| 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*
Harry halted, tilted his head back to look at the clear night sky, and waited for Viggo to walk to him. "I know I didn't say anything earlier, but you know..." "Don't." Harry squeezed his eyes shut, took in a shaky breath. "Don't..." "It's alright." Viggo stepped forward, held Harry in a tight embrace against his solid body. //I know, son. I know// After a minute, Harry pulled out of Viggo's arms, laughing a bit, the sound humorless. "This is..." He threw his hands up in the air helplessly. "I shouldn't be this upset." "You grieve how you grieve." Viggo's voice was gentle. "You know that." "Yeah, I do." Harry ran his hands through his hair, looked into compassionate blue eyes. "I expected this, though. And now I've fucked things up in there. Orlando shouldn't have had to find out about me and Karl from me." "No, he shouldn't have," Viggo agreed. "But that's the other eternal idiot's problem. Not yours." He smiled, the grin showing off sharp canines and deepening the dimple in his chin. "And I'm not condoning what you did back there, but I know you had Karl's best interests in mind. And it certainly isn't the first time the two of you have acted like idiots concerning each other." Harry could only nod. He and Karl had destroyed more than their fair share of things and broken more than their fair share of bones over the years. "Orlando's here now, though. He changes things. And he's mortal. He's not going to get us." "Not until Karl explains it to him." Viggo paused. "Assuming, of course, it ever even occurs to Karl to try." "Hell, even then Orlando might not get it. And now I've scared him to death...not the first impression I needed to give him for...fuck." Harry started pacing, kicked the gravel. "Fuck. Guy was Orlando's best friend, and I should have seen that. I should have known." "Stop beating yourself up over it. It's done. You've apologized." Viggo's hand on his arm stopped his movement. "Go home. Get some rest." Harry nodded. "Could you..." He stopped. "I'm sure Karl knows to come see you tomorrow." Viggo answered Harry's unspoken question with a smile. "I have a feeling he's going to be a bit busy tonight." "I wasn't expecting him to." Harry leaned in, gave Viggo a brief hug. "I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow." "Be safe." Viggo watched Harry climb on his bike and rumble out of the drive, a thoughtful look on his face. It was just like Karl and Harry to make things more complicated. Good thing he loved them both like sons. + + + Orlando stopped in the hallway, not quite ready to rejoin the party just yet. His hand, linked with Karl's, pulled the vampire to a halt one step ahead of him. "None of this is settled," he said, voice soft, when Karl looked back at him. "Harry...he..." Karl stopped, and looked back. "I know it's not settled. Harry...look, he made a mistake back there." "Yeah, no shit." Orlando dragged a hand through his hair, shuddered at the memory of knowing eyes and roughened hands. "He said a bunch of shit...and he threatened Elijah." "I know," Karl sighed, placing a kiss on Orlando's forehead. "He thought you and Lij were...actually, I don't know what he thought. Beyond seeing the two of you in a rather lengthy embrace." "An embrace?" What? Oh. Right. Harry must have saw Elijah hugging him earlier. But that was nothing. Orlando looked at Karl, dark eyes serious. "So...what? He thought were were lovers or something?" "That's my best guess. I don't know. He's...well, he's spent his whole life protecting me. Still my squire." Karl said the words with a slight shrug. "I know he's been concerned that I was moving too fast with the binding. It normally takes a few weeks." "Yeah, that's what Dom said." Orlando chewed his bottom lip as he studied Karl. There were so many things that needed to be answered, and...now just wasn't the time. He knew that. "So why did it happen so quickly?" Karl paused for a moment to study Orlando with an appraising eye. Deft fingers smoothed the wrinkled shirt, straightened the slightly askew tie. "Because I didn't want to wait. I'm not the type to linger when I see something I want. I never quite learned a vampire's patience." "Obviously," Orlando muttered under his breath. A raised eyebrow assured him that Karl had heard. Fine with him. "Karl, what he said about Lij...he better not touch him." A strong arm settled around Orlando's waist, steered him towards the party. "Harry won't hurt him. I promise. He was just trying to scare you." "He did a pretty damn good job of that," Orlando muttered, frowning when Karl laughed softly. "It's not funny." "I know it's not." But Karl continued to grin. "I'm sure he won't be repeating his mistake anytime soon. Harry rarely makes the same one twice." Unlike some people Orlando could name. He knew better than to voice that thought. Karl would say something, then he'd have to say something back, and he just wasn't up to arguing with Karl again. Not right now. So all he said was, "Good." Karl smiled again. "You ready to get back now, say our goodbyes?" "Yeah." Orlando resisted the urge to rake his fingers through his hair again. He didn't even want to think of how many people out there knew about the scene of just moments ago. His thought must've been close to the surface, because Karl dropped a light kiss on Orlando's lips. "It'll be alright," he murmured, before gently pushing Orlando back into the noise and brightness. They had barely stepped from the hallway when Elijah's hand curled around Orlando's wrist. "'Scuse us, Karl, need to talk to Orli," Elijah mumbled and dragged Orlando away, leaving a silent vampire in their wake. //Little one?// //I'll be fine. He's just upset.// "Would you mind telling me what the fuck just happened?" Elijah whirled to face Orlando, eyes blazing. Upset didn't even come close. "Harry made a mistake. He --" "A mistake?" Elijah's voice was shrill. Orlando pushed him into the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind them. "A mistake? You were on the goddamn floor shaking like a fucking leaf because he made a mistake? Did you see them, Orli? Did you? They were ready to fucking kill each other because of that mistake!" "It's okay now." Hands reached out to calm, but Elijah was having none of that. "Okay? Bullshit!" Elijah was furious now. Fuck calm, fuck rational. He was pissed. Beyond pissed. "First they're trying to kill each other, then they're all huggy-kissy, then Karl tells you he's fucking that guy, and it's okay? Have you completely lost your goddamn mind? Either one of them could have killed you tonight!" Orlando sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose with slender fingers. "Karl won't hurt me, and he won't let Harry hurt me." "You don't know that!" "For fuck's sake," Orlando snapped, his own anger flaring anew. "I'm bound to Karl now. He's not going to let anyone hurt me." "Yeah, you're bound to him now. Bound to a vampire who's already got a lover, you stupid cunt!" The two were nose to nose, blue eyes glaring up into brown. "He's not going to hurt me," Orlando said through clenched teeth. "He loves me." "So he finally told you?" Two heads twisted to stare at Dom. Calm grey eyes moved back and forth between the two combatants. With an explosive sigh, Orlando raked a hand through his hair and stepped back. "Dom, what --" "I was sent to check on you." Dom jerked a thumb towards the door. "Sean is busy taking the piss out of Karl for what happened, and I thought it would be a good idea if I left after getting my licks in." "Christ! It was a mistake!" Elijah spun around, a hand lifting to poke Orlando in the chest. "A mistake that could have been avoided if you had bothered to find all this shit out before the damn ceremony." "Well, he has had a lot on his mind this week," Dom offered. Orlando flashed him a grateful look. "So you couldn't take two minutes to ask if there was someone else he was fucking?" "You don't know Karl," Orlando said as he glared at his best friend. "He's right, Elijah," Dom added, his voice calm, soothing. "Karl doesn't open up easily." Elijah made a sound of disgust. "Maybe, but Orli's got a brain and a mouth, and he's forgotten how to use both in favor of his dick because he could have asked Karl about all this." "True." Dom nodded, eyes thoughtful as he watched Orlando. "I did tell you he's the strong, silent, stupid type." "Oh, for --" Orlando threw up his hands and stalked off, only to be followed by the other two men. "What was I supposed to ask him? 'Excuse me, Karl, but is there anyone else that you're fucking?' Please!" "It's a start," Elijah said. "He's right," Dom agreed. Orlando had had more than enough. First Harry, then Karl, and now this. Stopping, turning, he fought back. "What about you?" "Me?" Dom looked surprised. "Yeah, you." Orlando's fingers punctuated each word against Dom's chest. "If you had told me about Harry, I wouldn't have been in a position where he could scare the piss out of me!" "I did tell you," Dom said, sounding more than a trifle indignant. "You didn't tell me they were lovers," Orlando fired back. "And you didn't tell me that Karl was going to share me with that...that --" "Whoa! Who the hell said anything about sharing?" Startled, Dom stepped back when Orlando thumped his chest. "Harry did." "What?!" "Harry was kind enough to inform me that Karl shares everything with him." Orlando's arms folded over his chest as he awaited an answer. "That's not right." Dom shook his head, brow wrinkled, grey eyes troubled. "Pets are never shared. The emotional bonds are too strong." "Well, that's sure as hell not the impression I got." "Orli --" "Shut up, Lij." "Orli, listen." Dom's voice took on a pleading note. "There's no way Karl's going to share you. Harry'd kill you. He's too fucking intense. That's why he's never claimed a pet. No mortal could survive it." "Yeah, well Karl sure as hell didn't sound like he planned on giving Harry up, so what the hell am I supposed to do now?" "Fuck." Dom leaned against the counter, ignored the catering staff that watched curiously. "I knew Sean should've killed that eternal idiot." "You need to talk to Karl," Elijah said. Dom nodded in agreement. "Harry's already made sure I know exactly where he stands with Karl. And I could see the fucking pity in his eyes when he told me." Orlando shivered at the memory of those eyes, the memory of Harry's hands stroking his throat. "You don't know the whole story," Dom told him. "There's this...this bond between them. I can't explain it because I'm not sure I understand it myself. But it goes a lot deeper than friendship, deeper than love. Claiming you is the first time Karl's gone outside their relationship since I met him." "Great. That's just what I needed to hear." Orlando sighed, dragged fingers through his hair again. "Just talk to him, dork." "You don't understand. Karl doesn't explain anything to me." Orlando looked depressed. Was depressed. Held tight to the memory of Karl saying he loved him to stave off that depression. "He'll explain if you ask him," Dom said gently. "But you have to ask." "Alright, I'll ask." Anything to stop the arguing. "Promise?" Elijah's blue eyes pinned him in place. "Promise." "So what set Harry off anyway?" Dom asked as they started out of the kitchen. Orlando's face turned an interesting shade of pink, and he grinned. "He saw Elijah hugging me and thought we...." Dom's eyebrows lifted, and Elijah hooted with laughter. Orlando just continued to grin. "You're not --" Dom broke off when Elijah collapsed in a chair, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Orlando shook his head. "Nope. Lij is so straight he could give lessons to arrows." "Orli, I love you," Elijah gasped between laughs. "But your plumbing's too external for my tastes." Dom grinned broadly. "Damn. I can't wait to see Harry's reaction when he finds that out." |