calling all cars
Temporary Absentee
Author: chaosmanor
Pairing: VM/OB
Rating: NC17
Darcy Summarizes: Viggo and Orlando meet before they met.
Review
This is an awesome fic. It brings you on Viggo's journey around Europe, where he has gone to do some post-divorce soul searching and rediscovering. I might be biased because I seriously adore everything that chaosmanor writes, but I just love the way this is written. Much like all of her other fiction, it has an almost surreal, gritty feeling to it. The emotions are raw and out there for you to see, feel, taste, touch, hear, and imagine.
We sort of grow with Viggo, and move on from his numbness as Orlando reteaches him to feel things he thought were no longer his to feel. Very rare is it that I see Viggo-centric fanfics. Most in the fandom are more focused on Orlando. But Elaine really evens it out, she even focuses more on Viggo some times. I love her insights into Viggo's mind. Her characterization of Viggo is really fantastic. He's just so real.
The twist at the end of this is very, very fun. :) It threw me for a complete loop, and I won't say any more in case you haven't read it. If you haven't read it, go do so now!
Some bits I enjoyed:
Orlando stayed beside Viggo after dinner, smoking and watching the parade of people past the café. “Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be one of them?” he asked Viggo, breaking the silence.
“One of whom?” Viggo asked, leaning across to light Orlando’s cigarette.
“One of them,” Orlando, nodding towards a woman tottering past them on painfully high heels, clutching onto the arm of a smooth looking man in a rumpled linen suit. "You know, fighting getting old, spending too much money on themselves.”
The sun had set by then, and Viggo’s sunglasses were pushed up on top of his head, holding his hair out of his eyes. “If we’re being honest, what makes you think that’s not what I’m doing?”
Orlando sunglasses were hooked into a buttonhole of his shirt and they clunked against the table as he reached for his coffee. “I don’t think you’re at all worried about getting older, or about how you look.”
Viggo nodded slightly. “I’d like to agree with you, but we are being honest here.”
--
A few minutes later, Viggo opened his eyes to find Orlando crouching between their bunks. He leant forward with his head close to Viggo’s. “If we put all our luggage onto one bunk and share the other one, at least we can both stretch our legs out.”
There was warm invitation in Orlando’s voice, and Viggo’s body stirred in response to the thought of being pressed up against Orlando for the night.
“You know you want to,” Orlando said quietly, his head even closer to Viggo’s.
“If we’re still being honest, I do,” Viggo admitted.
“Then do it,” Orlando said, and he reached behind him for his pack.
--
Exhausted again, Viggo fell asleep. When he woke, Orlando was dressed and doing up his pack. Viggo sat up in bed, shaking his head to clear it. “You’re leaving?”
Orlando nodded, putting down his pack. “It’s time.”
“But…” Viggo began. “But why? At least let me give you my cell phone number.”
Orlando sat down on the edge of the bed. “Just because. And you can, but I’ll never call you.”
“Please tell me why,” Viggo said, hearing the pleading in his own voice.
“Because this is perfect. If I leave now, we’ll both always have these memories. I’ll think of you and wonder what might have been. If I stay, you’ll tell me about your ex-wife, and I’ll tell you about how my mother didn’t think it was important that I knew who my father really was for sixteen years. It’ll be complicated and difficult and painful. I don’t want that. I want you to be a perfectly honest stranger. If we ever meet again, then I’ll know we should take this further.”
--
Author: chaosmanor
Pairing: VM/OB
Rating: NC17
Darcy Summarizes: Viggo and Orlando meet before they met.
Review
This is an awesome fic. It brings you on Viggo's journey around Europe, where he has gone to do some post-divorce soul searching and rediscovering. I might be biased because I seriously adore everything that chaosmanor writes, but I just love the way this is written. Much like all of her other fiction, it has an almost surreal, gritty feeling to it. The emotions are raw and out there for you to see, feel, taste, touch, hear, and imagine.
We sort of grow with Viggo, and move on from his numbness as Orlando reteaches him to feel things he thought were no longer his to feel. Very rare is it that I see Viggo-centric fanfics. Most in the fandom are more focused on Orlando. But Elaine really evens it out, she even focuses more on Viggo some times. I love her insights into Viggo's mind. Her characterization of Viggo is really fantastic. He's just so real.
The twist at the end of this is very, very fun. :) It threw me for a complete loop, and I won't say any more in case you haven't read it. If you haven't read it, go do so now!
Some bits I enjoyed:
Orlando stayed beside Viggo after dinner, smoking and watching the parade of people past the café. “Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be one of them?” he asked Viggo, breaking the silence.
“One of whom?” Viggo asked, leaning across to light Orlando’s cigarette.
“One of them,” Orlando, nodding towards a woman tottering past them on painfully high heels, clutching onto the arm of a smooth looking man in a rumpled linen suit. "You know, fighting getting old, spending too much money on themselves.”
The sun had set by then, and Viggo’s sunglasses were pushed up on top of his head, holding his hair out of his eyes. “If we’re being honest, what makes you think that’s not what I’m doing?”
Orlando sunglasses were hooked into a buttonhole of his shirt and they clunked against the table as he reached for his coffee. “I don’t think you’re at all worried about getting older, or about how you look.”
Viggo nodded slightly. “I’d like to agree with you, but we are being honest here.”
--
A few minutes later, Viggo opened his eyes to find Orlando crouching between their bunks. He leant forward with his head close to Viggo’s. “If we put all our luggage onto one bunk and share the other one, at least we can both stretch our legs out.”
There was warm invitation in Orlando’s voice, and Viggo’s body stirred in response to the thought of being pressed up against Orlando for the night.
“You know you want to,” Orlando said quietly, his head even closer to Viggo’s.
“If we’re still being honest, I do,” Viggo admitted.
“Then do it,” Orlando said, and he reached behind him for his pack.
--
Exhausted again, Viggo fell asleep. When he woke, Orlando was dressed and doing up his pack. Viggo sat up in bed, shaking his head to clear it. “You’re leaving?”
Orlando nodded, putting down his pack. “It’s time.”
“But…” Viggo began. “But why? At least let me give you my cell phone number.”
Orlando sat down on the edge of the bed. “Just because. And you can, but I’ll never call you.”
“Please tell me why,” Viggo said, hearing the pleading in his own voice.
“Because this is perfect. If I leave now, we’ll both always have these memories. I’ll think of you and wonder what might have been. If I stay, you’ll tell me about your ex-wife, and I’ll tell you about how my mother didn’t think it was important that I knew who my father really was for sixteen years. It’ll be complicated and difficult and painful. I don’t want that. I want you to be a perfectly honest stranger. If we ever meet again, then I’ll know we should take this further.”
--