The Dreamtrap - 22. Chapter 22

- 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 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 a quiet clanking sound, 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 they woke up again, it was nine in the morning.

...Rayhe woke up because of Desmond’s rather loud moan and a violent jerk that 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 had 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 the 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, easily prying it apart.

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 slightly frowned. 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, a frown deepening on his forehead.

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

No matter what he would do, Desmond would not wake up, nor 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 violently shook his head. “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.