| Title: Unessential Author: Jo Pairing: Hugh Dancy, Ioan Gryffudd, Orlando Bloom/Josh Hartnett implied Rating: PG13 Summary: Hugh's feeling a little unessential. Disclaimer: Nope, never happened. And if you think it did, I suggest you go look up the word "fiction" in the nearest dictionary. Notes: For the Furor Scribendi Pride challenge. Sequel to "Unhealthy" and "Uninvited".
Hugh looked up, managed a small smile. It figured that Ioan would be the one to seek him out. And, for once, neither Ewan nor Ewen was in attendance. That alone was odd enough to hold Hugh's interest. "Where're your shadows?" "Off bothering Eric," Ioan replied, swinging one leg over the bench and dropping to sit across from Hugh. Then those dark eyes pinned him in place. "So you want to tell me why you look so gloomy?" "Don't know what you're talking about." Hugh ducked his head, tried to refocus on the book in his hands. It didn't work, and he already knew that Ioan wasn't going to believe it. "You're a bad liar." Ioan still watched, and the weight of his gaze made Hugh shift uncomfortably. Finally, he gave up on the book. Setting it on the table in front of him, he shrugged. "It's nothing," he said, eyes drifting across the half empty hanger that had been set up as a cafeteria. "Everything's cool." Ioan's eyes moved to follow Hugh's. Then he nodded. "I see." "What?" "Our leading man's been spending a lot of time with Bloom lately," was all Ioan said, but his tone of voice was infuriatingly calm. It made Hugh want to grind his teeth. "So?" "So," Ioan said, stretching the word out so it had far too many o's in it, "I'm thinking that maybe you're a little jealous." Hugh started to laugh, then stopped. He wasn't jealous. Not really. Just…put out. For weeks, he'd been the only one in Josh's bed. Then, one afternoon, completely out of the blue, Josh had commented that Orlando wanted him. From anyone else, the comment would have been overbearingly egotistical. From Josh, it had been a simple, quiet statement of the truth. Hugh had laughed it off, told Josh he was full of shit. Josh had just smiled and squinted. That night, there'd been a brittlesharp edge to the sex. Almost like there was a third person with them. Josh had been more intense, more focused. Just more. A week later, Orlando had walked in on them. Actually, not so much walked in as he'd lurked in the corridor until Josh had invited him in. And Hugh had to admit that what had followed had been some amazingly hot sex. But looking back on it, Josh and Orlando had been far more into each other than they'd been into Hugh. Not that they'd neglected him, of course, because they took care to involve him in every single aspect, delivering a night that had completely blown his mind. But it didn't ease the feeling of being a third wheel. "They seem awful cozy over there." Ioan's words snapped him out of his reverie, and Hugh looked over again. Josh and Orlando were sprawled on one of the battered sofas, thighs pressed snug together, heads tilted as Josh said something that had Orlando grinning like an idiot. Alright, that was unkind. But still…. "He can do whatever he wants," Hugh muttered, jerking his gaze away. "Orlando's the one who wanted him." Ioan arched an eyebrow. It looked odd on him, much like the shaved head. "So did you." "Yeah, well, Orlando got him." "And you got shoved to the side." Ioan nodded and, to Hugh's surprise, managed to look sympathetic. "Josh asked what the deal was." "What what deal was?" Hugh asked, confused now. "With you." What the hell was Ioan on about? There was no "deal" with him. Not that Hugh was aware of, anyway. He frowned, tried to figure out what Ioan meant before saying anything. "With me," Hugh said, slowly, quietly. Ioan nodded, looked across at Josh and Orlando again. "Guess maybe Josh wasn't so ready to kick you out of his bed." "He had Orlando," Hugh muttered, brows lowering, fingers plucking at the cover of his book. "Maybe he wanted both of you," Ioan replied, lightning fast, leaning forward to rest his forearms on the table. His gaze bored into Hugh, made him fidget in his seat. "Now that would be arrogant." But Hugh was troubled. No way in hell Ioan could be right. Right? Right. If Josh had still wanted him, he'd have said so. Besides, why the fuck did Ioan care, anyway? Something wasn't adding up, but damned if Hugh could figure out what it was. "Doesn't mean it's any less true." "Did you ask him?" Now it was Hugh's turn to pin Ioan with a level look. It didn't seem to faze Ioan in the least. "Did you?" "Didn't need to. He made it pretty clear he was into Orlando." "I see," Ioan murmured, nodding again. He stood up, shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his trousers. "Maybe you should ask him. Just to, you know, settle it in your head." "Like hell. There's nothing to settle." A slow, knowing smile crossed Ioan's face, then was gone. He turned, stopped, turned back. "Well, if you're too stubborn to find out the truth, I'll just leave you to wallow in your self-pity," he said, and walked away. Hugh blinked. What the…? Slowly, almost reluctantly, his eyes shifted. Found Josh and Orlando on their sofa. Found the two of them looking back at him, dark gazes identical. Well, fuck.
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