| 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*
The urge to kill Harry was starting to creep up again. He made his way over to the bar, longing for nothing more than a huge glass of...hell, something strong. Very strong. "Where's Orli?" So much for a moment's peace. Karl turned, stared down into the clear grey eyes of Sean's pet. Dom did not look happy. In fact, he looked rather pissed. "He's with Elijah," Karl answered. "What the fuck were you thinking back there?" Yes, definitely pissed. And Karl was still spoiling for a fight anyway. Fighting with Harry right now would be like kicking a puppy, but Dom seemed willing enough. "I was thinking I was protecting Orlando." "From Harry?" Dom's voice rose a bit. "Fucking hell, Karl, why in God's name would Harry do anything to Orlando? You know better." "Did you not see the same thing I did in that hallway?" Karl asked, biting the words. "What I saw was Harry and Orli having a pretty intense conversation. One, I'm sure, that could've been avoided if you'd bothered to talk to either of them." "Pet, you don't really want to make a scene right about now, do you?" Sean asked, walking up with Dave hot on his heels. Dom glared at Sean. "This moron," he said, pointing a slender finger at Karl, "hasn't told Orli anything. Weren't you supposed to yell at him about that?" "I did, remember?" "Not enough," Dom grumbled. "I think you need to see if Orlando's okay," Sean said, arching a blond eyebrow. He stood, silent, waiting, until Dom sighed. "Fine, but you owe me details." He leaned up to brush his lips across Sean's, glared at Karl once more for good measure, and went strolling off toward the kitchen. "Cheeky bastard," Karl said, finally grabbing a glass of wine from the bar. "Shut up, Karl, I'm not in the mood." Sean's soft voice was almost like steel and sent Karl's eyebrows up to his hairline. "What the fuck was going on in there? Why in God's name was Harry pinning your pet to the wall?" Karl sighed, now just feeling drained. Was this fucking night over yet? "He thought he was protecting me." "And why would you need protecting?" Sean asked, leaning against the bar. Dave continued to stand there, silently sipping his martini, watching them out of guarded blue eyes. "I don't know, honestly," Karl said, rubbing his hand over his forehead to stop the ache. "Something to do with Elijah, and me not knowing Orlando all that well." "And did it ever occur to you that Harry might be onto something?" Karl hated it when Sean was calm. And hated it more when he had a point. "I bet you don't know the first thing about Orlando, do you?" Sean continued. Karl knocked back his wine, held his glass out to the bartender for a refill. "I took him out. We talked." "Did you talk about Harry?" Fucking hell. "Yes, we talked about Harry. And you." "So you didn't actually talk about your relationship with Harry." Sean continued talking in that low, smooth, calm voice, relaxed as all hell, but Karl knew he was furious. Lovely. "No, I didn't." Actually, talking about Harry wasn't something Karl ever did. It simply was. "And you thought that, what, he didn't need to know that you've been involved in a centuries-old relationship?" Karl ran his hand through his hair, counted to ten. Didn't work. "Shut up, Sean." "No, I won't. Because this time you are going to listen to me, or I'm siccing Viggo on you, as well." Sean straightened, jade green eyes intent on his. "You need to start explaining a few things to Orlando, and you need to do it now. He's mortal. I know you don't know what that means, but the rest of us do. It means he's fragile. It means he's vulnerable. And it means he's going to need a fuck of a lot of assurance from you that you mean to keep him." Hitting Sean was also sounding like a lovely idea. Karl fixed Sean with an incredulous expression. "Of course I fucking mean to keep him. He's my pet! I claimed him." "When are you going to apologize to Harry?" Dave asked, looking up from his glass. Apologize to Harry? "What in the world are you talking about?" Karl asked. "He fucking tried..." "Jesus Christ, and you call yourself his lover!" Dave snapped, setting his glass down on the bar top with a loud thump. "You fucking moron, don't you know he's hurting?" "Of course I..." "And he's fragile," Dave continued, not even acknowledging Karl's voice. "I may not know exactly what it is that's going on with him right now, but I know when someone's about to break." "Harry's not..." "Would you just shut the fuck up!" Dave got right in Karl's face, and Karl could feel the rage coursing through the other vampire, could feel the way that lean body trembled with anger. What the fuck? "He was doing what he thought was best for you, he thought he was protecting you, misguided though it was, and you don't even have the balls to admit to your pet what he means to you. You don't deserve him." Karl could only watch in stunned silence as Dave turned around and left without saying another word. "Whoa," Sean said, gaze following Dave as he walked out of the room. "What in God's name was that all about?" Karl asked, now thoroughly puzzled. If he hadn't known better, he'd have said Dave was jealous. Sean simply shook his head. "I have no idea." + + + //Well, I must say, pet, that was the most interesting party Karl's thrown in years.// Dom laughed, leaning into Sean, as they walked up the steps to their front door. //Definitely one for the history books.// Sean let them in, shut the door and froze. He and Dom weren't alone in the house. He reached out with his mind, tried to get a glimmer on whomever the intruder was -- and encountered only a wall of grief and hurt. Oh God. "Harry," he breathed aloud. "What about him?" Dom asked. Sean looked down into the beloved grey eyes of his pet and smiled. "He's getting drunk in our library." Dom's gaze immediately softened. "Poor guy. We've been so busy with the Karl and Orli fallout that we forgot about him. He must be feeling terrible, especially after..." his voice trailed. Sean nodded, walked with Dom to the library. Harry was slumped in one of the big, leather chairs, jacket off, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie hanging limply on the sides of his shirt. Harry paused in the act of raising his glass of Scotch to his lips and nodded. Sean was happy to note that Harry's eyes were still clear -- the last thing Sean needed was Harry passing out on him. Dom said nothing, just crossed the room and crawled onto Harry's lap, wrapping slender arms around Harry's neck. The vampire stiffened slightly, but soon relaxed into the embrace, placing an arm around Dom's hip. //Cheeky pet.// But Sean was smiling as he crossed the room to the bar. Dom shrugged. //We all need someone to hold, Sean.// "So you're not going to yell at me, or is this to soften me up before you let me have it?" Harry asked, his voice rumbling against Dom's body. "Funnily enough, Harry, out of everyone tonight, I'm pissed at you least of all," Dom replied. Harry gazed down at him. "Thought you and young Orlando were friends." "Yeah, well, he's fast joining the Idiot rank. Doesn't listen to anyone, doesn't talk about the things that matter. No wonder he and Karl are so perfect for each other." Dom wanted to smack himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth, but Harry only pulled him in a bit closer and took another sip of his drink. "It's alright, imp." "So what now?" Sean asked, dropping onto the ottoman in front of Harry's chair. Jade green eyes were sympathetic as he sat and nursed his own drink. "No idea." He sounded defeated, depressed. And Dom's heart went out to him. "Well, if it makes you feel better, Orli doesn't hate you." "No, but he's scared of me now," Harry said. "And that's worse. Because I should have known better. I should have asked." "Yes, you should have." "Sean..." "No, Dom, he's right." "But Karl also should have talked to him," Sean continued. Harry snorted. "You must have Karl confused with someone else, Sean. He never tells anyone anything. I was almost dead before he even told me he loved me the first time." Dom listened intently. This was the first time he'd ever heard Harry talk about his relationship with Karl. He'd had to pry all the scant information he had out of Sean. "That was 800 years ago," Sean pointed out, sipping his wine. "He should have learned a few things by now." "He's never had to." Sean rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Well, things change. And the three of you are going to have to come to some sort of agreement or arrangement." "I know." Harry peered down into his glass. He was silent for a long moment, but kept his hand on Dom's hip and Dom continued to give him what little wordless comfort he could. He could feel the tension in Harry's body, and his grief and sorrow were almost living things, they were so acute. Dom was grateful, not for the first time, that he wasn't a vampire with a vampire's heightened senses and feelings. //He's hurting so much, Sean.// //I know, pet, I know.// "I do have a bit of interesting news, though," Sean said aloud, eyes flashing with mirth as he leaned back. "Your young Mr. Wenham apparently has teeth somewhere other than just his pretty mouth." Harry groaned, rolling his eyes. "What did the whelp do now?" "He went to bat for you." Sean smiled at Harry's incredulous expression. "I know. He gave Karl one of the best dressing downs I've seen in a long time, told him he didn't deserve you and to apologize to you before making a great exit. Boy has style." "Dave said all that to Karl?" Harry looked a bit shell-shocked. Dom didn't blame him. Hell, he was impressed himself. Sean nodded. "I haven't seen Karl that close to speechless in a long time. If I didn't know better, I'd say Dave was protecting your honor." Harry wrinkled his brow. "I might just be forced to talk to him tomorrow." It was too bad mortals weren't allowed at actual Council meetings, 'cause Dom would pay good money to see the look on Dave's face when Harry sought him out for a change. //What's so funny, pet ?// //I'll tell you later.// Sean rose gracefully, placed his hand on Harry's knee. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need to." Harry nodded, rubbed his free hand over his eyes, pinching them together. "I know." Sean pretended not to notice the tension in Harry's body when he kissed him and left the room. Dom was no doubt already making him laugh by now, and Sean had a phone call to make. Someone was going to have to get Orlando to talk to Harry, and Sean could think of only one person who could do it. + + + "Come on, little one, let's get you into bed." Karl's voice was so soothing, so soft. Orlando wanted to wrap it around him like a blanket and cuddle it close. God, he must be tired. He allowed Karl to lead him down the steps, leaned into Karl's body for support. Saying good-bye to the last of the guests had taken up the last of his energy reserves. He was running on nothing except fumes right now. Candles were already lit in the chamber when they arrived, and Orlando was swaying a bit as Karl undressed him. He couldn't even summon the energy to respond to the feel of Karl's gentle hands on his body. //Under the covers.// The silk felt heavenly on his body, but he waited until Karl joined him under the sheets to finally succumb to slumber. "We need to talk," he mumbled, already half-asleep. Karl pulled Orlando closer to him, kissed the top of his head. //We'll talk when you wake up.// |