The morning was still new. Sean was thinking about home as he was sitting on the back porch, cradling a coffee mug. Dew never really stood a chance in this heat, and unfamiliar birds were chirping in the trees. The sloping hills didn’t seem much like good, old London and even less like good, old Sheffield. But then again, the last years he hadn’t been home that much anyway. His house had become something of a transit station. It was just somewhere he stopped every now and then, to un-pack and re-pack, and to try and get his wandering feet to actually feel like staying still somewhere. He hadn’t really known that feeling, not until now.
And it was scary as hell. New projects were already lined up after this one; he barely had time to finish this movie before going off to Holland, Morocco, the US… Supporting his chin with one hand, Sean sipped the luke-warm coffee. It wasn’t the travelling he minded so much, but the fact that he would be going alone. They would be separated. Viggo needed to stay and be Aragorn for a few years more and he… Well, he would be all over the place. Squinting his eyes in the sunlight Sean quickly quenched the quiet thought that wondered if Viggo would let him go at all.
The coffee maker made its usual sound and Sean got his feet. He preferred regular coffee himself; a little milk, one sugar, while Viggo loved some ecologically grown choice from somewhere in South America. Sean never could get used to the taste, so he resorted to get up a bit earlier and make two pots of coffee. He didn’t know if Viggo knew about it, the older man had never said anything about it.
A tiny flash of reflected sunlight caught his attention as he was standing at the kitchen counter. There were still a few busy drops tumbling into the carafe, so Sean was left waiting for a moment. He bent down and found a piece of glass hiding just behind the corner of the counter. He had missed that, when cleaning up the other night. His immediate thought was covered in a guilty conscience; Viggo walked around barefoot a lot. He could have cut himself. The next thought seemed physical, like his muscles, tendons and nerves were thinking, some left-over evolutionary thing, from ages back when quick reflexes meant life or death. Rubbing his thumb over the shard, the sharp edge sliced easily though the surface. Blood welled up from the cut, forming a perfect pearl on Sean’s skin.
It smarted more than it hurt. Sean put his finger in his mouth. The feel of the tip of his tongue tracing the edges of the cut, brought a tingling, stinging feeling, spiced by the metallic blood-taste. Withdrawing his finger, Sean studied it thoughtfully. Blood seeped through, thinner now as it was mixing with saliva. The blood on the glass had already dried a brown-red discolouration on the clear surface.
Brushing the blood away, Sean could easily see the cut beneath. Ruler straight with neat sides. Because he had been worrying at it, it stung. Coffee forgotten long since, Sean picked up the piece of glass again, experimentally turning it over and over between his fingers. It was warm after having been in the sunlight all morning. Carefully, nibbling on his lower lip, Sean placed the sharpest edge of the glass against his skin again. At the back of his hand, just below the spot where hand joined wrist. Pressing down, he was rewarded with the sight of blood. Dragging the piece of glass a little created a determined line, not as neat as the first one. Blood followed him, in a miniature race. Sean snagged the glass away before the blood caught up and stained it some more. That left an approximately one and a half inch long cut on his hand, blood soon obscuring the lines.
The blood kept coming. This cut was deeper so it didn’t gather at the sliced skin, but formed small runaways that travelled over his wrist. He caught them, licking them away before they could fall to the floor or on the counter.
The coffee maker beeped again, making Sean jump. Looking wide-eyed at the cut, he hurried to turn on the faucet. The cold water made the cut sting. He didn’t notice how he was breathing a little faster and that his heart were picking up just slightly. A blush crept over his features as he studied the broken glass. Rising to his toes he pushed it up on top of the cabinets, making sure no one would be able to see it, unless they knew it was there.
The coffee server was already rinsed out and ready for use. Sean poured the hot coffee into the container and made sure to close it securely to keep the liquid from going cold.
Strong arms came around him and he nearly dropped the coffee all together.
“Viggo!” he breathed, “you startled me.”
“You seemed deep in thoughts,” the Dane commented. He turned Sean around in the circle of his arms. “What were you thinking about?”
Looking at his lover from under his lashes, Sean kept his silence for a few seconds. “You,” he replied in the end. “I’m always thinking about you.”
That made Viggo smile.
“Good.”
Despite the fact he felt like a vampire caught out in the sunlight, hiding behind black sunglasses and a hat stolen from Liv, Orlando still felt somewhat good. From his vantage point outside the canteen, he could see most of who was coming and going. Ian had come to sit with him for a little while, before going to make-up. The two of them had watched Dave and Karl run into each other, both blushing profusely at the sight of the other. A few words were exchanged, neither able to meet the other’s eyes, and then they all but ran in different directions.
“What the hell was that all about?” Orlando wondered.
Ian smiled. “According to the gospel of gossip, the two of them woke up cuddling after the party last night. Dom and Billy have been teasing them relentlessly ever since.”
Orlando returned the smile. “You think there could be something between them, I mean… They’re both straight, right? Or at least it seems to be that way…”
“Maybe they just hadn’t met that right someone to make them question their orientation before. It happens.”
“Yeah. I bet it does.”
Not long after Ian had left, to start his transformation into Gandalf. Orlando stayed at his table, getting himself another bottle of cold water.
“I see you’re still alive.” This time he recognized the teasing voice. He didn’t bother to look up.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.” The words were coated with a grin. “Just some company before I have to go to make-up.”
“What, you need make-up?”
“Very funny.” The other man pushed a hand through his bleached blonde hair. He sat down, making Orlando glare at him.
“Did I say you could sit down?”
“No.”
“Then why…” Orlando gave up. “Oh fuck it.”
The other man was unfazed. “We never got to introduce ourselves last night.” He grinned again. “I know who you are; of course…the big star Orlando Bloom.” The grin got wider as he watched the look on Orli’s face, crinkling the edges of his blue-green eyes. Then he reached out his hand. “I’m Mark. Just started this gig.”
Orlando pretended not to see the hand in front of him.
“Not interested. Go away.”
“Man, you’re in a bad mood. I can help with that.”
“Like you helped me last night.” Orlando spoke the words carefully. “I could have you kicked off the set for that. And lot of good it did do me. I feel like shit.”
Mark nodded. “Because you were drinking last night too. One of these babies,” he held a similar white tablet between thumb and fore finger, “is just going to perk you up a little. Nothing more. Nothing dangerous. It’s just going to make you feel a whole lot better.”
The sound of talking alerted them that someone was coming.
“Tell you what,” Mark got ready to stand up. “I’ll leave this with you, Bloom.” The pill was placed underneath Orlando’s hand before he could stop it and he reflexively curled his fingers around it.
”If you need more, you know where to find me.” The orc actor got up. Putting on sun glasses he walked by Viggo. The dark haired man sent the blond a look, and then he walked past as well.
David had been thinking about it all morning. In fact, ever since he had woken up, several hours ago, to find a warm weight snuggled up on his chest, had he been thinking about it. Very carefully opening one blue eye, he had looked down on himself to find an unruly mop of dark hair tickling his chin.
Finding his arms again, David instinctively put them around the man sleeping on him. It felt surprisingly good, and he blushed. A quick inventory check made sure that they were both fully clothed. And he was also thankful for the fact that they seemed to be alone. Patting Karl’s back nervously, he tried to wake the younger man.
“Karl!” he whispered urgently. “Karl, we fell asleep!” Trying valiantly to slide out from under Karl, to save them both embarrassments, he discovered first that he was stuck, and second; that his body liked being stuck.
“Karl!” he whispered again. He held his breath as he felt Karl wake up. The brunet raised his head and dark brown eyes stared straight into Dave’s blue eyes, their faces a few inches apart. Dave still had his arms around Karl.
Karl’s hands were on David’s shoulders, fingers slightly curled. Neither of them spoke.
“Good morning?” Dave offered in the end. The other man couldn’t help a smile at that and was about to answer when loud chattering announced that there were hobbits coming.
“Hey, look!” Elijah’s voice travelled clearly from across the room. “Look’s like someone hooked up last night!” The words were followed by a lewd giggle.
“Are you guys decent?!” Sean Astin hollered from the doorway. Next to him Dominick and Billy were snickering. “Because if you’re not…then I’m not coming any closer.”
Both blushing, Karl and David quickly made their way free of each other. Getting to his feet, David risked a look at Karl, but couldn’t quite see the expression on his face underneath a curtain of dark hair. A little part of him wondered what would have happened if they hadn’t been disturbed. He had liked Karl right away, and he couldn’t deny that it had felt nice waking up like they had. There were all sorts of worries attached to that thought, but he had felt good, holding the younger man in his arms.
They hadn’t really spoken since. Later the same morning they had run into each other, both too shy to say anything. Dominick and Billy were still teasing them good naturedly, secure in their own relationship.
Figuring he had to do something about it, at least to save their budding friendship, David had gone in search of Karl.
“Karl! Wait up!” He caught sight of the already familiar broad back in front of him. The younger man had been speaking to Ian Holms and they both turned around to see David. The red head stopped short.
“Could I… Could I speak to you in private, Karl?”
Karl was looking a tiny bit nervous. Ian waved them on, not letting on if he noticed the unspoken words between the two men.
“You boys go on. I have a meeting with the writers in a few minutes.” Gathering his copy of the script he left, leaving the two younger men in an uncomfortable silence.
Come with me?” David wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but looking at the other, he knew he had done the right thing. And when Karl followed him without a word, his heart did an excited, yet anxious two-step. Sneaking a look at the taller man, he found Karl looking back at him. As on cue they both looked away, colour rising in their faces.
They had reached the outer edges of the little community they were finding themselves in. A few boulders broke the green grass like oversized marbles. The stones made for a decent bench, David took his seat on one of them, gesturing for Karl to join him.
“Listen,” the Australian bravely started. “I like you. I mean, I like you very much…” That sent both of them blushing again, and David bit his lip. “Uh, like a friend. I like you as a friend. A good friend…”
There was still a hint of rose in Karl’s cheeks as he answered.
“I like you too… And I’d hate for this to come between us, it’s not that big a thing, really…”
David’s left eyebrow rose, but he managed to keep from making a wisecrack comment. This was absolutely not the time. It did seem, however, that Karl’s thoughts walked the same path as David’s, as the darker man was back to blushing. A smile tugged at Dave’s lips. Slowly its twin was born on Karl’s face. In a few minutes they were both laughing.
“So,” David smiled. “Are we good?”
Karl chuckled. “Oh yeah…” Leaning over he pressed his lips to Dave’s in an open-mouthed, heated kiss.
“We’re good, mate.”
Blinking, Dave wondered what the hell had just happened. But then the velvety touch of an insistent tongue stroked against his and he stopped thinking all together. Tumbling off the rocks, they ended up tangled in each other, in the long grass.
“We should be taking this slow,” Dave managed to get out against Karl’s lips, “get to know each other first…”
“Sure,” Karl agreed. “We’ll take it slow, with lots of making out.”
His arms securely fastened around the other man, David wholeheartedly agreed.
Resting together in the grass, still a bit too shy to touch each other too intimately, they shared long, hot kisses. After a little while Karl supported himself on one elbow so he was able to look down on Dave, his other arm curled around the older man’s midsection, looking very much like it belonged there.
“Do you think this would have happened this morning, if we hadn’t been interrupted?”
David thought a little. “I don’t know,” he honestly answered. “I kinda think so.”
Karl nodded. “Yeah.”
It made David reach up and tug him back down. As their lips met again, he decided that taking the role of Faramir in this insanely large and scary production was the best thing he had ever done.