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Ground Rules
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Setup: Season 3, Episode 4, Fae-de to Black. Bo and Lauren finally accept that Bo must feed off others, so they discuss some ground rules. I think the show shouldn't have stopped with the Dyson rule - more rules are needed if Lauren is going to keep her sanity. Unoriginal dialogue from the show belongs to Showcase, and is in bold italics.
Note to hard-core doccubus shippers: This story is written within the context of the show, in which Bo is incapable of being sexually monogamous. Therefore it refers to Bo feeding and having sex with others. Nothing explicit; this is just a conversation. But if the very idea of Bo not being sexually monogamous totally freaks you out, you might want to skip this one.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"But being a doctor, I know I'm not enough for you."
"No, don't say that."
"You're a succubus, Bo. And we both tried to pretend that it wouldn't be an issue, but it is. And for some reason, the shots aren't working anymore and…"
"So?"
"So…you have to start feeding…off others."
"But can you really live with that?"
"I don't really have a choice." Lauren's watery eyes finally overflowed. "Because I won't choose between loving you and you being healthy and strong. I have to have both. The only other choice I can make is I either come to terms with you having sex with other people, or we just can't be together, even though I'll never stop loving you. You feeding off others is the least painful option."
"But I don't want our relationship to be painful for you at all. Lauren, baby, what can I do to make this easier for you? Is there anything I can do to help you cope besides just telling you how much I love you? To always remind you that you are the only one who will ever have my heart?"
"There's really nothing you can do, Bo. It's just something I have to make peace with." Lauren sniffled and tried to rub the tears from her eyes. "Wait. There is something."
"I'll do anything, I swear."
Lauren looked Bo directly in the eye. "I really need you to stop having sex with Dyson. He's not just a random feed, you two used to be more than that. There's still an emotional attachment there of some kind. And when you add sex to the mix, it just…it just really hurts. I'm sorry, but I just can't help it."
"Oh baby, don't apologize for your feelings, it's totally reasonable! Ok, so no Dyson. I promise. Lauren, I am so sorry I let you down. He offered an ambulance instead and I took the easy way out. I just got scared."
"He did? I admit, I'm surprised." Lauren looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. "How about this. If the injury is so bad that you're not able to go out and find someone else then take the ambulance and we'll get you stabilized enough at the hospital so you can go find someone to feed on." She chuckled ironically. "Now that I think about it, I would actually rather bring you a stranger myself than have you feed off Dyson. I know that sounds really petty, and I don't want you to have to suffer longer than necessary, but Dyson…it just hurts too much."
Bo gently held Lauren's face in her hands and gave her a tender, lingering kiss. "No more Dyson, I swear. Now what else can I do? Just name it."
"I…I don't know. I mean…I don't want to make you jump through a bunch of hoops, I don't want you to feel like you should be ashamed of who you are, like there's something wrong with you. That wouldn't be fair to you."
"Don't you worry about me, ok babe? Dealing with my non-monogamy is a huge, big-ass unfairness to you. I'm serious, I will do anything to ease your pain. I need you to be happy. So as for jumping through a bunch of hoops – that sounds as if you already have some hoops in mind?"
Lauren smiled sheepishly. "Ok. To be honest, I really hate it when you feed at the clubhouse, in the bed that we share. Even though you change the sheets, if the feed is recent, it makes my skin crawl and it can be really hard to put it out of my mind. Frankly, I'd like to get a whole new mattress for that matter."
"Check, no feeding at the clubhouse and get a new mattress. Great sweetie, let's keep going. I mean it, I'll do anything! Actually, hang on a sec, I should be writing this down. Do you have a notebook?"
Lauren grinned at Bo's enthusiasm. "Of course." She went over to her desk and grabbed a legal pad and a pen. "Do you want to move to the couch? Much more comfy."
"Sure sweetie."
Once they settled on the couch, Bo grabbed the pen and wrote 'Succubus Ground Rules' in big bold letters at the top of the page. Lauren smirked, finding Bo's eagerness utterly endearing.
"Ok, no Dyson, no feeding at the clubhouse, get a new mattress…what else?"
"If you don't do it at the clubhouse, any ideas for an alternative? It's not like we can afford a motel all the time and I don't want you doing it in a back alley somewhere."
"Um, we could compromise and put an air mattress in the basement?"
"It's kind of gross down there, though. Um…" Lauren snorted and rolled her eyes. "Call me crazy, but I think I'd rather you do it here instead of the clubhouse."
"Are you serious? You're right, that is crazy." Bo said incredulously.
"No, hear me out. We spend more nights sleeping at the clubhouse than here. I like the air mattress idea. But I wouldn't want it in either of our bedrooms. But you can't exactly set up an air mattress in your living room because of Kenzi. If you came here, set up the mattress down here in the living room, and when you're done, deflate it and put it in the storage closet, and you'll also have the shower here so you can freshen up before you come home. Then I don't have to deal with you smelling like someone else either. And if we do spend the night here, nobody would have used the bedroom and the air mattress is out of sight, out of mind. And at least we'll have one place that is a total no feeding zone." She smiled coyly. "Except for me of course."
"That sounds like a workable plan – but are you sure you're ok with me feeding in your own home?"
"It's weird, but if we do it this way at least it won't be up in my face. Besides, this place belongs to the Fae. I don't really consider it my home."
"Ok sweetie." Bo scribbled the new rule on the list. "Only use air mattress at Lauren's apartment. How about I put a sock on the door or something in case you make an unannounced visit to get some of your stuff. At least that way you'll know it's not safe to come in."
"Yeah that should work. I will still need to come over here from time to time."
"Ok cool. I should make a 'do not disturb' sign to put on the doorknob like at hotels." Bo chuckled lightly as she finished writing her notes. "Ok, keep it coming. Any other ideas?"
Lauren sighed heavily. "If I think about it too much, one thing that creeps me out is wondering if every new Fae I meet is someone you've had sex with. I think that it would be easier for me to deal with if they had no memory of your, uh, encounter. Could you use your thralling power to make them forget?"
"Actually, yeah I think I could do that. It might take some practice before I get proficient at it, but that's a really good idea. Erasing a memory is almost as good as erasing history."
"Bo, at the risk of sounding overly needy or clingy…but since I can't have sexual monogamy from you, it makes emotional monogamy all the more important. So it's important to me that you don't put yourself in a position where you could develop emotional attachments. So I need you to avoid repeat customers. Even if they forget, you won't. So once you've fed on someone, they're off the menu. I could handle it occasionally if it's completely unavoidable or a very long time till you feed on them again. Oh and for god's sake don't do it with any of our friends or close colleagues."
"Ew, of course not! I mean, up until now Dyson was the only one in our circle of friends. But that's never gonna happen again. Um, what about a non-sexual feed? Like if I'm on a job and I need a power boost? It's not as effective as a sexual feed but it really helps in a pinch."
"Yeah I can handle that. But if you're working, obviously you don't want to mess with a colleague's memory while you're trying to hunt bad guys. So if it's someone who's not thralled and is helping voluntarily, all you need is an open mouth – so can you please not kiss them?"
"Of course babe. Absolutely." Bo enthusiastically scribbled more notes.
"Are you really ok about this? Or is it too restrictive? I don't want you feeling resentful later because you feel whipped or on a leash or whatever."
"Oh, baby." Bo put down the notepad and pulled Lauren in for a slow sensual kiss. "I am one hundred percent ok. I'm actually really happy about this! It gives me peace of mind to have a system that allows me to get the chi I need without running the risk of hurting you. I don't ever want to do that to you again." Bo gently kissed her girlfriend on the forehead. "Anything else you want to add to the list?"
"I can't think of anything else. But like I said, the emotional monogamy is essential, so we need to make an effort to always communicate our needs and feelings. If I ever feel like you're pulling away or getting distant, I'm going to get scared and paranoid. It's going to take a while to completely shake the constant insecurity so please be patient. But thank you for talking to me about Dyson and coming up with these ground rules with me. If you promise to do your best to follow these guidelines then I promise to do my best to let go of my fear and jealousy and simply trust that you love me."
"I promise. I absolutely promise. I love you, Lauren."
"I love you too, Bo." Lauren stroked Bo's hair and tenderly caressed her cheek. "But I need you to do something else for me."
"Anything."
"Take me to bed and make love to me until I forget about what we had to talk about tonight. All I want on my mind is you and me."
"It would be my pleasure." Bo leered at her girlfriend and stood up from the couch, offering her hand to Lauren to help her up. As soon as Lauren was standing, she let out a playful squeal as Bo suddenly scooped Lauren up in her strong arms and effortlessly carried her lover to bed.
FIN