| 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*
Karl paused as he turned the corner of the castle, took in the sight of Harry's bare, gleaming back and arms as he swung his heavy broadsword at the twirling target set up in the middle of the yard. The waning rays of the sun cut a path through the trees, sending prisms of red and gold to highlight Harry's hair and skin. Made him look pagan, ancient, like the warrior god he was. Karl shrugged out of his jacket and shirt, then picked up the extra sword lying on the rack and stepped into the cordoned off area. And attacked. Harry whirled, met his thrust with steel, and it set the pace for the next hour as they sparred, lunging with quick jabs and swinging the heavy swords like they were extensions of each other's arms. They didn't speak to each other, didn't need to. They'd sparred like this so many times over the centuries it was like a dance, complete with turns and dips and sways. It ended in a stalemate, the way it normally did. The day had long since passed when Karl could beat Harry at swordplay. Karl touched his sword to his forehead in salute, put it back on its rack and Harry did the same, tossing Karl a towel to wipe the sweat from his head and arms. Karl took it, sinking to the soft grass. "You ready to talk now, puppy?" Harry stretched, lifting his arms to pop his back and shoulders. "Not really, no." "Tough. Sit." Karl patted the ground beside him. With a heavy sigh, Harry lowered his body next to Karl. "Now fucking talk to me." He linked their fingers together, brought Harry's hand up to his for a quick kiss. Harry sat still, staring out at the horizon, silent for such a long time that Karl was getting ready to ask him again. When he spoke, his voice was rough with regret. "I just...I'm sorry." "It's okay." Harry wasn't finished. "But you really need to learn to fucking talk to people. Orlando had no idea about us, did he?" "No," Karl sighed. It seemed he was doomed to get yelled at by everybody about this. His own fault really, but he was tired of talking about it. "No, he didn't." "I told you to talk to him. He's mortal. He's not going to understand." Karl nodded. "I know, I just..." "Didn't think about it," Harry stated, brushing Karl's cheek with his free hand. "I know. But you're going to need to. He's your pet. You're bound to him. He needs to be told. Everything." "I know." Karl sighed again, a bit heavier this time. "He let me know all about it, too." Harry grinned, showing the tips of his canines. "Good for him." They sat for awhile, watched as the first stars started appearing in the twilight sky, listened to the crickets and cicadas chirping in the nearby trees. "The two of you are going to need to talk at some point, you know," Karl finally said, leaning his head against Harry's shoulder for a moment. Harry shook his head. "Not right now. He's terrified of me and with good reason." "And he's jealous," Karl added. "I told you so," Harry said. "I remember being mortal. I even remember being a mortal in awe of you." Karl raised his eyebrow. "You were never in awe of me." "Shows what you know." Harry brought their hands up to his lips, kissed Karl's fingers. "You were everything I wasn't. Beautiful, immortal, rich, powerful, at peace." Karl's eyes softened. He raised his other hand, brushed a lock of dark hair from the other vampire's face. "You were always beautiful." "Only to you." "I'm not going to get into this argument again. You fully well know you're a god." Harry smiled, and it was almost the cocky smile Karl knew and loved. "Yeah, well, the point is, I wasn't at the time. But I had an advantage Orlando doesn't. I was older, more experienced, I had confidence in myself and my abilities. And I knew you. I'd known you all my life. Orlando doesn't know you." Trust Harry to cut right to the heart of the matter. It had been a long time since Karl'd dealt with someone who didn't know him, didn't know how he worked. He'd known from the start that Orlando was going to change things. Time to accept it. "I know. I'm working on it." "Good." They sat in silence, watched as the rest of the stars started appearing, lighting up the sky with tiny points of light. "You want to talk about it now?" Karl could feel Harry's sigh reverberate through the ground. "Karl..." "I know you're suffering. You need to talk about it." Karl was willing to accept many things about his relationship with Harry, but watching him suffer was not one of them. Harry's grief was tangible, heavy. And Karl's soul wept for him. He squeezed Harry's fingers when Harry's breath hitched in his throat. "If I talk about it, I'll break." Karl scooted closer, laid his hand on Harry's heart. "So break. I'll help you pick up the pieces." Harry simply lowered their bodies to the grass, wrapped himself around Karl. And let the tears come. Karl held him, rubbed Harry's back, his neck, murmured soothing nonsense as Harry cried. Raw, untamed, almost unmanageable grief racked his body, and Karl wept right alongside him, cried for both his friend and for his own sorrow. Gradually, tears turned to sighs and despair to mere sadness, bearable for the moment. Karl continued to hold Harry, ran his hands through thick hair, bringing comfort. "I miss her," Harry finally said, voice still thick with unshed tears. "I know," Karl replied, shifting a bit under the uneven ground, pulled Harry back to him. "She was a good kid." "Yeah, she was." "I'm glad we were able to say goodbye to her." And saying goodbye had been hard on all of them. Harry wiped his tears with the heel of his hand. "I just don't get it. Loss is one of the very first fucking things you learn as a vampire. Why am I so upset, old man?" God, he sounded so lost. Karl would give just about anything to take this pain away from him, to bring her back. Knowing he could do nothing killed him. "Because she was yours," he finally answered. Harry sniffled, drew Karl even closer to him. Karl placed a kiss on the pulse in Harry's neck. And gave the only assurance he could. "You'll never lose me, Harry. I'll always be right here." The look on Harry's face snared Karl's heart all over again...cocky and vulnerable at the same time. No one did it better. "No matter how much I traumatize your pet?" Harry asked. Karl smiled. "No, not even then. But, Christ, try to refrain from doing it anymore, alright? Picking up after you is draining." Harry looked down at Karl, grinned. "Yeah, well, picking up after you has always been draining. Payback can be a real motherfucker." And his grin faltered a bit at the look in Karl's eyes. "Karl..." Karl gazed deep into Harry's eyes, not backing down. They both needed this. "Harry." "I don't..." "Yes, you do." Karl was already unbuckling Harry's belt. "You need to stop thinking for awhile." "What about..." Harry's breath hissed between his teeth as Karl's nimble fingers closed around him. "We're done talking," Karl said, firmly. "We'll talk to Orlando later. Now lie back and relax." "Yeah, relax." Harry's head hit the grass with a soft thump as Karl's mouth traveled down his body and enveloped his cock in silky, wet heat. Fucking hell, relax. God, Karl's mouth was beyond amazing. Harry allowed himself to drift, still holding Karl's hand with his own while running the other through the silk of Karl's hair. Every thought, every regret, every single thing fell away, lost under Karl's gentle movements and welcoming mouth...comfort of the most elemental kind. Harry slid into the orgasm, felt the bliss of Karl surrounding him, in his mind, in him. And the sheer beauty of it, of Karl's love, brought more tears to Harry's eyes. Karl moved back up to cradle his head again, kissed his wet cheeks. "This was supposed to make you feel better." Harry laughed, the sound a bit watery. "You know it did." "Good." Karl brought his lips down to Harry's and the kiss was long and slow and deep, lazy with swirling tongues and soft lips. "Hmmm, as much as I'd love to stay here, we do have business we need to take care of," Harry said, tucking a stray lock of Karl's hair behind his ear. "You're right." But Karl made no move to leave. And Harry couldn't quite let go yet either. Viggo would just have to deal with the two of them being a little bit late. + + + "Good book?" Orlando yelped, practically leaped out of his chair, one hand on his chest. Spinning, he faced the intruder, glared in response to the laughing blue eyes that watched him. "Jesus Christ!" Calm down, Orli. Relax. Try to breathe normally. Fuck that. "Who the hell do you think you are, waltzing in here like you own the goddamn place?" "Get used to it, child. We all do it." "Bloody vampires. A ruder, more impolite lot I've never...." Orlando trailed off, eyes widening, face growing pale, hand flying up to his mouth as he realized exactly at whom he was yelling. "Oh, shit. I...I'm sorry." Viggo laughed, waved it off, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Don't apologize. It's nice to see that Karl's pet has some fire in him. You'll need it." Orlando gave him a weak smile. Christ. Yelling at a vampire like that. And not just any vampire. Oh, no. He had to go and pop off at the bloody head of the bloody Council. Brilliant. "Karl's not here." "I know," Viggo said as he settled into a chair. "I came to see you." "Me?" Wide, brown eyes blinked when Viggo nodded. "I wanted to make sure you were alright after last night." "I, ah...I'm fine." Orlando felt his cheeks grown hot, cursed himself silently. "Karl and I talked, and, um...things are fine now." "Are they?" Orlando nodded, then shook his head. "Yes and no." "So what's not fine?" "Harry," Orlando said softly. Viggo simply nodded. "I thought so. Anything in particular, or just Harry in general?" "Just Harry, I guess." Long fingers raked through dark curls. "He absolutely terrified me last night." "Harry wasn't himself last night. He's usually not that bad." "Huh." And I'm the Tooth Fairy. Try another one. "What's his deal, anyway?" "Harry's?" Orlando nodded, and Viggo studied him for a moment. "What has Karl told you?" "Practically nothing." Orlando frowned at the memory of how Karl had halted the previous night's conversation. "He told me that Harry was his squire. And that he wanted Harry, but Harry refused, so Karl challenged him to a duel and won." "That's it?" Now it was Viggo who frowned. "Pretty much." "So Karl hasn't explained the bond?" "Bond?" Orlando blinked. "Dom said...but I thought...." "Dumb fuck," Viggo muttered under his breath, still frowning. "Well, this might take a minute. Or several." Orlando sank into his chair, knees unable to support him. "I think I need a drink," he said, voice weak. "Or several." "I think a drink is a good idea." Viggo gave him a reassuring smile as he got up, moved to the bar. Filling two glasses with ice, he glanced at Orlando. "I imagine by now you're familiar with the bond you share with Karl." "Somewhat. I'm still getting used to having him in my head all the time." "Well, what Karl has with Harry is very similar." Viggo pressed a glass into Orlando's hand. "Only more...intense." More intense? Orlando downed half his drink in one swallow. Bloody hell. Just what he needed to hear. Even the bond Harry shared with Karl was.... No. No good to get jealous again. But, Christ! Was he always going to feel inferior to Harry? "Karl told you that he and Harry were lovers while Harry was still mortal, right?" Orlando nodded slowly. "Yeah. The duel." "Exactly. Well, Harry was never comfortable with that." "Karl mentioned that, too," Orlando said, sipping the rest of his drink. "It's true. Harry fought it the entire time. Karl told me once it was like fucking a panther." Orlando closed his eyes, remembering how submissive he was with Karl, how Karl was always the one to initiate, the one to control. Was that what Karl wanted from him, what that what he needed? "Harry fought it up until he died," Viggo continued, eyes focused on the amber liquid in his glass. "Or until he almost died." "Almost...." Karl had never said anything about that. "He didn't tell you that either. I'm not surprised. Did Karl tell you that he wanted to make Harry his pet?" His pet? Karl most assuredly had not mentioned that. Orlando felt sick, vaguely threatened. "Harry refused. He's too dominant to be a pet. Always was." Viggo took a sip of his drink, regarded Orlando over the rim of the glass. "But they were still bonded in a way, because Karl made a vow to him and had taken Harry's blood. So when Harry was dying on that battlefield, Karl used that blood vow as a means to get Harry to accept the Gift." "He forced him to accept it?" Shocked, Orlando stood, moved to fix another drink. "Karl prefers the word persuaded. Harry still had a choice, and if he had chosen to die, Karl would have let him." "Oh." Viggo waited until Orlando was seated once more before continuing. "So, you've got a vampire with a sacred vow to a mortal giving him the Gift after the vampire's declared his love, plus the bond of the Gift itself. And, as I said, there was something between them from the beginning. Time has only increased that bond. I can't really explain it, because I don't understand it myself. It's...unheard of, even among vampires." Orlando stared at his glass, unable to speak. He didn't understand. Wasn't sure he ever would. "Which isn't to take anything away from what you have with Karl," Viggo said gently. "You give Karl something very elemental that Harry never can." Viggo sipped his drink, eyes focused on Orlando. And Orlando realized that Viggo was waiting for a response. So he forced his overwhelmed brain to function, to think. And sighed in frustration. "I don't...Harry is everything I'm not." "Exactly, young Orlando." Orlando thought about that. For several minutes, he thought. Eyes narrowed, tip of his tongue tucked in the corner of his mouth, he thought. And something clicked. "Karl and Harry are too much alike," Orlando said slowly. He considered his next words, pleased by Viggo's encouraging nod. "They're both intense and dominating and stubborn." Another pause to think was accompanied by another nod from Viggo. Okay, so at least he was on the right track. Now what? "So they both need someone who isn't any of those things. They need someone to...to yield? To bend when needed?" "Very good," Viggo said, clapping softly. "They need someone who will manipulate with smiles and kisses instead of with intensity and brute strength." "And that someone is me?" Wow. Orlando wondered if his eyebrows had mated with his hairline yet. "For Karl, yes." Viggo stood to fix himself another drink. "You're beautiful, charming, intelligent, submissive -- you are the perfect pet." "I'm not all that submissive." Viggo grinned at the indignation in Orlando's voice. "Compared to Harry, child, you're a fucking doormat." Orlando frowned, debated sticking his tongue out, decided to do so. Viggo laughed loudly as he leaned against the bar. "Yes, you've got spirit. Karl chose wisely." "But how can he love the both of us?" Orlando was still confused. "We're nothing alike." "Precisely why he does." Okay, that's your cue to think again, Orli. Karl loves you both because you're complete opposites. Almost. Think, idiot. Small white teeth worried his bottom lip. He and Harry were nothing alike, except they both loved Karl. "He needs us both," Orlando said slowly, thinking as he spoke, "because we can give him different things?" "In a nutshell. He needs Harry's stubbornness as much as he needs your ability to give." "What's that supposed to mean?" Viggo merely looked at him without speaking, one eyebrow quirked. "Bloody cryptic vampires," Orlando muttered. "Fuck...maybe I should just go ask Harry myself." "Yes, you should." Viggo swallowed the rest of his drink and set the glass on the bar. "Oh, about Tokyo? Just walk right in there and tell them how things are going to be. You own the place now, act like it. You are their boss and they'll expect that." And, with those words, he swept out of the room as suddenly as he'd appeared, leaving Orlando to stare after him. Orlando shook his head, wondered if he'd ever get used to that. Then he thought about what Viggo had said. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that the answers he wanted -- the answers he needed -- could only be given by Harry. Talking to Harry was a damn good idea. Now...he just had to work up the nerve to do that. |