| Title: Cherished Authors: Jo & Brenda Series: Claimed Pairings: Karl Urban/Orlando Bloom/Harry Sinclair Rating: NC17 Summary: Vampires and pets and sex, oh my. Yeah, it's an AU. Disclaimer: As far as we know, vampires don't exist. Cha. Author's Notes: *Brenda points to Jo* It was all her fault. I just went along with it. *Jo points back at Brenda* Her Karl had designs on my Orli. She liked the idea so we let them play. This is what happened. *mwah* *Brenda & Jo look around, then whisper* But it's really *all* Harry's fault and if he says otherwise, it's a lie! For the other 1/2 of the Quartet. *mwah*
A quiet clearing of a throat from the door spun him around. Orlando stood there, hands in his pockets. "I didn't come at a bad time, did I?" he asked, voice cautious. Elijah shook his head. "Nope, I just look busy. You know how it is," he said with a shrug. Orlando smiled faintly and sat down. Okay, this was not right. "I thought you had to work today." "I called out." Elijah blinked. "Are you sick?" "No, I...I just wasn't feeling good when I woke up," Orlando murmured, his voice soft. Definitely not right. "What's wrong? You look like shit," Elijah stated, noting the dark circles under his friend's eyes. And his stillness. Orlando was never still. Orlando's head snapped up. "I just...I'm just tired, I guess." "And?" Elijah frowned when Orlando sighed and looked down. "And it's all a little overwhelming," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm rich now." "Rich?" "Yeah." And Orlando quoted a figure that sent Elijah's eyebrows rocketing skyward as a hand clapped over his mouth. "Holy shit!" Elijah squeaked from between his fingers. "That's more money than -- " "Than God. Yeah, I know," Orlando said with a faint grimace. Very weird. Orlando had always grumbled about being a working class stiff, but now he had money, and he didn't look thrilled about it at all. "And that's not even half of it. He could live another 900 years and still not run out of money with all the companies he owns." "Another...no, don't tell me, I don't want to know," Elijah stated with an emphatic shake of his head. Orlando gave him a weak grin. "So all that is yours now?" "Not quite. But it will be after tomorrow night." "What's tomorrow night?" "The binding ceremony." Oh, sure, that explained things. The binding ceremony. Of course. Made perfect sense. With a mental snort, Elijah chewed one ragged fingernail. "And the binding ceremony is...what?" "It's...like a wedding. Only not. That's the closest thing I can think of." "You're marrying him? Is that legal?" Elijah wasn't sure. The state of California had yet to legalize same sex marriages, but Karl wasn't exactly human. Was it possible for Orli to marry a male vampire? He'd have to ask someone. "Do you need a priest or something?" Elijah asked. Orlando laughed, with just the faintest edge to it. "No, it's not like that. It's much simpler. Karl will bite me, and then I'll cut him...." He seemed to grow a little paler, the smile faintly strained. "...and drink from him, and then he'll mark me somehow and that's it. The only people we need are a few witnesses. Karl's already got a few of his friends that will be there, and...well...I was hoping you'd be there for me." "Tomorrow night?" Elijah sighed when Orlando nodded. This was really important to him, Elijah realized. "Yeah, I could do that." Orlando looked so relieved that Elijah couldn't help but grin and hug him. "Great," Orlando said with the first real smile Elijah had seen since the other man had walked in. "So, is 10:00 okay? Can you make it by then?" "Yeah." Elijah nodded and glanced at his watch. "Tell you what...it's almost noon. Why don't I buy you lunch, and you can tell me all about this ceremony?" Orlando nodded and waited, impatiently, for Elijah to grab his sunglasses. As they started out of the office, he casually said, "Lij, mate, how'd you like to go to Tokyo with me next Tuesday?" + + + "I thought I'd find you in here." Orlando jumped in his chair at the soft sound of Karl's voice. He swiveled, saw the vampire lounging in the doorway of the study, barefoot, hair tousled, wearing only a pair of navy silk pajama bottoms that rode low around stunning hips. Orlando was suddenly swamped by a need so great it shook his very soul. Christ, would he ever get used to this? "I was..." he gestured at the open folders, the computer. "...just...ah..." He couldn't stop staring at Karl's naked chest. //My eyes are up here, little one.// Orlando's gaze flew up, met Karl's indulgent one. Not that it helped. Karl's eyes were just as lethal. Just...fucking hell... "Do you remember anything about our earlier conversation?" "Huh?" Karl grinned. "Guess not. I was wondering what your plans were for the evening." "My plans?" Plans? He didn't have any plans. He'd thought he was going to be with Karl. Going over more of this empire he'd suddenly inherited. "I was hoping you'd let me take you out." Take him out...what? Orlando continued to look at Karl with what he knew was a totally blank expression. "On a date?" Karl prompted, still smiling, still slouching, still looking utterly fuckable. "Date?" Hello, Earth to Orlando, you know what a date is. "You want to take me out?" Karl inclined his head, a dark lock of hair falling across his face. "It occurs to me that we've never gone on one. And I'd like to ask you to dinner. Maybe shopping for a suitable wardrobe. If that's alright with you." Oh my God, Karl was actually serious. A date. Shopping...dinner... "Um, yeah, sounds good." Well, that was an intelligent response. Karl smiled, white teeth gleaming. "Shall we meet in the foyer in, say, an hour?" "Yeah, sounds good." Christ, now he was repeating himself. He lowered his head, embarrassed beyond words. "And Orlando?" He raised his head again, was caught by knowing eyes that seemed to look through him, into him. "Yeah?" "Don't think too much about what you're wearing. You won't be wearing it long." And, with a small wink, Karl sauntered down the hall, leaving a very bemused, completely baffled and thoroughly aroused Orlando behind. |