H&M: After a Long Day (locked to Gabrielle) (NC-17)

[iolaus_lj]

Who knew that repairing and sanding floorboards could hurt more than fighting a hydra?

Iolaus had been on his knees most of the day, hard at work on the flooring to the derelict building that would house Herculaneum. Almost a third of the surface had to be replaced with new wood, which required measuring, cutting, fitting, then more sanding

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[potadeiabard]

Gabrielle sat at the small table beside the window writing her thoughts down on the fresh piece of parchment when she heard the door open and she looked up.

Iolaus stood in the doorway, and though he masked it well, she could see the tired lines around his eyes and mouth. Pushing back from the table, she stood up to greet him. "How was Herculaneum?" Her gaze watched him closely for any signs of pain or hurt.

[iolaus_lj]

Iolaus smiled at her greeting. There was nothing to match the feeling of arriving home -- temporary or not -- to find a woman you cared deeply for waiting to welcome you.

"It's going great," he said, closing the door. "I've got the floor about finished," he continued as he walked toward her. He moved a bit more deliberately than he normally would, all the better to disguise the fact that he felt like a 100 year old man.

[potadeiabard]

Too long with Xena and too many hurts of her own for Gabrielle not to miss the deliberate way Iolaus held his body and walked. "That's great. I'm glad it's going well. So you'll feel like dancing a bit later? I found this place in the village that looks like fun, but it will definitely give us a workout." She wondered if Iolaus would admit that he was tired and hurting or would she need to be more straight forward.

Gabrielle crossed the room and slid her arm around Iolaus' waist, letting him lean on her if he'd like. "But first, you probably would like a nice long, hot bath."

[iolaus_lj]

"Dancing? Um, okay, sure." He managed a smile, quickly hiding his reluctance. "No problem! If that's what you want to do, we'll go dancing."

Suddenly he had the feeling that it was going to be a very long night. But if Gabrielle wanted to go dancing, then by the gods, they'd go dancing. (Or shuffling, in his case.)

"Definitely a bath first, tho," he confessed as slipped his arms around her. A very long, hot bath. "Otherwise, everyone within a mile is going to smell me coming."

[potadeiabard]

Gabrielle bent her head to give Iolaus better access to the ties of her halter top, or so it looked but she wasn't above taking advantage of the situation.

She placed an open mouthed kiss on a patch of skin on his chest that didn't have dirt or a bruise. Her lips curled into a smile against his skin as she felt his muscles jump under her touch.

"Yep, you were right about there." Gabrielle's lips were feather soft against Iolaus' skin as she spoke.

[iolaus_lj]

Iolaus replied with a short, surprised intake of breath as her lips and breath against his chest made his skin tingle. His fingers fumbled all the harder at her leather ties, finally pulling them loose. The halter began to slip and he helped it along by gently pulling the straps off her shoulders and down the length of her arms.

He hesitated to touch her creamy white skin with his grime-covered hands, and so let them begin to work at removing her leather skirt.

Glancing over his shoulder at the nearly full tub, he said almost casually, "I think we're about to flood the bathing room."

[potadeiabard]

Gabrielle had forgotten about the water, well not actually forgotten, but got distracted from the water. A slight pink tint colored her cheeks as she smiled at Iolaus and stepped out of her skirt that had pooled at her feet with his expert touch.

"I had my mind on other things and after the zombie destruction and monster goop throughout the hotel, we probably better not flood the bathing chamber." She reluctantly stepped back from Iolaus, before leaning over and turning off the handles of the spouts. "I promise I won't scent the water..." Gabrielle looked over her shoulder with a grin, "unless you want me to."

[iolaus_lj]

As Gabrielle bent over the tub, Iolaus let his gaze caress her naked body. Her buttocks were firm and creamy white, inviting him to reach out and touch. He looked down at himself, covered in dust and grime caked on by a day's worth of sweat, and forced himself not to reach out and touch her.

"Um, think I'll pass on the scented water, thanks."

[potadeiabard]

She was silent, thinking of Iolaus' childhood and how very different it was from her own and yet how similar. "I wasn't very good at the weaving clothes and farming pigs. Everyone thought, I thought, I was too good for it so I didn't put an effort into it. I was just bad. You escaped through physical means and I escaped in the stories in my head. Then when Xena came, I was outta there like an arrow."

Her lips were soft as a butterfly's wing as she pressed them against his skin and her hands caressed his chest. If she could suspend time, keeping them just like this, she would. When they were wrapped around each other, was one of her favorite times.

"I don't know about all of Greece knowing my name, a few cities would be nice though. I'm glad you think I was born for more." It humbled her greatly that both he and Xena saw something in her that went beyond the village girl from Potadeia. "Maybe I'll be in the same sentence alongside the mighty Iolaus, with the generous heart and brave soul, that fights beside Hercules."

[iolaus_lj]

Iolaus wondered what Gabrielle's life would have been like had she stayed in her little rural village. But no, in his mind's eye, he simply couldn't imagine her there.

He wrapped his arms around her arms as where they encircled his chest, hugging what small portion he could reach of her.

"I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for stories about the mighty Iolaus," he said, chuckling at his own expense. "Maybe stories about 'that short guy' standing next to Hercules. Or maybe 'that blonde guy' over there. Guess it's a good thing Joxer isn't a bard, because he keeps calling me Ioafus."

[potadeiabard]

"Ioafus?" Gabrielle grinned, glad he couldn't see her. "Did he ever tell you of the time Aphrodite enchanted my scroll?" Her grin turned into a wide smile at the memory of that day, though at the time it wasn't funny. "Next time you see him ask him about the three dancing versions of me." It still embarrassed Joxer when she would mention his conjuring her. "You might threaten him with bringing that up the next time he calls you Iofaus."

She slid her body back from his just for a moment and reached for a clay jar on the ledge above the bathing tub to wet his hair.

[iolaus_lj]

"Three dancing versions of you?" he repeated, eyes widening. "Really?" Grinning, he tried to imagine what he would do with three dancing Gabrielles. No, he didn't need to imagine. He knew exactly what he'd do with them.

"I don't suppose you still have that enchanted scroll lying around," he teased, then laughed. "No, on second thought, knowing 'Dite, I'm betting it caused you more trouble that it was worth."

[potadeiabard]

"No, I didn't lose my memory. The Darsham, Enlightened One, sent Xena forward in her karma life to defeat a very powerful enemy." One of Gabrielle's hands moved from Iolaus' face to lightly touch the ends of her short hair. "Her name is Alti and she had taught Xena most of her skills."

She shook her head, displacing the memories and returned her gaze to Iolaus. "I made Naima send me after Xena to my next karma life when we were together again. We weren't ourselves, I was male, but I recognized her immediately. My soul knew hers." Her lips twitched slightly at the memory of looking in the mirror and seeing a male face looking back at her.

[iolaus_lj]

"That's incredible," he said, fascinated by her reminiscence. "So, what you're saying is, our souls don't stay in the Elysian Fields or the Light or whatever their afterlife is when they die. They go on to live other lives as different people? Over and over again?"

[potadeiabard]

"Yes. I didn't believe it either at first but after Naima sent us forward, I couldn't doubt it any more. Naima said that Xena and my life are forever connect, just as hers and Alti's are connected. Through many lives we will meet each other and Xena will defeat Alti in every carnation."

Gabrielle grew silent for a moment, debating whether to tell Iolaus about her own crucifixion and coming back from the dead. There would always be rumors about her and Xena's death, that he probably no longer paid attention to them.

[iolaus_lj]

"No kidding?," he said, bemused. "So, we just keep going? Dozens, maybe hundreds of lives? And we keep meeting the same people, over and over again? Huh. How about that. I'll bet that keeps the Fates pretty busy!"

Absently brushing a strand of damp hair from her forehead, he seemed to be looking beyond her. "Wonder why Michael never mentioned that to me," he murmured, thinking aloud. "Must have been one of those need-to-know things."