her promises for phone calls and letters. Don't be a stranger she had said and he'd laughed and promised. He'd made promises to Gian as well when they'd said their good-byes in the early morning hours alone in his studio even though it had made Karina and Dominic arrive at the airport later than they had intended. He didn't regret it. He didn't regret anything. With a last kiss, Dominic turns and enters the airport.
Inside, Dominic checks his gate and departure time, digs out his ticket and passport, and walks slowly towards the plane that will carry him away. He's only just joined the long line for passport control
"Dominic."
Dominic turns, surprised, his face showing his confusion, and then twists to a smile when he finds Karina waving to him. He gives up his place in line to go back to her, to let her fold him into her arms. He drops the bag from his shoulder, his ticket and passport still his in hand, as he pushes the fingers of his other hand through her short red hair.
"I wish you weren't in love with someone else," she says plainly and for a moment Dominic is shocked into silence. "It's like before, in Baskerville. I wanted to keep you and Gian was willing, more than willing now, I believe."
"Karina."
"No." Karina straightens her back, this second bout of uncharacteristic sentimentality falling from her as if a blanket from her shoulders. "I would not just have part of you, Dominic, if I cannot have it all. It's like before, as I said, when you were in love. When you first fell in love."
"He would never have me back."
"There's no predicting the future."
Dominic shakes his head sadly, the memory of Billy still as clear to him as it was the night he left. "I'm sure of it. What I did was unforgivable. He could never love me again."
"What you did was a mistake but not, I think, unforgivable." Karina looks towards the line and then checks her watch while Dominic digests what she's said. He'd like to believe there was some hope, some basis for believing that one day Billy and he could be together again. It would be better, he's sure. He's positive. He couldn't say this to her, could barely say it to himself.
"I have to go, Karina."
"I know. I'm going to miss you." Karina puts the back of her cool hand against Dominic's cheek and smiles at him before he steps back and away.
An hour and so later, Dominic is sitting in his seat, the seat belt snug against his hips. He's ready for this, he decides. He has more in his hands than he had when he'd arrived in California. A draft, for starts, of a story--novel--that he hadn't known he'd had in him. Gian's friendship and more from Karina. His dignity back, his head on straight. The spark of something he's afraid to name but reminds him of bright green eyes and hands that held him so tightly, a heart that loved him so much. He shakes his head, dispelling the thought. For now, this is enough. For now, he's just glad to be finally on his way back.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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This is what I know in a nutshell:
Billy and Dom split
Meet again years later, make up and live in Paris
But what I am uncertain about is what made them split, what did Dom do that was unforgivable
and I am very sorry to say I don't remember Karina at all and I am not too sure about Gian either was he the photographer?
I feel bad that I have such a fog here. Hopefully, you both know how fond I am of this series. I just relized tonight that I think I have a gaping hole in the story here. Sorry.
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Dom starts modeling for Gian (http://inclineoftrees.livejournal.com/61678.html)
Dom talks with Karina about Billy (kinda) (http://inclineoftrees.livejournal.com/63043.html)
Dom goes to Karina when things get bad, when he's getting back with Billy (http://inclineoftrees.livejournal.com/77418.html)
For me, the character of Karina has always served as a counterpoint to Billy. His relationship with Billy is so intense and these moments with Karina always have a bit of clarity to them. So, this *points up* is kind of still that. Because you asked I'll tell, though we're a ways off from getting to the end. In broad strokes, Dom leaves Billy and disappears to New Zealand, where he spends a very rough years growing up. When he finally decides to return to England, he meets Karina by chance in San Francisco. They have a few weeks of a relationship (Dom submitting to Karina and having a sexual relationship with Gian, which he had never done before) and he leaves feeling more centered.
Anyway, this is me being a bit selfish as a writer because I fell in love with my own characters. They don't really get defined in Incline and I have a bunch of little stories about them outside of that, this is just one :D