Keepsakes for tiary
Title: Keepsakes
Author: jasmineskie
Pairing: Orlando/Viggo
Rating: R
Request: tiary requested the story behind one of Orlando's trinkets, bracelets or rings, preferably one of the newest ones, which we don't know the 'official' story for. Definitely set after NZ. Romance or PWP, no strong angst or kink.
Summary: When you can't be home, home comes to you.
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: It's fiction, every single, solitary word
Author's Note: I'm pinch-hitting here as a replacement writer for Tiary's request. There's a little flashback to NZ, but the main action's set after NZ. Hope this works for you, sweetie; it's what the muses came up with. *hugs*
~ : ~ : ~ : ~
November, 2004
"Are you sure he's all right?"
Even over a long distance connection that echoed and hissed, Viggo could hear Orlando's near panic.
"He's fine," Viggo said. He petted the object of Orlando's concern, who happened to be curled up on the couch next to Viggo. Sidi thumped his tail and laid his chin on Viggo's thigh, his brown eyes begging for more attention. Viggo scritched the dog behind his ears, and Sidi leaned into his hand. "He's just fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I should come home."
Viggo suppressed a sigh. He wanted Orlando to come home, would have given almost anything if Orlando could be there instead of halfway around the world. Then Orlando could cuddle his dog and know Sidi was okay, and Viggo could cuddle Orlando and reassure him that these things happened with dogs. It had happened with Brigit when she was young, so it hadn't come as a big surprise to Viggo when it happened with Sidi too. But Viggo didn't want Orlando to come home because he was panicked about his dog, not when he had obligations he had to fulfill in London, like it or not.
"You'll be home soon enough," Viggo said. He cupped the phone closer to the side of his face. "Didn't this ever happen with Maude?"
"I don't know." Viggo could practically see Orlando chewing on his bottom lip. "Yes, it must have, I'm sure, I just don't remember, and I really think I need to come home."
He needed to try a different tactic since logic wasn't working. "Don't you trust me to take care of him?" Viggo asked.
"What? Fuck no, that's not it, and you bloody well know it. It's just that...." Now Viggo heard the rustled and creak of Orlando changing position in a rickety chair. "Fuck me, I know I'm being daft, but I...."
"You miss us, and you'd rather be here anyway."
Orlando's voice was small, and it pulled at Viggo's heart. "Yes."
Viggo rubbed his hand down Sidi's back. "Want us to come see you?" It would be easy enough to do. Sidi had a passport. They could both get on a plane tonight and be in London with Orlando in less than twenty-four hours.
"I... god, I feel so selfish, but I feel like I really need you. It's dreadful here. I mean, this is my home, you know? But it doesn't feel like it because you're not here, and now you tell me that Sidi's...." Viggo heard Orlando swallow the end of the sentence. He sat and waited, and finally Orlando said, "Do you think you could? Come, I mean?"
Viggo glanced out the front window. Early afternoon sun baked down on their front yard, the grass a worn-out sort of combination of green and sun-burnt brown. London would be different now than LA, would be far different still from where they would be next month. The details of that trip were still being planned by people who planned these types of things for their very lucrative living. It didn't matter to Viggo where he and Orlando were or the circumstances they found themselves in, so long as they could be together.
"Let me make a few phone calls," Viggo said. "As soon as I've got everything arranged, I'll call you and let you know when we'll be there."
He heard a soft sound and knew Orlando had lost his battle not to cry. At least they were tears of relief, not sadness, not like he'd heard the night before when Orlando had had too much to drink.
"Thank you," Orlando murmured.
They talked for a few more minutes until Viggo was convinced Orlando would be okay, then he put the phone down.
"Want to go see your boy?" Viggo asked Sidi. He rubbed the side of Sidi's face, and the dog thumped his tail. "Yeah, me too," Viggo said.
He looked at the glass ashtray on the table next to the couch. Normally it held the occasional cigarette butt or, when Henry was home, used chewing gum wrapped in a small piece of paper. Now it held Sidi's tooth. Viggo stared at it as he made the rest of his calls, and somewhere between talking to Robin's office and his travel agent, he got an idea.
# # #
December, 1999
Viggo had spent all day in the woods near the village of Glenorchy being Aragorn mourning the death of Boromir. Emotional scenes like that drained him as much as physically strenuous scenes. Call up the same emotion, time after time, add this nuance or that, until Peter finally seemed happy. Then do it all over again so that Sean would have honest emotion to react to. Tonight all Viggo wanted to do was escape into his own head for a while and try to find a momentary stop in this roller coaster called Lord of the Rings.
What he didn't need was a hyper-active trailer mate.
Orlando never seemed to sit still. Whether in the makeup chair, his chair on set, or in the back seat of a car, Orlando was always in motion. Viggo knew actors who seemed to have a limitless source of energy, but even they would wind down from time to time. Orlando never did.
Usually Viggo could deal with Orlando's boisterousness. It was difficult not to be swept along with Orlando's mixture of youthful enthusiasm and club boy raunchiness, but tonight Viggo just wanted a moment or two of quiet. Maybe he'd go camp out in the woods tonight. It would be safe enough, what with all the rest of the cast and crew trailers forming a modern wagon train of sorts at the edge of the woods. He only needed to go far enough to be alone, not far enough to get lost.
Viggo climbed the few steps to the trailer he shared with Orlando, what he would say already forming on his lips. He was sure Orlando wouldn't mind being alone for the night. The hobbits would more than likely throw a party in one of their trailers. Orlando could always find a good time when he wanted one.
The words Viggo had planned to say died on his lips when he opened the trailer door. Orlando sat in one corner of the garish couch in the trailer's main living area. He was only halfway out of costume, legs still clad in Legolas's leggings curled up beneath himself, and he looked like he'd just lost his best friend.
"Orlando?" Viggo said quietly.
He shut the door behind himself and walked over to the couch. Orlando hadn't even seemed like he'd heard the door open, much less Viggo say anything, and Viggo wasn't sure if he should just leave Orlando alone. Even though they'd been sharing a trailer since the production moved onto the Amon Hen location, Viggo still didn't feel like he knew Orlando very well.
"Elf boy?" Viggo asked again. He reached out a hand, intending to touch Orlando's shoulder gently if he still didn't move, but Viggo let his hand fall back when Orlando lifted his head.
"Didn't hear you come in," Orlando said. He scrunched his nose up, sniffed, rubbed at it with the back of his hand. His eyes didn't quite make it all the way up to Viggo's face, but stopped somewhere around his shoulder.
"What's up?" Viggo tried to keep his tone light and soothing.
Orlando glanced down, then his eyes finally made it up to look into Viggo's. Orlando's were watery - not quite crying, but close. "Did you ever have a pet?" Orlando asked. "Or... you know... an animal you considered part of your family?"
Viggo nodded. "Yeah. Quite a few. My family had horses when I was a kid. I've had a bunch of different dogs over the years, Henry had a cat for a while...." Viggo trailed off as realization set in. "Something happen to a pet of yours?" he asked gently.
Orlando frowned, blinked. "What? Oh... no... nothing like that, fuck no." He shifted on the couch, drawing his legs in closer to his body. "I'm being daft, I know I am."
Orlando reached down next to himself on the couch. Viggo saw a manila envelope, ripped open on one end, covered with international stamps. Orlando took a photo out of the envelope, held it out to Viggo. It was the picture of a dog, so scruffy it was cute. In the photograph a much younger Orlando sat with his arms wrapped around the dog, a huge smile on his face. Viggo found himself looking at the full head of curls on the younger Orlando. The man he'd come to know in New Zealand only had a small stripe of hair running down the center of his scalp.
"My mum sent me this photo of me and my dog. That's Maude," Orlando said, and he leaned forward to point unnecessarily at the dog in the picture, as if Viggo might get Orlando and the dog confused. "I had to leave her home with mum, can't have her sitting in quarantine while I'm off working. Wouldn't be much room in here for her anyway, and I'm sure you don't want to have to share the trailer with her and me. Maude's a terrible bed hog."
Orlando had become more animated as he talked about his dog. Viggo found himself grinning a little. He'd rather have animated Orlando than sad Orlando.
"Like you're not," Viggo said, teasing.
"And how would you know, hmmm?" Orlando finally grinned back. "I have yet to hog your bed."
"I see you stretched out across yours," Viggo said. "You don't leave much unused space."
Orlando was all gangly legs and long, thin arms, and he seemed to take up every square inch of bed space and then some.
"Well...." Orlando ducked his head, a warm flush coloring his ears. "I have been told I'm difficult to sleep with." He raised his head and pointed at the picture again. "Not as difficult as her though."
Viggo laughed and handed the picture back. "Maybe that's where you get it from, trying to wrestle part of the bed from your dog."
"Hmmm... could be. You might be on to something."
Orlando carefully tucked the picture back in the envelope. He stroked his fingers over the rough paper, and Viggo could see the good cheer draining from his face.
"I have a dog too," Viggo said. "Brigit. Henry's taking care of her while I'm gone. At least he better be, or his mom will kick his butt."
Orlando touched the paper again. "You miss her?" he asked, his voice low and quiet.
"Yeah, sometimes I do." Viggo took a chance and sat down on the couch next to Orlando, careful not to sit on the envelope. "She's a great dog, learned how to sit still and curl up next to me when I go fishing, not run around and bark at every little thing she hears."
"Yeah. Maude can be quiet too when she wants to be. That's usually not when I'm trying to sleep, but I rub her belly a little while and she goes to sleep and then *I* can sleep." Orlando fished a necklace out from beneath Legolas's blue silk shirt. "Not supposed to wear these under costume, I know, but I couldn't help myself today."
Viggo saw only a thin chain with a jump ring on it. Orlando had necklaces with other charms he wore off set. He'd told Viggo the charms were keepsakes to remind him of things he'd done, places he'd been, people he'd known. If there had been a keepsake on the chain he wore now, all that was left was that single jump ring. Viggo hoped Orlando hadn't lost the charm. One thing he had learned about Orlando was that he was sentimental about his keepsakes.
"Maude ran away once when she was a puppy. Well, not ran away exactly... more like she got away when Sam - that's my sister - and me were supposed to be watching her. Got into a row with Sam... always seemed to get into a row with Sam, older sister and all..." Orlando made a face, the same face Viggo had seen Henry make too many times to count when something unpleasant had to be done. "Before we noticed, she was gone. Mum said not to worry, Maude had a collar with a name tag, had our address, how to ring us if someone found her." He rubbed at his nose. "Didn't stop me from worrying though when no one did ring us that night."
"You got her back though, right?" The dog Viggo had seen in the picture clearly wasn't a puppy anymore.
"Yeah, yeah, we did. Next day. Longest night of my life, missing her. Even then she was a bed hog. My bed felt too big, you know?" Orlando held the thin chain in front of his face, his eyes slightly crossed as he stared at the jump ring. "When I got a flat in London, I got a new name tag for her, put the old one away. Good luck, you see, because it brought her home to us. When I came here, I wanted to bring something to remind me of her, something more than just a photograph. I'm not quite so daft to wear her name tag around my neck, but this--" He fingered the jump ring. "--is what was on her tag, fastened it to her collar. Figured I'd know what it was and that'd be good enough." He raised his eyes to Viggo's face. "Something that would bring me home too."
Viggo had spent the first few weeks in New Zealand incredibly homesick. He'd worked his way through it by throwing himself into the part, learning the skills he needed to be Aragorn. Orlando had his own way of coping with homesickness. Something about today must have made it a bad day for him. Viggo could relate.
Orlando shoved the necklace back beneath Legolas's shirt. He looked embarrassed.
"Told you I'm daft," Orlando said. "The hobbits would never let me live it down if they knew. You're the only one I've ever told. You'll keep my secret, yeah?"
"You have my word," Viggo said in Aragorn's voice. He grinned and said, "Mine too," this time in his own voice.
Orlando laughed. "Not the only daft one, am I?"
"Hardly," Viggo said, and he joined in the laughter.
Orlando picked up the envelope and put it inside the binder he carried with him on set. "I have a bottle of wine that's much too good to share with hobbits," he said. "What say after we get out of costume, we open it up and see what we can find to go with it?"
Viggo had planned to spend the night alone, but suddenly company sounded much better. Specifically, Orlando's company sounded much better. He nodded. "I think I've seen wine glasses around here somewhere."
While they changed, Orlando talked about Maude and Viggo talked about Brigit. They shared Orlando's bottle of wine, and when it was gone, another bottle Viggo had stashed in the back of a cupboard. They never did find much to go with it outside of half a loaf of bread and a few slices of cheese. They were both pleasantly drunk when they climbed in Orlando's bed and fell asleep, still with their clothes on, Viggo's arms slung loosely around Orlando's waist. Orlando's chain with his link back home stayed safely around his neck, and for once, he didn't hog the bed.
# # #
December, 2004
Every beach Viggo had ever seen had its own feel, its own rhythm. On the east coast, on the seaward side of the outer islands of North Carolina, the sea was wild, the wind strong. On the Tampa shoreline, the beach felt like the quiet of a lake except for the seashells embedded in the fine, white sand. The northern California beaches were rocky, the surf treacherous.
Here in this South American beach resort the Atlantic was calm enough to wade in, to stand in and look at the moon overhead, smell the rich, wet mustiness of the ocean, hear the muffled sounds of people and music and life.
Viggo stood in waist-high surf with his head back and his eyes closed, letting the pull of the ocean sway him back and forth. Nighttime sounds drifted to him on the crest of the waves. He held his wet arms out to the sides and let the gentle breeze cool his hot skin.
Splashing, coming closer.
Viggo opened his eyes and saw Orlando wading out toward him, moonlight glinting off the smooth skin of his shoulders, making deep pools of his eyes. Viggo smiled, kept his arms outstretched.
"You done for the night?" Viggo asked when Orlando got close enough he wouldn't have to shout over the sound of the ocean.
"Yeah." Orlando smiled back, a weary smile, but one that held promise. "What are you doing out here, old man?"
"Waiting for you."
Orlando fell forward into the ocean and swam the last few yards to Viggo's side. When he stood up he was wet and glistening, and he slicked back his hair away from his face. He pulled Viggo into a hug, wet skin chilly against Viggo's body.
"Well here I am," Orlando said, his mouth next to Viggo's ear. "Am I worth waiting for?"
"Always." Viggo brushed his lips against Orlando's cheek, wrapped his arms around Orlando's body. "Always."
It had become a ritual every time they came together. Orlando needed the reassurance and Viggo never minded being asked, not now beneath the South American moon, and not last month in the high-priced suite of a London hotel.
Viggo brought up a hand to bury it in Orlando's hair. He tilted Orlando's head and kissed him deeply. They were far enough away from the soft outdoor lighting of the resort to be out of view. They didn't have to be careful here. It was one of the reasons Orlando's people had chosen this particular place. Orlando had certain things he had to do to fulfill certain obligations he'd rather avoid if he had the choice, then the rest of his time he was free to do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted - what they both wanted - was each other.
"I have something for you," Viggo said when they stopped kissing.
Orlando pressed himself against Viggo. "So do I," he said, and Viggo could feel him, hard inside his trunks.
"Mmmm..." Viggo allowed himself another kiss, as deep and passionate as the first. "That too, but I mean I have something else for you."
Orlando leaned back just a little, his arms still around Viggo's waist. "What are you up to?"
"Think of it as an extra Christmas present, or a really early birthday present."
Viggo reached into the pocket of his trunks and drew out a silver chain with a single pendant. Orlando tucked his chin, trying to see, as Viggo fastened it around his neck.
"So you're never far away from home, no matter where you are," Viggo said. "And home is never far away from you."
Viggo straightened the chain around Orlando's wet neck. Now the pendant hung down far enough for Orlando to see what it was.
Viggo heard Orlando's breath catch in his throat. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah." Viggo cupped the side of Orlando's face. "A little more than just an empty ring this time."
With gentle fingers, Orlando touched Sidi's tooth where it hung from the silver chain. "I can't believe you did this." He looked up and held Viggo's gaze. Orlando's eyes were deep and liquid. "And that you remembered after all this time."
"I wasn't that drunk that night," Viggo said. "Not until later anyway."
Orlando let the pendant fall back against his skin. He twined his fingers through Viggo's hair, held on tight. "That was the first night we slept together," he said. "I wanted to kiss you so badly, lost my nerve. Can't believe all we did was sleep that night, and with our clothes on, no less. Bloody pathetic, we were."
"Not now, we're not." Viggo's voice had taken on a slow, deep rasp, and his cock was as hard as Orlando's.
With a groan Orlando pulled Viggo in for another kiss. "Thank you," he whispered against Viggo's lips, and then they both swam out to where the water was just a little deeper and the sound of the surf would mask their cries.
They pressed against each other, thrust and rubbed, held and stroked, and the only witnesses were the sea and the moonlight. They held each other tight when they were done, kissing still, letting the ocean buoy their boneless bodies.
"I used to think I was the soft-hearted one," Orlando said, his voice soft and dreamy. "Thought you reserved that kind of thing for your poetry." He stroked the side of Viggo's face. "My tough guy."
Viggo chuckled. "Appearances are deceiving."
"Thank god," Orlando said, and Viggo knew he was talking about more than Viggo's sappy nature.
"Yeah." Viggo held on to Orlando's waist, felt the play of muscles as Orlando moved his legs in lazy kicks. "You gonna be okay now?"
"I'm always okay. Sometimes I just need a reminder of that." Orlando leaned back in the water, tilted his head and looked up at the moon. "I think I lost sight of where home was for a little while, this life of mine gets so confusing sometimes."
Viggo moved until he was behind Orlando, supporting his shoulders with his hands, Orlando's head resting against his chest. Orlando smiled up at him, and Viggo's heart beat hard in his chest, just like it did whenever Orlando looked at him like that.
"It gets difficult when I can't see your face or hold you," Orlando said. "Or when I can't hold Sidi and take care of him."
Sidi had become the one thing in Orlando's life he could shower with obvious love and affection no matter what the circumstances. Sidi could be there when Viggo couldn't. With Sidi, Orlando always could be himself.
"Well, you can hold us now," Viggo said. Sidi was with them here too, no doubt being doted on by one of Orlando's assistants at the moment. "All you want to."
"Yes, because I'm home now, right here." He held the pendant in his hand, long fingers curled against his graceful neck. He turned in the water to bring himself face to face with Viggo. "And right here," he said, pressing his hand against Viggo's chest. "You're not the only sentimental sod, you know."
A soft sound of agreement rumbled in Viggo's throat. "Then kiss me again and make me whole," he said.
They stayed in the water long past the time most of the resort's guests had turned in for the night. When they finally left the water, their skin pruned and Orlando shivering, they ran back to their room hand in hand and tumbled on the bed. Sidi jumped up beside them, licked the seawater from Orlando's legs until Orlando pulled away, protesting that Sidi's tongue tickled too much, and then Viggo tickled him for real.
"You still hog the bed," Viggo said when Orlando had collapsed with laughter, sprawled across the bed.
"You never kick me out, so I wouldn't complain too much."
Viggo nestled in beneath Orlando's outstretched arm. "Just so long as you save a place for me, you won't catch me complaining." He splayed his fingers out across Orlando's bare chest, felt it rise and fall as Orlando breathed in deep.
At the foot of the bed, Sidi turned in a tight circle three times and laid down, chin on his front paws. Viggo lifted his head to look at the dog, and Sidi gave him a baleful look.
"I'm in his space," Viggo said. He knew Orlando slept wrapped around Sidi when he couldn't be with Viggo.
"You're in your space." Orlando wrapped his arm around Viggo, drew him in closer. "It's all worth it, for moments like this, yeah?"
"Yeah." Viggo traced the new necklace he'd fastened around Orlando's neck, his finger sliding across the silver chain, down to the point of Sidi's tooth. "Definitely worth it," Viggo murmured.
Orlando wore his keepsakes around his neck, wrapped around his wrist and on his fingers. Viggo had a few things he wore that brought back special memories, but mostly he thought his keepsakes were the memories he kept safe where no one would ever see: Henry's birth, the first time his son called him 'Dad', the first soft touch of Orlando's lips to his.
Every moment he had with Orlando, Viggo kept safe in his heart.
Keepsakes.
/end
Author: jasmineskie
Pairing: Orlando/Viggo
Rating: R
Request: tiary requested the story behind one of Orlando's trinkets, bracelets or rings, preferably one of the newest ones, which we don't know the 'official' story for. Definitely set after NZ. Romance or PWP, no strong angst or kink.
Summary: When you can't be home, home comes to you.
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: It's fiction, every single, solitary word
Author's Note: I'm pinch-hitting here as a replacement writer for Tiary's request. There's a little flashback to NZ, but the main action's set after NZ. Hope this works for you, sweetie; it's what the muses came up with. *hugs*
~ : ~ : ~ : ~
November, 2004
"Are you sure he's all right?"
Even over a long distance connection that echoed and hissed, Viggo could hear Orlando's near panic.
"He's fine," Viggo said. He petted the object of Orlando's concern, who happened to be curled up on the couch next to Viggo. Sidi thumped his tail and laid his chin on Viggo's thigh, his brown eyes begging for more attention. Viggo scritched the dog behind his ears, and Sidi leaned into his hand. "He's just fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"I should come home."
Viggo suppressed a sigh. He wanted Orlando to come home, would have given almost anything if Orlando could be there instead of halfway around the world. Then Orlando could cuddle his dog and know Sidi was okay, and Viggo could cuddle Orlando and reassure him that these things happened with dogs. It had happened with Brigit when she was young, so it hadn't come as a big surprise to Viggo when it happened with Sidi too. But Viggo didn't want Orlando to come home because he was panicked about his dog, not when he had obligations he had to fulfill in London, like it or not.
"You'll be home soon enough," Viggo said. He cupped the phone closer to the side of his face. "Didn't this ever happen with Maude?"
"I don't know." Viggo could practically see Orlando chewing on his bottom lip. "Yes, it must have, I'm sure, I just don't remember, and I really think I need to come home."
He needed to try a different tactic since logic wasn't working. "Don't you trust me to take care of him?" Viggo asked.
"What? Fuck no, that's not it, and you bloody well know it. It's just that...." Now Viggo heard the rustled and creak of Orlando changing position in a rickety chair. "Fuck me, I know I'm being daft, but I...."
"You miss us, and you'd rather be here anyway."
Orlando's voice was small, and it pulled at Viggo's heart. "Yes."
Viggo rubbed his hand down Sidi's back. "Want us to come see you?" It would be easy enough to do. Sidi had a passport. They could both get on a plane tonight and be in London with Orlando in less than twenty-four hours.
"I... god, I feel so selfish, but I feel like I really need you. It's dreadful here. I mean, this is my home, you know? But it doesn't feel like it because you're not here, and now you tell me that Sidi's...." Viggo heard Orlando swallow the end of the sentence. He sat and waited, and finally Orlando said, "Do you think you could? Come, I mean?"
Viggo glanced out the front window. Early afternoon sun baked down on their front yard, the grass a worn-out sort of combination of green and sun-burnt brown. London would be different now than LA, would be far different still from where they would be next month. The details of that trip were still being planned by people who planned these types of things for their very lucrative living. It didn't matter to Viggo where he and Orlando were or the circumstances they found themselves in, so long as they could be together.
"Let me make a few phone calls," Viggo said. "As soon as I've got everything arranged, I'll call you and let you know when we'll be there."
He heard a soft sound and knew Orlando had lost his battle not to cry. At least they were tears of relief, not sadness, not like he'd heard the night before when Orlando had had too much to drink.
"Thank you," Orlando murmured.
They talked for a few more minutes until Viggo was convinced Orlando would be okay, then he put the phone down.
"Want to go see your boy?" Viggo asked Sidi. He rubbed the side of Sidi's face, and the dog thumped his tail. "Yeah, me too," Viggo said.
He looked at the glass ashtray on the table next to the couch. Normally it held the occasional cigarette butt or, when Henry was home, used chewing gum wrapped in a small piece of paper. Now it held Sidi's tooth. Viggo stared at it as he made the rest of his calls, and somewhere between talking to Robin's office and his travel agent, he got an idea.
# # #
December, 1999
Viggo had spent all day in the woods near the village of Glenorchy being Aragorn mourning the death of Boromir. Emotional scenes like that drained him as much as physically strenuous scenes. Call up the same emotion, time after time, add this nuance or that, until Peter finally seemed happy. Then do it all over again so that Sean would have honest emotion to react to. Tonight all Viggo wanted to do was escape into his own head for a while and try to find a momentary stop in this roller coaster called Lord of the Rings.
What he didn't need was a hyper-active trailer mate.
Orlando never seemed to sit still. Whether in the makeup chair, his chair on set, or in the back seat of a car, Orlando was always in motion. Viggo knew actors who seemed to have a limitless source of energy, but even they would wind down from time to time. Orlando never did.
Usually Viggo could deal with Orlando's boisterousness. It was difficult not to be swept along with Orlando's mixture of youthful enthusiasm and club boy raunchiness, but tonight Viggo just wanted a moment or two of quiet. Maybe he'd go camp out in the woods tonight. It would be safe enough, what with all the rest of the cast and crew trailers forming a modern wagon train of sorts at the edge of the woods. He only needed to go far enough to be alone, not far enough to get lost.
Viggo climbed the few steps to the trailer he shared with Orlando, what he would say already forming on his lips. He was sure Orlando wouldn't mind being alone for the night. The hobbits would more than likely throw a party in one of their trailers. Orlando could always find a good time when he wanted one.
The words Viggo had planned to say died on his lips when he opened the trailer door. Orlando sat in one corner of the garish couch in the trailer's main living area. He was only halfway out of costume, legs still clad in Legolas's leggings curled up beneath himself, and he looked like he'd just lost his best friend.
"Orlando?" Viggo said quietly.
He shut the door behind himself and walked over to the couch. Orlando hadn't even seemed like he'd heard the door open, much less Viggo say anything, and Viggo wasn't sure if he should just leave Orlando alone. Even though they'd been sharing a trailer since the production moved onto the Amon Hen location, Viggo still didn't feel like he knew Orlando very well.
"Elf boy?" Viggo asked again. He reached out a hand, intending to touch Orlando's shoulder gently if he still didn't move, but Viggo let his hand fall back when Orlando lifted his head.
"Didn't hear you come in," Orlando said. He scrunched his nose up, sniffed, rubbed at it with the back of his hand. His eyes didn't quite make it all the way up to Viggo's face, but stopped somewhere around his shoulder.
"What's up?" Viggo tried to keep his tone light and soothing.
Orlando glanced down, then his eyes finally made it up to look into Viggo's. Orlando's were watery - not quite crying, but close. "Did you ever have a pet?" Orlando asked. "Or... you know... an animal you considered part of your family?"
Viggo nodded. "Yeah. Quite a few. My family had horses when I was a kid. I've had a bunch of different dogs over the years, Henry had a cat for a while...." Viggo trailed off as realization set in. "Something happen to a pet of yours?" he asked gently.
Orlando frowned, blinked. "What? Oh... no... nothing like that, fuck no." He shifted on the couch, drawing his legs in closer to his body. "I'm being daft, I know I am."
Orlando reached down next to himself on the couch. Viggo saw a manila envelope, ripped open on one end, covered with international stamps. Orlando took a photo out of the envelope, held it out to Viggo. It was the picture of a dog, so scruffy it was cute. In the photograph a much younger Orlando sat with his arms wrapped around the dog, a huge smile on his face. Viggo found himself looking at the full head of curls on the younger Orlando. The man he'd come to know in New Zealand only had a small stripe of hair running down the center of his scalp.
"My mum sent me this photo of me and my dog. That's Maude," Orlando said, and he leaned forward to point unnecessarily at the dog in the picture, as if Viggo might get Orlando and the dog confused. "I had to leave her home with mum, can't have her sitting in quarantine while I'm off working. Wouldn't be much room in here for her anyway, and I'm sure you don't want to have to share the trailer with her and me. Maude's a terrible bed hog."
Orlando had become more animated as he talked about his dog. Viggo found himself grinning a little. He'd rather have animated Orlando than sad Orlando.
"Like you're not," Viggo said, teasing.
"And how would you know, hmmm?" Orlando finally grinned back. "I have yet to hog your bed."
"I see you stretched out across yours," Viggo said. "You don't leave much unused space."
Orlando was all gangly legs and long, thin arms, and he seemed to take up every square inch of bed space and then some.
"Well...." Orlando ducked his head, a warm flush coloring his ears. "I have been told I'm difficult to sleep with." He raised his head and pointed at the picture again. "Not as difficult as her though."
Viggo laughed and handed the picture back. "Maybe that's where you get it from, trying to wrestle part of the bed from your dog."
"Hmmm... could be. You might be on to something."
Orlando carefully tucked the picture back in the envelope. He stroked his fingers over the rough paper, and Viggo could see the good cheer draining from his face.
"I have a dog too," Viggo said. "Brigit. Henry's taking care of her while I'm gone. At least he better be, or his mom will kick his butt."
Orlando touched the paper again. "You miss her?" he asked, his voice low and quiet.
"Yeah, sometimes I do." Viggo took a chance and sat down on the couch next to Orlando, careful not to sit on the envelope. "She's a great dog, learned how to sit still and curl up next to me when I go fishing, not run around and bark at every little thing she hears."
"Yeah. Maude can be quiet too when she wants to be. That's usually not when I'm trying to sleep, but I rub her belly a little while and she goes to sleep and then *I* can sleep." Orlando fished a necklace out from beneath Legolas's blue silk shirt. "Not supposed to wear these under costume, I know, but I couldn't help myself today."
Viggo saw only a thin chain with a jump ring on it. Orlando had necklaces with other charms he wore off set. He'd told Viggo the charms were keepsakes to remind him of things he'd done, places he'd been, people he'd known. If there had been a keepsake on the chain he wore now, all that was left was that single jump ring. Viggo hoped Orlando hadn't lost the charm. One thing he had learned about Orlando was that he was sentimental about his keepsakes.
"Maude ran away once when she was a puppy. Well, not ran away exactly... more like she got away when Sam - that's my sister - and me were supposed to be watching her. Got into a row with Sam... always seemed to get into a row with Sam, older sister and all..." Orlando made a face, the same face Viggo had seen Henry make too many times to count when something unpleasant had to be done. "Before we noticed, she was gone. Mum said not to worry, Maude had a collar with a name tag, had our address, how to ring us if someone found her." He rubbed at his nose. "Didn't stop me from worrying though when no one did ring us that night."
"You got her back though, right?" The dog Viggo had seen in the picture clearly wasn't a puppy anymore.
"Yeah, yeah, we did. Next day. Longest night of my life, missing her. Even then she was a bed hog. My bed felt too big, you know?" Orlando held the thin chain in front of his face, his eyes slightly crossed as he stared at the jump ring. "When I got a flat in London, I got a new name tag for her, put the old one away. Good luck, you see, because it brought her home to us. When I came here, I wanted to bring something to remind me of her, something more than just a photograph. I'm not quite so daft to wear her name tag around my neck, but this--" He fingered the jump ring. "--is what was on her tag, fastened it to her collar. Figured I'd know what it was and that'd be good enough." He raised his eyes to Viggo's face. "Something that would bring me home too."
Viggo had spent the first few weeks in New Zealand incredibly homesick. He'd worked his way through it by throwing himself into the part, learning the skills he needed to be Aragorn. Orlando had his own way of coping with homesickness. Something about today must have made it a bad day for him. Viggo could relate.
Orlando shoved the necklace back beneath Legolas's shirt. He looked embarrassed.
"Told you I'm daft," Orlando said. "The hobbits would never let me live it down if they knew. You're the only one I've ever told. You'll keep my secret, yeah?"
"You have my word," Viggo said in Aragorn's voice. He grinned and said, "Mine too," this time in his own voice.
Orlando laughed. "Not the only daft one, am I?"
"Hardly," Viggo said, and he joined in the laughter.
Orlando picked up the envelope and put it inside the binder he carried with him on set. "I have a bottle of wine that's much too good to share with hobbits," he said. "What say after we get out of costume, we open it up and see what we can find to go with it?"
Viggo had planned to spend the night alone, but suddenly company sounded much better. Specifically, Orlando's company sounded much better. He nodded. "I think I've seen wine glasses around here somewhere."
While they changed, Orlando talked about Maude and Viggo talked about Brigit. They shared Orlando's bottle of wine, and when it was gone, another bottle Viggo had stashed in the back of a cupboard. They never did find much to go with it outside of half a loaf of bread and a few slices of cheese. They were both pleasantly drunk when they climbed in Orlando's bed and fell asleep, still with their clothes on, Viggo's arms slung loosely around Orlando's waist. Orlando's chain with his link back home stayed safely around his neck, and for once, he didn't hog the bed.
# # #
December, 2004
Every beach Viggo had ever seen had its own feel, its own rhythm. On the east coast, on the seaward side of the outer islands of North Carolina, the sea was wild, the wind strong. On the Tampa shoreline, the beach felt like the quiet of a lake except for the seashells embedded in the fine, white sand. The northern California beaches were rocky, the surf treacherous.
Here in this South American beach resort the Atlantic was calm enough to wade in, to stand in and look at the moon overhead, smell the rich, wet mustiness of the ocean, hear the muffled sounds of people and music and life.
Viggo stood in waist-high surf with his head back and his eyes closed, letting the pull of the ocean sway him back and forth. Nighttime sounds drifted to him on the crest of the waves. He held his wet arms out to the sides and let the gentle breeze cool his hot skin.
Splashing, coming closer.
Viggo opened his eyes and saw Orlando wading out toward him, moonlight glinting off the smooth skin of his shoulders, making deep pools of his eyes. Viggo smiled, kept his arms outstretched.
"You done for the night?" Viggo asked when Orlando got close enough he wouldn't have to shout over the sound of the ocean.
"Yeah." Orlando smiled back, a weary smile, but one that held promise. "What are you doing out here, old man?"
"Waiting for you."
Orlando fell forward into the ocean and swam the last few yards to Viggo's side. When he stood up he was wet and glistening, and he slicked back his hair away from his face. He pulled Viggo into a hug, wet skin chilly against Viggo's body.
"Well here I am," Orlando said, his mouth next to Viggo's ear. "Am I worth waiting for?"
"Always." Viggo brushed his lips against Orlando's cheek, wrapped his arms around Orlando's body. "Always."
It had become a ritual every time they came together. Orlando needed the reassurance and Viggo never minded being asked, not now beneath the South American moon, and not last month in the high-priced suite of a London hotel.
Viggo brought up a hand to bury it in Orlando's hair. He tilted Orlando's head and kissed him deeply. They were far enough away from the soft outdoor lighting of the resort to be out of view. They didn't have to be careful here. It was one of the reasons Orlando's people had chosen this particular place. Orlando had certain things he had to do to fulfill certain obligations he'd rather avoid if he had the choice, then the rest of his time he was free to do whatever he wanted. And what he wanted - what they both wanted - was each other.
"I have something for you," Viggo said when they stopped kissing.
Orlando pressed himself against Viggo. "So do I," he said, and Viggo could feel him, hard inside his trunks.
"Mmmm..." Viggo allowed himself another kiss, as deep and passionate as the first. "That too, but I mean I have something else for you."
Orlando leaned back just a little, his arms still around Viggo's waist. "What are you up to?"
"Think of it as an extra Christmas present, or a really early birthday present."
Viggo reached into the pocket of his trunks and drew out a silver chain with a single pendant. Orlando tucked his chin, trying to see, as Viggo fastened it around his neck.
"So you're never far away from home, no matter where you are," Viggo said. "And home is never far away from you."
Viggo straightened the chain around Orlando's wet neck. Now the pendant hung down far enough for Orlando to see what it was.
Viggo heard Orlando's breath catch in his throat. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yeah." Viggo cupped the side of Orlando's face. "A little more than just an empty ring this time."
With gentle fingers, Orlando touched Sidi's tooth where it hung from the silver chain. "I can't believe you did this." He looked up and held Viggo's gaze. Orlando's eyes were deep and liquid. "And that you remembered after all this time."
"I wasn't that drunk that night," Viggo said. "Not until later anyway."
Orlando let the pendant fall back against his skin. He twined his fingers through Viggo's hair, held on tight. "That was the first night we slept together," he said. "I wanted to kiss you so badly, lost my nerve. Can't believe all we did was sleep that night, and with our clothes on, no less. Bloody pathetic, we were."
"Not now, we're not." Viggo's voice had taken on a slow, deep rasp, and his cock was as hard as Orlando's.
With a groan Orlando pulled Viggo in for another kiss. "Thank you," he whispered against Viggo's lips, and then they both swam out to where the water was just a little deeper and the sound of the surf would mask their cries.
They pressed against each other, thrust and rubbed, held and stroked, and the only witnesses were the sea and the moonlight. They held each other tight when they were done, kissing still, letting the ocean buoy their boneless bodies.
"I used to think I was the soft-hearted one," Orlando said, his voice soft and dreamy. "Thought you reserved that kind of thing for your poetry." He stroked the side of Viggo's face. "My tough guy."
Viggo chuckled. "Appearances are deceiving."
"Thank god," Orlando said, and Viggo knew he was talking about more than Viggo's sappy nature.
"Yeah." Viggo held on to Orlando's waist, felt the play of muscles as Orlando moved his legs in lazy kicks. "You gonna be okay now?"
"I'm always okay. Sometimes I just need a reminder of that." Orlando leaned back in the water, tilted his head and looked up at the moon. "I think I lost sight of where home was for a little while, this life of mine gets so confusing sometimes."
Viggo moved until he was behind Orlando, supporting his shoulders with his hands, Orlando's head resting against his chest. Orlando smiled up at him, and Viggo's heart beat hard in his chest, just like it did whenever Orlando looked at him like that.
"It gets difficult when I can't see your face or hold you," Orlando said. "Or when I can't hold Sidi and take care of him."
Sidi had become the one thing in Orlando's life he could shower with obvious love and affection no matter what the circumstances. Sidi could be there when Viggo couldn't. With Sidi, Orlando always could be himself.
"Well, you can hold us now," Viggo said. Sidi was with them here too, no doubt being doted on by one of Orlando's assistants at the moment. "All you want to."
"Yes, because I'm home now, right here." He held the pendant in his hand, long fingers curled against his graceful neck. He turned in the water to bring himself face to face with Viggo. "And right here," he said, pressing his hand against Viggo's chest. "You're not the only sentimental sod, you know."
A soft sound of agreement rumbled in Viggo's throat. "Then kiss me again and make me whole," he said.
They stayed in the water long past the time most of the resort's guests had turned in for the night. When they finally left the water, their skin pruned and Orlando shivering, they ran back to their room hand in hand and tumbled on the bed. Sidi jumped up beside them, licked the seawater from Orlando's legs until Orlando pulled away, protesting that Sidi's tongue tickled too much, and then Viggo tickled him for real.
"You still hog the bed," Viggo said when Orlando had collapsed with laughter, sprawled across the bed.
"You never kick me out, so I wouldn't complain too much."
Viggo nestled in beneath Orlando's outstretched arm. "Just so long as you save a place for me, you won't catch me complaining." He splayed his fingers out across Orlando's bare chest, felt it rise and fall as Orlando breathed in deep.
At the foot of the bed, Sidi turned in a tight circle three times and laid down, chin on his front paws. Viggo lifted his head to look at the dog, and Sidi gave him a baleful look.
"I'm in his space," Viggo said. He knew Orlando slept wrapped around Sidi when he couldn't be with Viggo.
"You're in your space." Orlando wrapped his arm around Viggo, drew him in closer. "It's all worth it, for moments like this, yeah?"
"Yeah." Viggo traced the new necklace he'd fastened around Orlando's neck, his finger sliding across the silver chain, down to the point of Sidi's tooth. "Definitely worth it," Viggo murmured.
Orlando wore his keepsakes around his neck, wrapped around his wrist and on his fingers. Viggo had a few things he wore that brought back special memories, but mostly he thought his keepsakes were the memories he kept safe where no one would ever see: Henry's birth, the first time his son called him 'Dad', the first soft touch of Orlando's lips to his.
Every moment he had with Orlando, Viggo kept safe in his heart.
Keepsakes.
/end