Title: Whipped by NyteFlyer
Fandom: The Donald Strachey Mysteries
Pairings: Donald and Timmy, of course!
Rating: PG-ish
Word count: 2050, give or take a few
Spoilers: None that I can think of
Summary: Even in an all-male household....
Warnings: Humor and fluff, madness and mayhem. Oh, and just a wee bit of whumping. It's my first time, so be gentle with me.
Disclaimer: Alas, these lovely gentleman are not mine. They belong to Richard Stevenson, Ron Oliver, etc. But mostly they belong to each other.
Author's note: This is my maiden voyage into writing fanfiction. Much grateful groveling goes to Bronwyn, who sewed the seeds, and to my very dear friend, Babsalicious, who looks askance at the whole notion of slash but was willing to give this piece the once over.
"But I'm really not a cat person, Timmy," Donald protested, eyeing the scrawny black and white feline that circled his husband's feet, rubbing and trilling.
Donald was relaxing in the back porch glider, soaking up the last rays of evening sun after a long day of tedious research and dead ends, difficult clients and Kenny being...well...Kenny. He wanted to enjoy the remnants of the autumn evening curled around a cold martini and a warm Timothy, not necessarily in that order. Most of all, he wanted to shut off his over-stimulated brain for a while and just not think -- not about work or bills or the distrubing new rattle his car made while the engine idled, and especially not about cats.
"Cat person, dog person. There's no such thing, Donald," Timmy said, settling beside him and tucking an arm through his. "Animals are individuals, just like people are. Some suit us, some don't. And some simply need us."
"Timothy, we can't have a cat in the house. You're allergic, remember?"
Timmy considered the cat gravely. "I had him inside for half the afternoon, and I didn't sneeze once. I don't know what it is about him, but I seem to be immune to his dander."
"Still, you can't just take in any wild animal off the street, sweetheart. It's not safe."
The corner of Timmy's mouth twitched. "Funny, that's what all my friends said when they first met you."
"Oh, ha ha," Donald said, rolling his eyes. "I'm serious here. What if he has rabies?"
"He's perfectly healthy, Donald. The vet said...."
"The vet!"
"...that he's perfectly fine, and now that he's wormed and had all his shots...."
"His shots!"
"...and once I take him in to be neutered on Monday...."
"Timothy...."
"...he should be ready to begin a long and happy life with us. He is a bit underweight, but I think I can take care of that."
Laughing in spite of himself, Donald hooked his fingers through Timmy's belt loop and pulled him in close for a kiss. "Like you did with me, huh? I've gone up two pants sizes since I married you. Not that I'm complaining."
They spent some time in happy lip-lock, neither of them complaining at all. Then Donald heard a creaking meow and watched a two-tone bundle of skin, bones and fur land in Timmy's lap. The cat settled in the dip between Tim's thighs, purring loudly.
Grinning, Timmy nudged Donald's shoulder with his own. "He does rather remind me of you, come to think of it."
"Oh, really? How do you figure that?"
"Let's see. You're approximately the same height...."
"Hey!" Donald said, nudging him back.
"And you did more than your fair share of tomcatting around before we got together...."
"Yeah, but you managed to housebreak me pretty fast, didn't you?"
"Darling, you'll never be housebroken. But you never stray, and that's all that matters. The overflowing litter boxes and the occasional hairballs are things I've learned to live with."
In an instant, Donald's hands were under Timmy's shirt, fingers wriggling against his ribcage. Timmy yelped and doubled over, squirming helplessly. "He's very handsome," he gasped once Donald relented enough for him to draw a breath.
"That's more like it."
"He looks marvelous in his little tux, just like you do."
"Keep it up. We both know flattery will get you everywhere."
"Hmmm. He's also rather cocky and probably not above marking his territory when the situation warrants...."
Great, Donald thought. There goes the furniture. Not to mention the rugs, our shoes....
The cat pawed Timmy's chest, mewing for attention. "...and he's obviously the jealous type...."
"I am not the jealous...."
Tim raised an eyebrow. "The congressman's son who brushed a speck of dust off my lapel at the fundraiser last week and ended up with your drink all over his suit," he said quietly. "The deliveryman who winked at me and 'accidentally' got knocked off the porch. The old friend from college whose number was mysteriously blocked from my cell phone. My former assistant whose wife left him when she somehow learned...."
"All right, all right! Next subject, please!"
With a smug smile, Timmy settled against him once more.. "Oh, and I'm not sure, but I think he may be gay."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, he does seem to share your obsession with my crotch."
"Oh no, you don't!" Donald informed the cat, scooping him off Tim's lap and holding him at arm's length. "Mine!"
"He'd be good company for me," Timmy said wistfully. "You work so many nights, and since Watson's been gone...."
Caving as they'd both known he would from the beginning, Donald sighed. "All right, you win. You always do," he said with mock gruffness, affecting a put-upon air. But as Timmy and the cat both beamed at him, his grumpy facade crumbled, and an indulgent smile broke through. He gave Timmy a gentle shake. "I'm really, really glad you're not a girl," he said.
"Somehow, I've always rather considered that a given. Why now, in particular?"
"Because you have me wrapped so tight around your little finger it's disgusting. At least you're a guy, so no one can accuse me of being pussy-whipped."
Timmy laughed out loud at that one and reached over to stroke the cat, who had taken up residence in Donald's lap. "I thought Tuxedo Tom might be an appropriate name for him. What do you think?"
"I think it's a helluva mouthful when we're trying to call him to dinner. How about Tux? Short and sweet, whadda ya say?"
Timmy pulled him into a soft kiss. "Short and sweet," he murmured against Donald's lips. "Just the way I like them." Then he guided Donald's hand between his thighs, and they tabled their discussion of matters feline for a while.
Tux curled into a comfortable ball and calmly looked on without comment.
* * * *
Several weeks later, Donald arrived home from a late evening stakeout to find the house in an uproar. As he turned his key in the lock, he heard thumping and banging and a blood-curdling shriek that simultaneously made his heart stand still and his pulse race. Bursting through the door with his gun already half drawn, he was nearly bowled over by a burly intruder who was ricocheting around the room, frantically trying to rid himself of the no longer "slightly underweight" ball of fur and fury that had attached itself to his face. In the half-second it took Donald to assess the situation, he spotted Tim hunkered down in a corner, nursing his head in his hands. Blood oozed between his fingers, and his glasses dangled from one ear, broken and twisted.
The world turned red. Drawing a bead on the wildly careening intruder, Donald roared, "Freeze, asshole, or name your next of kin!"
But Asshole didn't freeze. Asshole couldn't, because four sets of madly flailing claws were shredding his face into crimson coleslaw. One of them -- the man or the cat, Donald couldn't tell which -- yowled eerily, and the besieged intruder staggered close enough for Donald to clip him behind the knee. Asshole went down and Tux went flying -- just in the nick of time, as it turned out, because the man's head hit the hearth with a sickening crack. His limbs convulsed a time or two, then he lay still.
In a heartbeat, Donald had him frisked and cuffed. Then he was on the floor with Timmy, pulling his moaning partner into his arms.
"Donald," Timmy groaned, clutching him with one hand while he continued to cradle his head in the other.
"It's okay, sweetheart, I'm here," Donald crooned, carefully keeping the fear out of his voice as he removed the broken glasses and felt Timmy over, searching for injuries. "What the hell happened, honey? What did he do to you?"
"I was unwrapping the new andirons," Timmy said, drawing a shaky breath. "The ones I ordered with the cats on the ends, remember? I was just taking them out of the box when this...this...Neanderthal came to the door and tried to force his way in. He said he was a client and that you'd asked him to meet you here, but that didn't seem right to me. When I pulled out my phone to call you, he shoved his way inside and started pushing me around, yelling something about his marriage and job being shot down the drain -- it didn't make sense. When I told him I was calling the police if he didn't leave, he grabbed an iron and attacked me with it. He hit me so hard I almost blacked out, then he was screaming and Tux was on him and screaming, too, and you came in and stared yelling...." Timmy trailed off, giving Donald a pitiful look. "My head hurts, Donald. My head really, really hurts."
"I bet it does," Donald said, continuing to examine Timmy with gentle fingers. He was scraped, battered and bruised, and a fair-sized goose egg was growing just above his left eyebrow. Though copious amounts of blood smeared Donald's hands and trickled into Timmy's eyes, it all seemed to come from one small scalp laceration. It would take stitches, he decided, and probably hurt like hell, but it wasn't life threatening. Mopping Timmy's face with his own shirtsleeve, he sighed in relief, then fished the phone out of his pocket and dialed 911, barking out requests for police and an ambulance while planting reassuring kisses on Timmy's forehead. The call made, he flipped the phone closed and cuddled Timmy closer, willing some semblance of calm to wash over him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Asshole shift and moan before settling back into less than blissful slumber. Briefly, he considered bringing him around long enough to clobber him over the head with an andiron, just to see if the big bastard took it as well as he dished it out, but he thought better of it. He vaguely remembered the guy, a night watchman named Bradshaw, whose employers had hired Donald to gather evidence that he was stealing and fencing company goods. Last he'd heard, Bradshaw was unemployed, with divorce and conviction both pending. Forcing his touch to remain gentle, Donald gritted his teeth, swallowing back a sudden wave of anger that was aimed at himself as much as it was at Bradshaw.
He'd done it again.
"I'm so, so sorry, sweetheart," he managed to say after a while.
"Don't be ridiculous," Timmy murmured, his breath warm against Donald's neck. "You charged in just in time, the way you always seem to. My own personal posse of one."
"Still your hero, huh?" Donald said wryly.
"Of course. Well, you and Tux." Timmy looked up suddenly, squinting myopically as he searched the room for his cat. "Where is he?" he asked. "He was trying to protect me. If he's hurt...."
As if in answer, a furry head insinuated itself between them, and Tux mewed plaintively. Together they scooped him up and cradled him between their chests as his purr rose to a crescendo.
"Good kitty!" Donald declared, meaning it with all his heart. "Good, good kitty! Honey, you can bring home a thousand cats if you want, as long as they...hey, what's so funny?"
Timmy had collapsed against him, shaking with silent laughter that quickly escalated into hearty guffaws. He cackled until his eyes watered, gripping his head as if it might burst at any moment and flinching from the pain. Lips pressed together in consternation, Donald regarded him with no small amount of concern, fretting over the possibilities of head trauma and permanent injury to the brain.
When was that damned ambulance going to get there, anyway?
Finally, Timmy settled down and scrubbed his face against Donald's forearm, sopping up tears and more blood with the ruined shirtsleeve as he continued to chuckle softly.
"Care to let me in on the joke?" Donald asked, thoroughly confused.
Timmy shook his head and grinned through the gore on his face, then pulled Donald into a messy kiss. "It's not really a joke," he said, wincing even as his grin grew wider. "You were wrong, that's all."
"About?" Donald prompted, relieved to finally hear the wail of approaching sirens.
"The dynamics of our little family, darling." Tim tipped his head toward Tux, then toward Bradshaw's unconscious form, then back to Tux again. Wriggling blood-caked eyebrows at Donald, he leaned close for a conspiratory whisper. "Even in this all-male household, it appears someone managed to get pussy-whipped after all!"
Timmy's Andirons
And Kitty Makes Three
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Date: 2009-05-28 12:26 pm (UTC)Thanks for writing!
Bronwyn
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Date: 2009-05-28 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 06:07 pm (UTC)*laughs*
Bronwyn
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Date: 2009-05-28 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 10:55 pm (UTC)Ahh, the foibles of youth . . .
Bronwyn
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Date: 2009-05-28 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 11:23 pm (UTC)*drinks*
Bronwyn
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Date: 2009-05-29 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 12:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 04:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 03:03 pm (UTC)*is really not a big cat person*
*and is violently allergic anyway*
You know, a friend of mine has a black/white male cat called Tux, I might have to direct her to your fic!
Thanks for posting,
The Lady 529
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Date: 2009-05-28 03:25 pm (UTC)Cheers.
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Date: 2009-05-28 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 04:16 pm (UTC)..does that mean you might write more fic with Tux..?
The Lady 529
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Date: 2009-05-28 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 04:29 pm (UTC)*does victory improvised jig and sits down awaiting more Tux!fic*
The Lady 529
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Date: 2009-05-28 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-28 04:36 pm (UTC)What I love most about Donald are the contrasts in him; he's this hard-boiled, tough-guy smartass most of the time, but toward Timmy he's nothing but solid mush. What Timmy wants, Timmy invariably gets -- even if has hair and claws.
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Date: 2009-05-28 04:36 pm (UTC)LOL!That was funny!
I enjoyed your story, a really smart mixture of everything and of course Tux is so adorable!
So Donald *is* jealous sometimes, hmm?
I do hope to read more from you in the future.
Thank you!
Sunflower
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Date: 2009-05-28 05:19 pm (UTC)I definitely think Donald can be jealous. Didja catch the look that briefly crosses his face in OTOHD when Andrew said Timmy wasn't always such a good boy? And after Andrew made a pass at him, Don was quick to ask if he'd tried that with Timmy as well. Even in early bookverse, where Donald's a complete slut, it eats him alive when he thinks Timmy might have a yen for someone else, so....
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Date: 2009-05-29 02:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-29 03:02 am (UTC)The disappearance of Dr. Watson (and the fixer-upper house) is never addressed in canon, which drives one a wee bit crazy, doesn't it? Kaly's story "Those Left Behind" posted a couple of weeks ago, and that does offer an explanation as to the fate of Watson.
Meanwhile, methinks me sees a secretary bunny hopping this way...heh heh heh
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Date: 2009-05-29 01:32 pm (UTC)Yours,
Jenna
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Date: 2009-05-29 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-29 04:01 pm (UTC)From the person she refers to as babsilicious
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Date: 2009-05-29 05:22 pm (UTC)Geez, woman, yer makin' me blush here!!! But thank you, thank you, thank you! I know you're like me, which means you don't say it unless you mean it. :)
As far as being unfamiliar with the characters (Besides listening to me gush about them nonstop for the past couple of months) this particular forum was actually my first glimpse into the lives of thses two lovely gentlemen. I fell in love with them through the fanfiction posted here, then saw the movies, THEN started on the books. So browse around a bit, read some fic, check out some fan vids. (I'd be glad to make recommendations, naturally) Since I know you're already a Chad Allen fan, rest assured you'll have the movies inflicted upon you when I see you this fall.
Meanwhile, thanks for reading and commenting, and especially thanks for the beta in the wee hours of the morning!
Ta!
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Date: 2009-05-30 11:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-31 02:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-31 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-05-31 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-02 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-02 10:23 am (UTC)After all, who COULD say no to Timmy...about anything???
The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-02-23 02:02 pm (UTC)street, sweetheart. It's not safe."
The corner of Timmy's mouth twitched. "Funny, that's
what all my friends said when they first met you."
*snicker!* Loved that bit!
Love Tux, too... and Don, though he may not think he's a cat-person, IS cat-like, just like Tux.
We've got three of our own "indoor" cats (our two gay boycats are in my icon-pic above), plus a rotating assortment of neighborhood strays we feed on the front porch (the "mendi-cats"). I've started calling the newest porch-cat "Donnie" 'cause he reminds me of the movie-Donald: similar fur-color, though tabby-striped, and same attitude: tough but also sweet once he gets to know you.
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-02-23 09:17 pm (UTC)Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-02-24 01:15 am (UTC)You might try a kitten. We brought Gryphon in as a kitten; Bjorn hissed and spat for about two days, but by the end of a week was cuddling him, holding him down to wash his ears, and generally letting us know that this was HIS kitten now. :-)
::hugs Baxter again::
Is Baxter the one Photoshopped into the pic of Don and Tim on the couch? He's quite the handsome fellow, but with his dapper tuxedo and dark coloring, seems more a "Tim" than a "Don". (A "Don" cat, I think, needs a scar or two... though Donald *does* "clean up NICE" when Tim gets him out to a formal event!)
What did Merlyn look like?
This icon shows another view of Gryphon & Bjorn. Our third cat's "E.Coli" (we are NOT responsible for the name; her first human called her that, damned if I know why). She's a tiny, demure little grey-and-white shorthair, but if one has to give her a pill, trim her claws, or get her boxed to visit the vet... one wonders if her name was mis-transcribed and is really "Kali", as in The Destroyer, with six fore-paws and sharp weapons in each!
Saw "Donnie" the porch-cat today; I went out for the mail, and he Mraaowr'd loudly 'til I came over to pet him. (No, he wasn't hungry; he had a full dish of kibble which he ignored 'til he got his full ration of behind-the-ears skritches.) He also patiently allowed me to check that his fight-torn nose is healing nicely... He's about 1/3 smaller than our two indoor boys, but (like his namesake) quite the scrapper!
On another note: is the stuff on your LJ sidebar from a "Who Am I" meme? Interesting!
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-02-24 01:24 am (UTC)Weird. I seem to have the same icon pic under two different titles...
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-02-24 03:46 am (UTC)And yup, he's the kitty in the pic you mentioned. And he is definitely a Timmy cat through and through.
Merlyn was a gray striped Maine Coon -- huge and sweet and needy. Til the day he died, he still sucked on my earlobe because he thought I was his mommy and that he was nursing. He was the love of Baxter's life, no doubt about it....
My sidebar didn't come from a "Who Am I" but admittedly the end result is similar. I love LJ, but it's so...well...anonymous compared to MySpace or other online communities. I just wanted to personalize my journal a bit. So I sat down one night with a bottle of wine, lit some incense, and started rambling....
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-03-01 08:34 am (UTC)Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-03-01 04:09 pm (UTC)I don't have a pic of Merlyn scanned, but if you want to see a cat that could be his dead-up twin, go here and scroll down to the photo beside "Breed Discription." The big boy beside the "normal" size female is Merlyn's double.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-03-01 09:56 pm (UTC)Our Gryphon (the black kitty in my icon) is *long* for a non-huge breed; he can reach up and open doors, and put his forepaws on the counter while standing on his hind paws. (If I get interrupted by a 'phone call at feeding time, I have to move the open catfood can or he'll help himself!) Bjorn's a bit shorter, but bigger boned. If they were athletes, Bjorn would be an aging football linebacker and Gryphon would be a basketball player gone a bit pudgy. They're within ounces of each other, weight-wise, but the vet says Gryph is a bit overweight (too heavy for his thinner bone structure) and Bjorn isn't.
They're both very cuddly and affectionate; people who say cats are aloof and "cold" are SO wrong! But then, I bet Donald's parents wouldn't say he was cuddly and affectionate, but Tim sure would... :-)
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-03-03 05:32 am (UTC)I like dogs just fine, but I have to admit, I'm a cat person through and through. They just seem to have so much more personality....
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-03-03 10:30 am (UTC)...or are living with humans who aren't physically demonstrative with their cats...
I've adopted adult cats who went from shy to cuddly after they had awhile to settle in. :-)
As for cats having more personality, I know lots of dogs who live with "dog people" and have lots of personality... I'm a "cat person" 'cause their personalities and the care they need fit better with my personality and lifestyle.
Re: The boys get a moggie!!! YAY!
Date: 2010-03-03 05:43 pm (UTC)True enough. Any relationship takes a certain amount of effort, and if you're not going to be demonstrative with your pet, they aren't going to be emonstrative with you.
I've had a couple of dogs with decent personalities as well, but like you said, I think I lean more toward the feline end of the equation because the nuances of their personalities are better suited to my own. And lord knows cleaning out a litterbox beats getting up at 3:00 a.m. and traipsing out into the cold rain to let someone pee....
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Date: 2010-08-30 02:30 am (UTC)The reason I really like this pairing is that you never know who's going to get his own way, though I suspect Timmy tips the scales on that one.
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Date: 2010-08-30 02:42 am (UTC)As far as getting their own way is concerned, I strongly suspect Timmy comes out on top the majority of the time simply because Donald obviously loves to spoil and indulge him. :) Besides, to quote Donald in OTOHD, Timmy is indeed "an evil, manipulative man." But only in good ways....
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Date: 2012-03-07 08:28 pm (UTC)Yes I like the kitteh story!
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Date: 2012-03-08 03:51 am (UTC)