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They were both well into a making out session on Hob's couch and sharing a rather heated kiss. They hadn't seen each other for a few days and no sooner had they walked through the door of Hob's apartment than they fell into each other's arms, only managing to let go of each other's coats. They didn't even know how they ended up on the couch, but they both didn't care. All they wanted to do was close the distance, kissing, touching, in a frenzied way that matched how much they both had missed each other.
Dream had just slipped his hands under Hob's shirt to caress his back but when his hand reached the hollow of his back, he stopped abruptly.
Hob, a little out of breath, asked almost with a moan, "Dream, what's wrong?"
Dream wanted to step back a little to see Hob's face and asked, looking worried, "It feels like you have a scar there!" He rubbed the small of Hob's back, just above the waistband of his jeans and continued, "You were hurt and I didn't know it?"
Hob looked puzzled at first and then, realizing what Dream was talking about, he shook his head, "No, no, it's not a scar, it's... it's nothing."
He wanted to capture Dream's lips to pick up where they left off, but Dream saw right away that it was an attempt at a diversion because Hob wanted to hide something.
"Hob?"
Hob sighed because he already knew he was going to have to explain himself.
He leaned his forehead against Dream's shoulder and mumbled, "It's a tattoo."
Dream put a finger under his chin and, lifting his head, repeated, looking even more puzzled, "A tattoo?"
Seeing Hob's embarrassed look, Dream smiled, "Hob, Hob, Hob, I am now very interested. I wonder what the design of this tattoo is to make you look so uncomfortable."
"Damn!"
Hob, annoyed, straightened up and, turning his back on Dream, lifted his shirt.
"Go ahead! Look and laugh!"
He felt Dream's hand rest on his shoulder as he said in a serious voice, "Robert Gadling, I've never made fun of you in over five hundred years, I'm not about to start today." Then his hand gently slid down Hob's arm as he continued in a softer voice, "More seriously Hob, I'm not going to force you, you know that."
Hob sighed, shook his head and replied, "Go ahead, you would have found out at some point anyway."
He leaned forward, and, pulling up his shirt, exposed his lower back. He couldn't help but shiver when he felt Dream's breath on his skin as he moved closer to get a better look.
Suddenly, Dream gasped, "Is that...?"
Hob swallowed as he felt Dream rub the spot where the tattoo was with the tip of his finger.
Then, as Hob felt he was tracing the outline, Dream breathed, "My Dream Ruby..."
After a long moment of silence, beginning to feel uncomfortable, Hob said softly, "Dream, scream, cry, yell at me, anything, but say something."
He sensed Dream moving behind him and suddenly felt a gentle pressure at the tattoo spot and swallowed as he realized that Dream was kissing it.
Then he felt his lover straighten up and gently fold the shirt over Hob's back before making him turn around to face him.
Hob was surprised to see that Dream's eyes were bright with tears.
He gently stroked his cheek and asked, concerned, "Hey, what's wrong?"
Dream replied in a clearly emotional voice, "You got a tattoo that reminds you of... me..."
Hob raised his hands in protest, "Hey... it's okay. It's just a little red stone. And it's tiny, and besides, I heard that now you can even have them erased and-"
Dream stopped his babble by putting a finger to his mouth.
"I don't want you to remove it. Hob, do you realize how this makes me feel? You have a mark on your skin that represents me in some way, a mark of the object that only a short time ago contained the essence of my power."
Hob suddenly realized that it was wonder he was reading on Dream's face.
He shrugged and stated, "That I did not know at the time when I had it made."
Dream took his hands and drew him towards him, until Hob was sitting astride his knees. Wrapping his arms around Hob's waist, he slipped one of his hands under his shirt and gently caressed the spot where the tattoo was.
Then, with his eyes in Hob's, he asked eagerly, "When? How?"
Hob scratched the back of his head and replied, "The night of June 7, 1989."
Dream whispered, "Our missed appointment..."
Hob nodded and continued, "You didn't come..." feeling Dream squirm under him he slid his hand in a soothing caress down his back and continued, "Shhh I know why now. So let me get on with it, okay?"
Dream nodded and Hob resumed his tale, "So, you didn't show up and I was already pretty drunk. What didn't get better was when the bartender told me that the pub was closing forever."
Hob swallowed as he recalled the sense of loss he had felt at that moment and then continued, "After that it's all pretty vague, I know I got in a cab and arrived home, not sure how I ended up at the door of the tattoo parlor down the street from my building. I remember it took him a while to decide to accept because I was drunk. But, with a few extra bucks and my promise not to press charges afterwards, he agreed. Mind you, when I got out I wasn't drunk anymore, because by the time he started, the pain sobered me up quickly."
Hob chuckled, laughing at himself.
Dream asked, "And why choose that design?"
Hob, much more at ease now that he had seen Dream's reaction, tapped the tip of his lover's nose with his index finger and replied cheekily, "Well, I would have liked to have tattooed my stranger's name, but unfortunately even after more than five hundred years, I still didn't know it. So I took the one thing from you that was common to all our encounters, your ruby."
Ignoring Dream's look of wonder, Hob leaned over and pressed a light kiss to his lover's lips before kissing a path down his jaw to his ear as Dream ran his hands down his back, finding his way to his tattoo again.
Then Hob stopped his kissing path just below his lover's ear, letting one last kiss linger there before whispering in his ear, "I have a mark of you on me, do you know what that means, Dream?" He kissed him again, this time in the crook of his neck and whispered against his skin, "It means I'm yours."
Dream gasped, then his strong hands settled on Hob's cheeks forcing him to pull back and draw his face close to his until their lips were only a breath away.
Dream's eyes were clouded with hunger as he whispered against Hob's lips, "Mine." before crushing their lips together. Hob could not hold back a moan in front of the passion deployed by Dream. The lord of dreams took the opportunity to invade his mouth, mapping every nook and cranny, until their tongues intertwined in a hot, endless dance.
Hob felt completely claimed by Dream's kiss.
Like he had never felt before.
And he loved it.
Because, even though he had been drunk when he had decided to get the tattoo, the day he had decided to keep it, Hob himself had claimed to be Dream's.
It had been a long time since his stranger had stolen his heart and Hob had no intention of taking it back.