Strange Visitors.

Derek Rayne looked out the back doors of the kitchen, rubbing his eyes in shock. "Nick," he
called softly, not wanting to startle the creature on the other side of the glass. "Is that what I
think it is?"

Nick walked back over to the doors, then nodded, heading back to where he had been considering
the contents of the refrigerator. "Yup, sure is." He pulled out a plate of leftover ham, putting it
aside. "Want an omelet? There's ham and green peppers."

Derek just looked at his coworker in shock. "How can you be so calm? That creature isn't
supposed to exist!" He walked over, laying his wrist against Nick's forehead. "No fever." He
looked him over. "No obvious signs of illness."

"Relax, bossman, it's just a unicorn. This is the Legacy, things like that can happen here." He
gave his friend a small smirk. "You should have been able to figure that out." He turned to bring
his booty over to the stove, starting on his omelet.

Derek shook himself, sitting up in his bed. He looked around in alarm, panting, but didn't find a
sign of Nick or of strange, mythical creatures so he relaxed back into his pillows. He slowly
calmed down, considering what the dream had told him. "Why a unicorn?" he muttered, turning
over and pulling his satin sheets higher around his body. "Maybe I'll figure it out in the morning."

***

Derek looked across the breakfast table at Nick, frowning in consideration of the younger man.
"Nick, have you been having strange dreams?" he asked, putting down his coffee cup.

"Not really," Nick said after swallowing hastily. "Why? Are yours prophetic or just weird?"

"I'm hoping they're just odd," Derek said, going back to his breakfast, shooting the occasional
look at the other man. When they were done, he followed Nick into the Control Room, heading
to do the real work in the house, filling out paperwork.

They spent a few hours in comfortable companionship. Nick tried hard not to notice all the looks
he was getting until he couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, Derek, spill it. What did I do this time?"
He turned to look at his boss, who was trying hard to look innocent and not succeeding. "You've
been giving me looks all day and I want to know why."

"I'm just trying to figure out the meaning of my dream," Derek said softly, going back to his
computer. "It's nothing, Nick, relax. I'm sorry I disturbed you so much."

"Nah, you didn't," Nick said with a grin. "It's just strange to have you looking at me like I'm
about to turn into a 'something'." He shrugged and went back to his work. "When is Alex
supposed to be back?"

"Two weeks. Rachel will be coming out for a house meeting the day after Alex gets back, and we
can slack off while they work." He leaned back, after saving his file. "Goot, it's done. Now
London can ignore us some more." He stood up, patting Nick's shoulder as he walked past.
"Have fun surfing."

"Yup. Gonna eventually, just as soon as I get my paperwork done." Nick considered the door
after Derek had left, giving it a smirk. "Dreams, huh? Let's just see what sort you get tonight."
He fingered the medallion around his neck. "We'll just see if you get the hint tonight or not."

***

Derek found himself in front of the kitchen doors again, this time sipping a cup of tea while he
watched Nick petting their guest. He frowned, walking out to look more closely at his coworker.
"Nick?" he asked softly. "Is there something I need to know?"

"Not unless you don't already know," Nick said, his face resting against the snowy white coat.
"This is Seemore."

Derek looked into the intelligent eyes so like Nick's, feeling his heart start to beat harder as the
unicorn winked at him. He looked at Nick, but the young man was gone. He reached out but
Seemore backed away from him, turning to go graze on some of the soft bushes that made up the
maze. Derek turned toward the house, smiling as he saw Nick in the kitchen with a cup. He
walked toward him, but again, woke up.

"Damn," he said, flopping backwards to hit his head on his pillows. "This is frustrating." He
looked toward his door as he heard a light scratching noise. "Yes, Nick?" he called.

Nick walked into Derek's room, dressed in a tight t-shirt and a pair of very short running shorts.
"I heard you yell, you okay?"

"Fine," Derek sighed, rubbing the sweat from his face. "It's just these dreams." He looked up,
seeing the outline of the pendant his friend was wearing. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to it.

"Hmm?" Nick looked down at his neck. "Just something I found at a street fair last year." He
shrugged. "It's comfortable and it needed to be worn." He pulled it out to show it off.

Derek's mouth opened then closed when he saw the unicorn's head on the pendant, looking up at
Nick. "Who's Seemore?"

"Not sure, is he supposed to be a friend?" Nick asked, his brow wrinkling as he thought about the
question. "I don't remember anyone by that name." He sat on the side of Derek's bed, looking
down at him. "Are you sure you're okay? I mean, you're not sick and hiding it from us, right?"

Derek shook his head. "No, it's just a strange recurring dream." He frowned, running his index
finger across the pendant. "I keep seeing your little friend here. He and you keep wandering
through my dreams and I'd like to know why."

"Derek, why would a unicorn wander through your dreams?" Nick stood up. "I'm sure you'll
figure it out." He headed back to his own room.

Derek pulled the blankets over his head. "I hope so. I know you shouldn't be able to pet your
friend any more than I could."

***

Derek tossed down his fork, looking at Nick. "May I see the pendant?" he asked, holding out a
hand. He looked at the small bronze disk that had been put in his hand, trying to make out the
worn writing. "It's old," he said finally, "and it's in Latin."

"I got it translated," Nick told him, scraping his plate. Derek looked at him expectantly. "It's
about fantasy becoming reality. Something like 'sometimes only a fantasy can make a dream
come true'." He shrugged, snatching the pendant to put it on. "Why? Are you still having that
dream? It's been four days now."

"Yes, and your friend is still in it, though you've not snuggled up to his side in a while." Derek
leaned back with a grimace. "I don't know what to make of unicorns wandering into my dreams
and of you petting them."

Nick chuckled, sounding a little nervous. "Derek, I'm not a virgin, I shouldn't be petting it." He
stood up. "I'm going to go work out. Have fun with figuring it out." He leaned against the wall
once he was safely out of the kitchen. "Gods, what is going on?" he muttered, heading toward
the gym.

Derek frowned at his mostly-full plate, then got up to put the leftovers away. He headed for the
library, maybe he could find an answer in there."

***

Derek found himself in the garden this time, sitting beside Nick as he petted his friend Seemore.
"Nick," he said softly, holding out a hand. "What's going on?"

"I needed him so he came," Nick said, not opening his eyes as he continued to stroke over the
snowy coat. "You know, there is no feeling on earth like his coat. So very soft and warm."

"I can understand that," Derek said with a faint smile. "Nick, would you like to join me or stay
with him?" he asked, shocking himself.

Nick opened his eyes. "Come with you how?"

"I'm not sure," Derek said, and that's when he woke up. And found Seemore standing in his
room. "NICK!" The unicorn flinched and danced away from beside the bed. "Shh," he said,
sitting up. "We'll lead you out to a safe spot." The creature sniffed his hand but didn't come any
closer.

Nick strolled in, then stopped dead, his mouth open in shock. "Derek, that's a unicorn." It turned
to snort at him. "Hi." He reached out a hand, and the unicorn nuzzled it. "Hi. I shouldn't be able
to touch you." He shook his head. "No matter, lets take you outside." He walked the creature to
the elevator, letting it get on first. He met Derek at the door to the garden, standing beside him as
they watched their visitor go out to graze. He looked up, leaning into his friend's side. "Why
does this happen to us?"

"Because it needed to?" Derek suggested with a smile. "Why can you touch it when I can't?"
Nick looked away. "Nick? I thought you were relatively experienced. Unless the legend is
wrong, there's some sort of bond between you two."

"There's more than one type of virginity," Nick said gruffly, getting free and heading back to his
room. "Night."

Derek stood there, watching the unicorn eat while he thought about that.

***

Nick walked into the kitchen, and upon not finding Derek, headed out to talk to their new friend.
"Hey," he said, sitting down in the damp grass in front of the pure creature. "Why did you
come?" It snorted and walked closer, bending down to rest it's head against his chest. "Wow,
you're soft," he whispered as he smoothed down some ruffled hair on the graceful neck. "So very
soft, and warm too." The unicorn snorted and backed away from him so he looked over his
shoulder. "Morning, Derek."

"Goot morning, Nick," Derek said, sitting next to him. "Were you talking with him?"

"Sorta, it's not like he can talk back or something." He gave his boss a wry grin. "So, what's on
the menu for today?"

"We need to find out about your friend," Derek said, waving, which made the unicorn step back a
few more paces. "I would like to know why he likes you so much."

"Maybe he thinks I'm lonely," Nick said, standing up and dusting himself off. "I'm going to go
eat. You stay and talk to him." He turned to walk inside but Derek's hand grabbed his leg.
"What?"

"Are you? Lonely I mean."

Nick nodded. "Some days. I know how Alex feels when she starts in on her 'I'm alone and going
to stay that way' mood." He got free, walking inside as fast as he could without running.

Derek looked at their visitor, shaking his head. "Does him being able to pet you mean he's
virginal in some other way?" It snorted and pawed at the ground. "It does?" The unicorn did it
again. "How do I fix it?" He was stunned by the disgusted look he got, getting up to head inside
after the younger man. "Nick," he said, pulling him away from the refrigerator. "Come talk to
me, Nick," he murmured, calming and soothing the worn nerves he could tell were about to break.
"Who did you want?" He smiled as he got an identical look from his friend. "Ah, I see." He
leaned in for a small kiss, going slow so Nick could back out if he wanted to. Instead, he was
pressed against the open refrigerator with desperation. "Nick," he whispered, trying to calm the
storm he could see starting in the green eyes. "It's all right, I understand."

"You do?"

Derek smiled at him. "There's a reason why I can't pet the unicorn, Nick. There isn't too much I
haven't tried in my life."

"And liked most of it," Nick joked.

"Truly, but nothing is better than having someone beside you because they want to be there." He
ran the back of his hand down the side of Nick's cheek. "We need to talk, my friend, get some
things worked out before we go any farther."

"Can we do it after breakfast?" Nick asked hopefully, making Derek laugh.

"Of course we can," Derek told him, giving him a hug. "We'll talk after you eat." He walked
Nick over to the table, sitting him down. "Let me make you breakfast." He walked back to the
refrigerator, taking out the eggs and bread. "French toast?"

"Yeah," Nick said with a grin, "I need something sweet." He could only watch as Derek walked
back over to him and kissed him, eyes closing as the tender kiss took them both down. "Wow."

"Sweet is permissible. As a matter of fact, I've not been the victim of bad poetry in years." Nick
shook his head with a groan. "You were so very cute when you were chasing Julia, Nick, and we
all adored it." He ran a hand through the young man's hair. "We'll figure it out."

"I know." Nick looked up, giving him a faintly hopeful look. "Soon? I don't know how much
more torture I can take."

"Torture?"

"You running around in jeans and t-shirts. You never walk around in those and you apparently
never get the right size." He ran one finger down the front of the tight t-shirt Derek was wearing.
"You get these very tight, bossman."

"Ah, but how else do I get looks at my age."

"You're not old," Nick immediately countered. "Not at all."

Derek smiled at him. "Thank you." He gave him another kiss. "Do you still want French toast?"

"No, I think this is sweet enough for me," Nick said, stealing another kiss. "How about eggs and
toast?"

"Fine," Derek said with a pleased smile, "eggs and toast it is." He walked away after giving Nick
another look of love. "It'll be ready in a few moments."

***

Derek and Nick lay together on the couch, just being comfortable with being held. "Nick, what
do you see of us in the future?" Derek asked quietly. "Do you see us together?"

"I see us married," Nick said, looking up. "I can't do the whole casual thing, not anymore."

"Goot." Derek gave him a little squeeze. "I accept."

Nick stared up at him in shock then grabbed a couch pillow, beating Derek with it. "You
sneaky..." He shook his head. "Good. We'll do it the day after Alex gets back. We'll even invite
our friend." He snuggled back into the warm side. "You know that means we can only cuddle,
right?"

Derek chuckled. "Yes, Nick, I know. I think I can hold myself back that long, it's only another
week." He ran his hands through the light brown hair again. "So very soft," he whispered.

"So's yours," Nick reminded him. "Soft just like my dreams."

Derek frowned at him. "Dreams of a certain unicorn?"

Nick gave him a guilty smile. "Yeah. Seemore's really soft too. Just like your hair."

"I *asked* you if you were having them."

"No, you asked if I was having strange dreams. I don't consider me petting a unicorn to be
strange." Nick pulled away some. "I'm sorry, Derek, but I knew you needed to figure it out. I
did."

Derek groaned, "Nick," as he made a grab for him.

Derek woke up in his bed, looking around in confusion. A gentle hand went over his eyes,
making him shift so he could see Nick. "What?" he croaked, a hand coming up to rub across his
throat.

"You've been having a rotten case of the flu, bossman. You've had a high fever for a few days
now." Nick leaned down, testing Derek's forehead with his lips, or at least that's what he thought
he was going to do, until he met lips instead. "Ah, Derek," he said, pulling back. "You're really
sick right now and..." His brush-off was cut off when Derek grabbed him and pulled him down
on top of him. "You rang?" he asked with a grin.

"My dreams have been showing me exactly what I need in my life." He took another kiss. "Very
sweet, love, and your hair is still very soft." Nick shook his head. "Yes it is, even as soft as your
friend Seemore's."

"Who's Seemore?" Nick asked in confusion.

"Our unicorn. He's grazing, but he showed me exactly what I wanted."

Nick stood up. "Derek, you're hallucinating and fevered. I can't take advantage of you."

"Take advantage of me?" Derek pushed himself up to look at his coworker. "Nick, there's not
much I haven't tried."

Nick nodded. "Good, then we're about even." He smirked at the shocked look. "Derek, I'm not
an innocent, no matter how many unicorns you dream up." He crossed his arms. "Do you
really..." He waved a hand around the room.

Derek held up a hand. "I'm not letting you get away, even if you can't pet unicorns."

Nick laughed and joined him on the bed. "Okay, but not until you're better."

"Agreed. Now come see Seemore with me."

"Derek, unicorns aren't real."

"Nick, this is the Legacy, things like that can happen here."

Outside, a small portal opened and a snow white unicorn foal stepped out into the garden, looking
up at the lit window briefly before starting to graze, unconcerned at the portal closing behind it.

The End.