Leo

[million_star]

Title: Leo
Author: millionstar
Pairing: Matthew/Dominic, Showbiz era
Beta: amusedinred - thanks for the assist <3
Rating:   R
Here There Be: Language, mentions of drug use
Summary: A tattoo is discovered.
Disclaimer: I don't own Matt or Dom, no profit is being made, and this, clearly, is fiction.
Author's Note: The idea for this was born in a chat with mcsparklez, who is damn awesome. \o/  If you choose to read, thank you, so much. <3


November, 2000

"Too dark?"

"No," came a fevered whisper, "it's fine."

The men on the bed resumed their activities, hands seeking out bare skin and eager, parted lips meeting again and again and again.  Their newly realized desires were consuming them both, but neither of them minded.  If anything, they relished the fact that they were, finally, drowning in each other.

"I wish I'd made a move sooner," Dominic groaned against Matthew's mouth.  "Was afraid I was just kidding myself and-"

Whatever Dominic might have been about to say was captured by Matthew's lips, in yet another kiss - but only for a moment.  Matthew pulled back, smiling in the sparse shadows, moonlight playing on his cheekbones.  "Kidding yourself?  No way.  You'll never get rid of me now."

"Good."

Matthew paused, his breath ghosting over Dominic's lower back.  He swallowed nervously, placing kisses along the drummer's sweat-soaked skin.  "So are you going to let me get you naked or what?"

"'Go for it."

"Turn over," Matthew whispered, Dominic obeying.  Pressing kisses down along Dominic's spine, his heart began to hammer in his chest when he snagged the waistband of Dominic's briefs with his teeth.  Impatient to simply yank the offending garment down Dominic's legs, he snagged them with his fingers, pulled them down, and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Dom, what..."

"Hmm?"

"Wait," Matthew mumbled, one slender arm reaching out to switch on the lamp on the hotel bedside table.  Dominic remained on his stomach, incredibly hot and bothered, waiting not-so-patiently for Matthew to resume his ministrations, but Matthew did not.

What Matthew did do, however, was burst into manic, frantic peals of wicked laughter.  In a flash of realization, Dominic understood what was causing the laughter  and he cringed, sighing.

Once his giggles had subsided (this took a good two minutes and eleven seconds), Matthew dove in for a closer look.

The tattoo wasn't incredibly large, measuring just shy of three inches across, but it was certainly detailed, and if Matthew was honest, it was really rather well done.  The tiny drumkit was a shade of forest green, and sitting behind it was the most adorable little leopard, banging away at the drums with little sunglasses on its grinning face.

"There's a tiny cat on your bum."

"Matt-"

"Am I stoned," Matthew mused, between giggles, "or is this real life?"

"Matt-"

"The fuck?"  Matthew shook his head, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.  "How the hell can you have that and me not know about it?  We've seen each other's arses a million times before."

"Got it a few months back," Dominic admitted, "in Brussels.  I may have been drunk.  Or high.  Possibly.  Maybe.  It's..." he wiggled his fingers, "extremely unclear.  All I know is that I was out with Tom and the next morning that tat was on my arse and in that moment my only concern was letting it heal until I could afford to have it removed.  Of course, not letting you or Chris find out about it became my life's work, also.  But then... this, I mean, us, happened, and I forgot about it, believe it or not.  And, really, finally here we are together after all this time, and you're focusing on a tattoo?!"

"I literally don't know what to say."

"What?"  At this, Dominic had to marvel, because he simply couldn't remember the last time that Matthew James Bellamy had been shocked into any form of silence.  The drummer would later regret that he didn't make an effort to note the date and time of the event, because this particular mystical would probably never happen again.

Matthew's eyes were still firmly on Dominic's arse, squinting at the tattoo in question as though he intended to commit every detail of it to memory.  "Speechless, mate.  Legitimately speechless."

"Look, I feel bad enough about it without you making fun of me, okay," Dominic said quietly, sitting up and pulling the sheet across his body.  "It's not like you've never done anything stupid when you're shitfaced."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Like fuck you don't," Dominic replied, the corners of his mouth turning up despite his best efforts to remain stoic.  Matthew had that effect on him, and did so even more now that he was practically in Dominic's arms.

"Not sure what you're implying, Dom.  I'm a very dignified drunk, thank you very much."

"Dignified, my arse."

"Don't get rid of it!  I'm gonna name him," Matthew proclaimed, pulling the sheet aside and throwing it onto the floor.  "From now on," he put one long finger into the air, "I shall call him Leo."

"Leo?"

"Well, yeah, you know, like Leo, the lion-"

"It's not a lion, it's a leopard."

Matthew blinked, brow furrowed in thought.  "Ah. Well, does it really fucking matter?"

"Two different animals.  I'm just saying."

"Fuck it.  I'm still gonna call him Leo."

Dominic pulled Matthew down and kissed him again.  "Fine.  I don't care.  But tell me," he slid one hand into Matthew's boxers, squeezing hot, hard flesh, "what else are you gonna do, huh?"

Matthew showed him, in record time, precisely what else he intended to do that night, Leo the tattoo suddenly forgotten.

Years later, when Matthew dedicated a version of Bliss to someone called Leo, nobody knew precisely who the singer was referring to.  But if they'd glanced at the drumkit in the moments after, they'd have noticed Dominic, grinning widely, one drumstick twirling between his fingers.