| 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 room was set up, as always, with the giant smoke-glass circular table in the middle of the room. Aides, armed with files and cell phones, were scurrying to and fro, setting up the table, on the phone with various offices, checking with other Council members, having a last word before the meeting got started. The meetings this week were important -- change, as always, had swept through the vampire world, and it was the Council's job to adapt to these changes, to make sure life continued to run smoothly. "God, I hate all of these infernal fucking meetings," Harry sighed, looking around. Karl patted him on the back. "We need your eye. And your intolerance for bullshit. You know you've been invaluable." "Stop trying to butter me up, old man, I know my job," Harry smiled. In truth, he did love being on the Council. It was just dealing with people he hated. Sean and Viggo walked up, both with varying expressions of concern on their faces. "How are you, Harry?" Sean asked, forsaking their usual banter. "Better." Sean searched his face, his mind, for a bit before smiling. "Good. Glad to hear it." "I...thank you," Harry said simply. "And young Dominic." Harry must've gone to Sean and Dom's last night. Karl hated that he hadn't been there for Harry in his time of need. He wondered if this was the same sort of helpless frustration that had prompted Harry to do what he did last night. //Yes.// Karl pursed his lips, mock-glared into Harry's grinning eyes. //Stay out of my head.// Harry's grin widened. //Open invite, remember? Bonded and all that.// "I'd say things were very much back to normal," Viggo observed, smiling as he looked from Harry's amused expression to Karl's pained one. Sean rocked back on his heels a bit. "Yes, most assuredly. Good -- glad to know you two have worked things out." "Have you apologized to Harry yet?" Four sets of eyes swiveled toward Dave, who'd strolled up without notice and had his normally easy-going gaze firmly fixed on Karl. He had the same almost cold fury he'd had the previous night, and Karl still, for the life of him, could not figure it out. But, fuck it, he was tired of being yelled at by everyone, and he'd already let Dave get to him once. "Wasn't aware I had anything to apologize for," he replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Amazing that he keeps you, when you don't even have the balls to admit when you're wrong." Jesus, but the kid had a fast recovery. Karl stared at Dave, stared into steely blue eyes, felt the challenge, and, more lowering, felt the guilt. Harry had apologized to him, more than once. "I'm sorry, Harry." He kept his gaze on Dave as he said it, missed Harry's furrowed brow at the admission, missed Sean and Viggo exchanging puzzled looks. "Dave's right. I should have told Orlando about us," he stressed the word, not knowing why, "before the ceremony, and I apologize. He knows what you mean to me now, though." He cocked his head at Dave at the last sentence. "Good enough?" "For a start," Dave replied, his smile like ice. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not the point here anymore?" Harry asked, looking back and forth between the two vampires. "I dunno, but this is almost as entertaining as watching them square off last night," Sean remarked, looking vastly entertained. "Dave?" Dave glanced away from Karl for a second when Harry called his name and was snared by alert amaretto eyes. "Could I talk to you?" Harry asked. "To me?" Dave looked behind him, turned back, pointed to himself. Harry nodded. "Yes, you." He inclined his head to Sean, Viggo and Karl. "We'll be a minute. You can start without us, if you need to." He placed a hand on Dave's elbow, steered him toward the double doors and out of the room. "Okay, that was completely worth it for the look of shock on young Dave's face," Sean stated, grinning at the door. "I don't think Harry has every initiated a conversation between the two of them," Viggo said, the look on his handsome face thoughtful. He pinned his gaze on Karl and Sean. "Now, would either one of you mind explaining to me what is going on between my aide and Harry?" "As soon as we figure it out, we'll let you know," Karl told him. "Dave tore into me last night, stormed off." "I told Harry about it," Sean continued. "My guess is Harry wants to know why." "I fucking hope he shares with the rest of the class," Karl said. "I'm getting goddamn sick of getting yelled at." Sean slung a companionable arm over Karl's shoulders, walked with him to their seats. "Stop fucking up so royally, and we won't do it anymore." His grin was wide and playful. Karl chose to ignore him. He was too busy wondering what Harry and Dave were talking about...and what the hell had gotten into Dave, anyway. + + + Dave didn't shock very easily. At all, really. So it was somewhat disconcerting to find he was almost jaw-droppingly shocked when Harry led him outside, to the hallway, turned to him, crossed those muscled arms and asked what the hell was going on between him and Karl. Dave had to hand it to Harry. Absolutely nobody did blunt better. Okay, think Dave, subtle. You've given away far too much over the last 24 hours. He could practically see the wheels turning in Sean's head. "Nothing's going on, luv," he said, infusing his voice with insouciant charm. "Thought he was being rude to you." Harry leaned up against the wall, continued to stare at him through knowing eyes. "I don't believe you." Yes, blunt and Harry definitely went very well together. Time for Plan B. Of course, Dave didn't have a Plan B, but he'd never let a little thing like that stop him before. Perhaps a switch in tactics. "Why were you so upset last night?" Instantly, Harry's face shuttered. "Personal." The one word was clipped. Okay. It was like that, then. And Dave hated bringing more pain to Harry's eyes, but he'd needed the space. "Karl needed to apologize to you." "Why?" He was definitely treading here. He knew it. But, fuck it, too late now to back down. Perhaps it would knock some sense into Harry. "Well, correct on this, but you and Karl have a very long-term relationship, yes?" Harry nodded. It was certainly no secret. "And he didn't even think to mention it to his potential pet," Dave continued, well aware of the tensing in Harry's shoulders. "Don't you think this Orlando deserved to know about you, about what you mean to Karl? It's about respect." "You have no idea what you're talking about here. And you are the last person to be talking to me about respect." Harry's voice had taken on a very dangerous quality. Fortunately, this was a Harry he could handle. "Ah, but I respect you immensely. I'd just respect you more if you didn't let Karl get away with shit. You've been his bitch far too long." Dave stated the last words clearly, succinctly, hoped like hell Harry'd gotten it. And walked back into the room before Harry had a chance to recover. Karl's what? Harry was beyond shock for several heartbeats. By the time he'd even recovered to even ask what the hell Dave was talking about, he was alone in the hallway. Karl's bitch. Jesus. Fucking whelp had some serious moxie to just throw that down and walk away cold. Harry made a half-step to follow Dave into the room and get some answers, but he stopped, brain clicking away at everything Dave had said and coming up with a very interesting picture. Now, why the fuck would Dave go to bat for him against Karl? Not once, but twice. Kid had spent the last few decades making his life an uncomfortable exercise in Harry's non-existent patience. So what happened? Why fuck that up? Why change the rules? If anything, given their past history, Dave should have been pleased that Harry had gotten tweaked. Certainly bore some further study. And was he really Karl's bitch? God, true, he'd let Karl get away with a lot lately, but no more than Karl had with him. Had they been getting too complacent, taking each other for granted? Things were certainly different now that young Orlando was around, but Harry still got the feeling Karl wasn't thinking outside the lines just yet. And he really needed to. Life happened. Things changed. He knew that all too well. And Orlando changed things. Not even for the worse or better. Just changed them. Karl was always going to be Harry's and vice versa. But now there was someone else in the mix. They had that damn pact that was going to have to be dealt with at some point. Definitely something to think about. God, it must be snowing in hell because Dave was actually saying something that made sense. Fucking hell. + + + "I am going to miss you, little one." Orlando nodded, buried his head deeper in Karl's chest, clung to that solid body. God, he just wanted this trip to be over already. "Miss you too," he muttered into the silk of Karl's shirt. "Come on, it's only for a couple of days." Karl lifted Orlando's chin up, placed a soft kiss on his lips. "You'll do fabulously." "Um...yeah...fabulous." Orlando didn't feel fabulous. He felt nervous. Okay, scared. Okay, okay, fucking terrified. If he fucked this up... "Karl, if things don't..." "You'll be fine." Karl gave Orlando's slender waist another squeeze. "You're prepared, I've got good people there, and I'll be around if you need me. And Elijah the Fierce has got your back." Orlando smiled. Thank God he had Elijah. "Thank you for letting him come." Karl nuzzled the curls on top of Orlando's head. "Well, he's going to be working for me, he should learn a few things, see how I operate." Which was still a source of amazement to Orlando. That Karl was willing to do this for him, to make him happy. "Thank you for that, too." "I love you. Your happiness means the world to me." The words tumbled out before Orlando could censor them. "Then why are you lletting Harry have me?" "I'm what?" Karl lifted Orlando's chin again, but there was no trace of amusement in his features now. "Where the hell did you get that idea?" Orlando fought the urge to squirm. If this was going to be part of his life with Karl, then he wanted to know right now. "Harry said...um..." he faltered at the stormy look on Karl's face. "Harry told you that I would let him have you?" Karl sounded disbelieving...but there was something else, something Orlando couldn't quite name. "Are you certain you heard him correctly?" "He...ah..." God, Orlando hated that look in Karl's eyes. Even his embrace had changed, gone cold. Jesus, it had been a bad idea to bring this up. "He told me that you two, um, share everything." Ice turned to mystification. "Orli, would you mind if I went into your mind for a bit?" "No." The way Karl asked sent his nerves skittering, but he trust Karl enough to hold still. "It'll just be a second. I just want to know exactly what Harry said to you," Karl explained. He looked deep into Orlando's eyes...and once again, Orlando was back in that hallway, confused, terrified, exhausted, with Harry's eyes pinning him and Harry's hands stroking his throat. Orlando's breathing became rapid, his vision swam, he felt like he was drowning...and then the sensation abruptly stopped. Orlando shook his head to clear the after-effects of the dizziness, gazed back up at Karl. "That was intense." Karl kissed his forehead, the caress lingering. "I'm sorry. But it was necessary. Come sit down for a minute. I need to explain something to you." Orlando allowed himself to be led to one of the plush chairs of the airport lounge. Karl pulled him down to his lap, wrapped strong arms around his waist, twisted him so they were facing each other. "This is going to be a bit...weird," Karl started. This whole situation had been nothing except weird from Day One. Orlando could handle weird. "Believe me, I'm used to weird," he said aloud, smiled when Karl chuckled. "That's true. You've done very well so far," Karl said. "And I'm proud of you." Orlando couldn't help the glow that spread through him at Karl's soft words. "Thank you." "Harry never actually said I was going to share you with him." Karl held up a hand when Orlando opened his mouth to protest. "He said 'has Karl told you about us? We share everything.' He implied it to get a reaction from you. He never said I'd ever do it." Orlando thought for a second, mind racing once again back to that hallway. "That manipulative fucker..." he breathed. Karl was right, Harry never had come out and said it. Orlando had just assumed. Relief swept through him in a dizzying rush. "Why would he insinuate such a thing?" "Like I said earlier, he was testing you." Karl sighed, dropped a kiss on Orlando's shoulder. "He saw you and Elijah all over each other, thought he'd test your loyalties." "Couldn't he have just asked you?" "Yes, but, Harry wasn't...he wasn't thinking very clearly last night. He's..." Karl sighed again. "I'm sorry, Orli, but it's not my tale to tell you." Orlando nodded, thought back to his earlier conversation with Viggo. Something monumental had happened with Harry, that much was obvious. Something that caused him to behave in a way not normal for him, apparently. "I will never give you to Harry," Karl continued, looking at him intently. "Harry and I are bonded, yes, which means that, through me, the two of you are bonded in some way, but there's...ah...Harry is a very intense man." If Orlando didn't know better, he'd swear Karl was embarrassed. "So I gathered," he replied, tone a bit wry. "And the pet/vampire bond is a sacred one. Can't be broken or cast aside. We're mates throughout eternity." Okay, now Orlando was truly befuddled. "Then what happens to Harry?" Karl shrugged. "I can't explain that. Except to say that Harry and I are also mates throughout eternity, and our bond is just as strong as the one you and I have. What Harry and I have is something very rare. I don't think there are words to describe it. But it doesn't mean I love you any less." Karl's kiss was one of tenderness, and Orlando allowed himself to sink into it. "Anything else?" Orlando shook his head. He knew what he needed to do now. Thank God he had the next 48 or so hours away to gather the courage to do it. He would need every ounce of it to face Harry again. |