19/?
Epico - A Sorta Fairytale: Chapter Nineteen
Authors: CJ [vylentcrymz], Emilie [emilierevan], Jen [savvy_elf] and Stacy [seemedsobright].
Rating: Hard R / NC-17
Pairings: Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder/Maggie Grace, Orlando Bloom/Evangeline Lilly
Summary: Love. Friendship. Growth. Sex. Change. Drama. But mostly just sex. Sure, we have a plot… somewhere around here (now where did I put that thing?), but when broken down into its simplest form, Epico = SEX!
Disclaimer: We don't own these people. They're real, sure, but none of these events have or ever will transpire. No offense is meant and we're making no profit from this. Title taken from the song A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos.
Authors' Notes: We the writers would like to thank ALL the readers for…well, reading, of course. And commenting, and making icons and graphics and for epico_squee in general. We love writing this story and we love that you love reading it. *BIG hugs*
Please remember: Feedback is to us as sex is to Magsian, Domilie, and Orlilly. As in, very important, and something that needs to be done 24/7.
AN2: Again, sorry for this taking so long!
---
Even though they were whispering, they were far from quiet. Never mind the sound of boxes hitting each other and Dom cursing when he stubbed his toe, the box labeled (much to his delight) underwear and bras blocking his view of the misplaced stool. Never mind that there were dozens of things needing to be done around the house before the movers arrived or that Ian and Dom were breaking a sweat--and looking good as they did--doing all the work.
There were bridal magazines in the room.
"Were you going to get floor length?" Again, the whispers that seemed to carry throughout the house, followed by giggling. Dom rolled his eyes at Ian, who good naturedly shrugged.
"How long is your train going to be?"
"Are you going to wear a tiara?" At that, Ian couldn't help but join in on the eye-rolling. A tiara? He mouthed to Dom, who snickered.
"Hope she doesn't forget the glass slippers," Dom whispered.
"Heaven forbid." Ian shook his head and the men shared a laugh. "Think she'll try to get me into a suit of armor?"
Dom nodded. "And you'll ride a great white steed into the sunset."
They were both laughing at that image, leaning against the stacks of boxes near the front door, when Maggie came out of the living room. Her arms crossed over her chest, she smirked a little and waited for them to notice her presence and shut up.
"I see you boys are working hard."
Dom spluttered indignantly. "We've been-- are you joking? Hours of hard labor, and you three are in there, giggling away...!"
"We'd have invited you to join us, but we didn't think you'd find the debate over the color of the bridesmaids' dresses very interesting," Maggie explained.
"What's up, baby?" Ian walked over to her, sliding an arm around her waist. "Need us to go on an emergency run to the market and grab the newest bridal magazines?"
"Between Evi, Emilie, and me, we've cleaned out every magazine rack from here to the mainland," Maggie shook her head. "Actually, Emilie's mixing up some iced tea, and I was wondering if you two wanted any. You're both dripping sweat all over the place, and it's hardly attractive."
"It's not?" Ian pouted. "I thought you told me I look sexy when I sweat."
"Oh you are, when I said I was unattractive I was mostly referring to..." she nodded to Dom, who scowled. "Him."
"I happen to have been told by my very attractive girlfriend, who's got excellent eye sight, mind you, that I look quite fexy when I'm sweating. Or maybe it's just the activity that brought me to a sweat that she liked...I dunno, ask her."
Maggie's nose wrinkled and she shut her eyes, shaking her head. "Um...fexy?"
Dom nodded. "Yeah."
"What's fexy mean?" Ian asked when it didn't seem like Dom was going to explain.
"Well, my culturally-retarded friends, fexy is the abbreviation of fucking sexy. And, again you can ask my girlfriend with the wonderful eyesight to confirm this, I am--"
"Please," Maggie stopped him. "Don't continue. We get it."
Ian rolled his eyes and nodded toward Dom. "And this is what I've been putting up with while you're off in Wedding Land."
"I'm so sorry," Maggie said in a tone that suggested she really wasn't. "Take a break, come get something to drink."
"In a minute. We've just got to organize these boxes so everything'll be ready to roll when the movers get here." Ian motioned to the chaotic arrangement of cardboard boxes, some of them not even taped shut yet, in the entrance hall. "Because we are, after all, amazing boyfriends, and not bitter in the least about moving all of Emilie's shit by ourselves."
Ian flashed a huge grin to punctuate his statement, and Maggie laughed and punched him in the chest.
"You're right on one count. There's one amazing boyfriend here." Maggie pointed at Dom, and before Ian could protest, she added, "And one absolutely incredible fiancé."
Ian smiled, satisfied with her response, and leaned in to kiss her, completely ignoring Dom's pointed cough.
"We'd get a lot more done around here if certain people weren't so horny," Dom said loudly a few seconds later.
"Don't be jealous, Dom, it's very unbecoming." Maggie squeezed Ian's hand before she turned and left, disappearing into the kitchen. Immediately Ian and Dom could hear more whispering, giggling, and the occasional squeal. Exchanging a look, they heaved identical sighs and went back to attempting to stack Emilie's boxes in an organized manner.
When they had the boxes straight, working up even more of a sweat in the process, they went into the kitchen to find refreshment. Just before Ian pushed open the door, an ear-splitting squeal came from inside, followed by what could have been either a sob or a laugh. Dom and Ian looked at each other, eyebrows inching toward their hairlines, before Ian opened the door.
Evi was sitting on a counter, looking board while she flipped through a bridal magazine as thick as a dictionary. She seemed completely unfazed by the dramatic scene unfolding in the middle of the kitchen. Maggie and Emilie were clinging to each other as though their very lives depended on it, Emilie on her tiptoes and Maggie bent over with her head on the shorter woman's shoulder.
"This is really happening!" Emilie was saying, voice choked with emotion. "We're really not going to be roomies anymore!"
"No more walking in on each other having sex!" Maggie said.
"No more fighting over condoms at three a.m.!"
"No more all-night chick flick marathons!"
"Are you moving three blocks away from each other or going to war?" Evi asked, shaking her head and laughing a little.
"She doesn't understand," Emilie muttered, loud enough for Evi to hear it.
"Obviously she's never had a bond like ours with anyone," Maggie stage-whispered.
"Kind of pathetic, isn't it?"
Evi threw the magazine at them.
Ian cleared his throat, "Um...sorry to interrupt but--"
"Not that I'm in the mood to do any more manly lugging around but, just wanted to check if everything's packed, luv," Dom interrupted him, scratching his skin and trying to look as innocent as possible. "Got all your things in order? Panties all packed away? Not that I'd mind if you misplaced a few--or all--of them, really."
Pulling away, reluctantly, Emilie brushed her hand beneath her eyes to rid of any tears before turning to her boyfriend. "Dom."
"Ah, I know that tone." He looked to Ian with mock-disappointment. "I've blown it now. She's finally sick of me and my perverted ways. Know any good street corners I can bum out on? Maybe sell my body for currywurst cash?"
"You could go live with that bum near set. The guy with the foot-long beard that lives in the tent off the highway?" Ian got two glasses out of the cupboard and poured himself and Dom a glass of tea from the pitcher on the counter. "He's probably looking for a roommate."
"We haven't even lived together for a week and you're already looking for a new place?" Emilie put her hands on her hips, a mockingly angry expression on her face. "What is that about?"
"Ah, c'mon luv." Dom sauntered over to her, putting his arms around her and dipping her backward. "You know any house I could try to live in would be a cold and empty place without you there to make it a home."
"Cheesy, but you're cute, so it'll do." Emilie brushed her fingers through his hair as he peppered her neck with kisses, finally straightening when Ian coughed loudly.
"I'm sorry, but I can't say I'll miss knowing all about your sex life, man," Ian said, shaking his head as he handed Dom a glass.
"Likewise, and no hard feelings." They clinked glasses and drank deeply, Ian dribbling a little tea down his chin.
"Hmmph. Men." Maggie shook her head, wiping the drip away with her thumb. "No emotion, just a reference to sex and that's that. Won't you guys miss each other?"
"Of course. Dom was my shoulder to cry on during all those tough times." Ian pretended to wipe a tear from his eye and sighed, wrapping an arm around Dom's shoulder. "We used to stay up all night, having pillow fights and talking about girls we liked. I'll miss those days, definitely, but I think we're mature enough to move on."
Emilie and Maggie rolled their eyes at each other as Ian and Dom laughed.
The doorbell rang a few seconds later. Ian downed the last of his tea, setting the glass in the sink. "Must be the movers. Back to work for us, Dom."
"Don't you ladies worry about a thing. God knows we wouldn't want you to break any nails lifting boxes or anything. We'll handle everything," Dom assured them.
"Great." Evi hopped off the counter, gathering the bridal magazines strewn about. "Why don't we head over to your place and get things ready while you boys help them unload Ian's stuff and load up Emilie's?"
"Good plan. We can take my car," Maggie said.
"Bring the magazines, Evi. We can look over the bridesmaids' dresses on the way there," Emilie said. The five of them headed back into the entrance hall, Ian opening the door and greeting the movers.
"The house is two minutes away, tops. How many dresses can you look at in that time?" Dom asked, incredulous.
"We're efficient." Emilie brushed her lips over Dom's. "Don't hurt yourself, and don't you dare break anything of mine. See you in an hour or so."
---
Dom collapsed onto the couch, head immediately finding its way to rest in Emilie's lap. "This has got to be the most exhausting day of my life. Luv, if you weren't so amazing and gorgeous I don't think I'd be able to forgive you for putting me through this."
"Oh really?" she ran her fingers through his hair comfortingly, smiling.
"Thankfully you are and..." he turned over so he could look up at her, an ear-to-ear smile on his face. "Now we're officially living together. That makes up for it a bit."
Emilie scoffed, "A bit?"
Still smiling, Dom nodded. "Yeah, just a bit. I'll expect a reward that is equal to or even more physically demanding than this day was later tonight. But the good kind of--"
"And that's our cue to go!" Ian, arm around Maggie's waist, reached over the couch and smacked Dom's arm as they started to leave. Not even two steps were taken and Maggie slipped away from him, glumly returning to where Emilie sat and wrapping her arms around her. "You're not changing your mind now are you, Mags?"
"Shush. Roommate bonding going on here," Maggie said, pouting as she hugged Emilie tightly.
"Ex-roommate," Dom corrected. "She's mine now, and I bet our pillow fights are going to be so much more fun. 'Cause we'll be naked." He yelped when Emilie's hand smacked his arm. "What?! It's true."
"Shut up, Dom." Emilie squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around Maggie. "Gonna miss you. Thanks for all your help today."
"You, too. Come back and visit sometime, kay?" Maggie laughed quietly.
"Maybe Dom and I'll visit occasionally and have really loud sex while you're trying to sleep. Just for old time's sake."
"Are you sure living with Dom is such a good idea? I can already see his influence on you." Maggie shook her head, ignoring the mock glare Dom was sending her over Emilie's head. "I guess this is goodbye, roomie."
"I guess so." Emilie rubbed Maggie's back a few times before they pulled apart. "I'm sorry for kicking you in the shin."
"No you're not," Maggie accused, and Emilie smiled sheepishly. "You would've done anything for that condom."
"If it makes a difference, that night we had really great--"
"And that's our second cue. Maggie?" Ian held out his hand, waiting for Maggie and Emilie to share one last, tearful hug before Maggie stood up and walked back to Ian. "Dom, we had some good times. Sayonara, buddy."
"Good riddance. You always left your dirty dishes in the sink, I hated that," Dom scowled.
"That was you, asshole," Ian laughed.
"Oh, yeah." Dom grinned and stood up. He and Ian shared a manly clap on the back, and Dom opened the front door for the couple. "See you guys later, yeah?"
Nodding, Ian pressed a kiss to Maggie's temple when he noticed she was still wiping away some tears. "At the party?"
"That's not for another week," Dom pointed out, then shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining with what I have in mind in terms of celebration for the next seven days."
"All seven days? How do you--?" Maggie cleared her throat and shook her head. "Never mind."
While Dom gave her an exaggerated wink, Emilie rested her chin on the edge of the couch and looked up at Evi with curious eyes. "Orlando'll be there, right?"
"Hopefully, the director seems to not really care that we're in love and want to spend time together--" Everybody collectively rolled their eyes at the smooshiness and she rolled her eyes right back at them. "--and all that annoying, romantic crap you guys have no interest in, obviously."
"Romance?" Dom snorted. "Bah, who needs it? It's all about sex for us."
Emilie stepped on his foot. Hard. He yelped, then added, "What I meant to say is, we enjoy making sweet, sweet love because we are soul mates and meant to be together forever and always."
"Good boy." Emilie patted him on the head.
"So yeah, Orlando should get in sometime this week, and I won't be the fifth wheel anymore. And just to get even with all of you, we're going to be making out all the time, and we're going to call each other by smoopy nicknames, and we're going to recite awful love poems about each other..."
"Oh, come on Evi, we're not that bad," Maggie interrupted, lacing her fingers with Ian's.
"Maybe not, but I tell you, it's hard watching you fawn all over each other while my boyfriend's a thousand miles away." Evi shook her head, smiling a little wistfully. "Dom, Emilie, congratulation on the house. Try not to break any furniture on your first day. Ian, Maggie, same goes to you. If you need any help planning the party, just call."
"Will do. Thanks for helping today, Evi." Maggie let go of Ian's hand so she could hug her.
"It was my pleasure. See you guys at work." Evi waved goodbye to everyone and walked out the front door.
Maggie and Emilie looked at each other for a second before they reached out for one last hug. Ian and Dom looked at each other, rolling their eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time. Sniffling and laughing at the same time, Maggie and Emilie said their goodbyes before finally separating. Ian took Maggie's hand, gently but firmly leading her out the front door before she spent all night hugging Emilie in the foyer. Dom and Emilie stood in the doorway, arms around each other's waist while they waved goodbye.
Once Ian and Maggie's car was out of sight, Dom turned to Emilie with a wicked grin.
"Alone at last," he said, letting the door fall shut. He pulled Emilie against him, looking down at her face. "Whatever are we going to do with ourselves in this big old house, with no interruptions and no bothersome roommates?"
---
Maggie held her drink above her head as she weaved through the small crowd inexplicably gathered in the archway. Why they were huddled there of all places, she didn't care to think about, her eyes on the new arrivals pushing themselves through the front door as politely as possible. She waved, catching their attention.
As Orlando took her jacket, Evi greeted her with a wide smile. "Hey! The place looks great."
"Yeah." Orlando hung his and Evi's jacket on the coat racket and looked around the room. "No more boxes!"
"No, we still have them I just..." Maggie made a motion with her hands. "Shoved them all in the closet."
"I always had Ian labeled as the kind of guy who'd absolutely need to have his stuff together as soon as possible," Evi admitted as they made their way into the kitchen where the counter was, from edge to edge, filled with a variety of drinks. As was the rule of all of their parties.
Maggie kept a smile on her face but it had a little less spark to it than just a moment before as she said over the music, loud enough for just Evi to hear. "Well, with everything that's been going on..."
Eyebrows raised, Evi made an 'aha!' noise and pointedly looked down at her watch before looking to Orlando. "Less than five minutes before someone's sex life was mentioned. I win."
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"I'm not--" Maggie cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink, pointing to some of the drinks as an indication for them to make themselves at home and have one. "I meant the other stuff."
Ian's final scenes had been filmed just two days ago. The entire set had been in tears when Boone took his final breath, and that night Ian walked off set with the knowledge he'd never really be back. He'd come to visit, to see Maggie, maybe to do some guest appearances, but his days as a regular cast member of Lost were over.
Orlando looked up from pouring some rum into a glass, sympathy pouring out of his chocolate eyes. "How's he been doing?"
"Good." She bit down a little too hard on an ice cube, the crrrrrack echoing in the room when the stereo was in between songs. "Very good, actually. He's handling it better than I thought. He's--He's doing great. Really great."
"Maggie?" Evi's hand touched her arm and she had no choice other than to look up at her friend. "How're you doing?"
“I’m fine.” Maggie flashed a bright smile to prove her point; a smile Orlando and Evi saw straight through, and their expressions told her so. With a small sigh, she corrected herself, “I’m okay. It’s just...shitty, going to work without him. They only deliver one script to our house, and it’s… it’s shitty. But!”
She held up her drink and nodded toward it. “90 percent vodka. I’ll be feeling great in about five minutes.”
Evi smiled and rubbed Maggie’s arm, her face a mixture of amusement and concern. “Hopefully tonight’ll raise everyone’s spirits.”
“Yeah, I think it will,” Maggie nodded. “Excuse me a minute, I think Daniel and Yunjin just got here. I’m gonna go say hi to them.”
Orlando wrapped an arm around Evi and she leaned into his chest as Maggie walked off, waving at the newest arrivals to the party. Evi took a sip of the drink Orlando handed to her and looked up at him, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
“The costume’s in the car, right?” she asked, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
Orlando nodded. “Right down to the whiskers. I’ll wait ‘till everyone’s a bit more drunk before I put it on.”
“Probably for the best.”
---
Maggie didn't bother to try and convince herself she was being a good host and checking up on everybody as she found a path through the crowd. She'd caught sight of Ian when greeting Yunjin and Daniel at the door and hadn't been able to take her mind off of getting to talk to him. He was over by the stereo, on his knees with serious eyes narrowed at the selection of CD's to choose from.
He was still fingering the CD cases when she got to his side of the room, bottom lip snagged between his teeth as he perused the options. His beer balanced on his knee skillfully as he knelt there, as still as a statue and just as perfect.
Maggie took a few steps forward and gave him a small nod when he looked up at her, smiling wryly. "I told you we should just get one of those stereos that play more than one CD at a time."
Grabbing his beer and placing it on the shelf, Ian stood and smiled sweetly at her, his free hand reaching out to touch her waist. "But then I wouldn't spend half the night bending over and showing off my cute little butt."
With his fingers barely touching her hip he managed to pull her closer, so that her body was mere inches from his, heat passing between them. Maggie unconsciously licked her lips. "I came over to see how you were doing."
"You did," he nodded, still smiling. "I'm doing great, Mags."
"Yeah?"
Ian laughed and ducked his head, "It's like you want me to not be doing great."
"No," Maggie shook her head, hand touching his cheek and making him look back up at her. "I'm glad you're doing great, I just want you to know it's alright--"
"I know," he kissed the corner of her mouth and his smile brightened a little bit. "If I focus on all the positive things going on, Mags...I, well, I'm the happiest fucking man in the world right now, then."
Color rose to Maggie's cheeks, burning bright red at his words. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." His thumb massaged slow circles into her hip as he continued, voice soft but sounding like he was on the verge of laughing. "I could hop into a bunny suit right now I'm so happy."
"Well, it'd be going with the theme, I can say that much."
"I'd make fur look good."
Maggie nodded, smiling as brightly as ever for the first time that night. "Oh, I don't doubt it."
Ian kissed her, slow and sensual. His lips tasted of Corona and hers tasted of Cosmo yet somehow, it mixed perfectly. When he pulled away, his forehead rested against hers. "You're ignoring all of our guests."
She sighed and closed her eyes, letting his arms wrap around her and basking in the amazing feeling for just a moment. "So are you."
"Mmm, you're right." he tilted his head slightly to kiss her jaw, then her neck, and then her pulse point. "We're terrible hosts."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Maggie whispered into his hair.
"At least everyone's having fun," he smiled against the curve of her neck.
Maggie kissed his temple, "Who's everyone? Everything is just blurry shapes to me now."
He pulled back and kissed her chin, looking up at her. Their eyes met and he winked. "Good."
---
Dom made a grand gesture to the bottle of wine, twisting his wrist extravagantly in circles before presenting it to Maggie in a bow. "A wine, from the cellar."
Maggie looked at the bottle and up at Dom. "Thanks."
"My beautiful live-in girlfriend here suggested we bring a bottle as an official housewarming gift and I thought it was a marvelous idea," he said in a faux-posh accent. "We are, in fact grownups now. Living together and all."
Laughing, Maggie looked to a half-exasperated yet also quite-amused Emilie. "Where does he come up with this stuff?"
Emilie brushed a piece of rebellious hair out of his eyes and smiled at him. "He rehearsed it in the car ride over."
"Oi!" Dom looked at her, his façade dropping instantaneously. "I can be a polite man without rehearsal, mind you."
Maggie snorted, "Did he rehearse that to?"
He shut his eyes pointedly for a moment before exiting the doorway and making his way into the kitchen, muttering under his breath. "Bloody unbelievable...can be polite. Fucking...ridiculous is what it is."
Emilie watched him go, shaking her head. "Excuse him, he was on set for twelve hours and we didn't get much sleep before then."
"Ah, so I see you're enjoying having the house to yourself." Maggie gave her friend a raised-eyebrow as they turned into the living room.
“Don’t try to act like you and Ian haven’t enjoyed having private time.” Emilie grinned and nudged Maggie with her shoulder, eliciting a telltale smile from her. “I need to go track down Dom and make sure he’s not pouting into his beer.”
“You go on. I need to pee.” Maggie and Emilie separated, Emilie following the sound of vehement cursing coming from the kitchen while Maggie went down a hallway. The bathroom was on her left, across from a spare room that she and Ian had no idea what to do with yet. For now it was a storage room for the boxes they hadn’t unpacked.
There was a lull in the music when she came out of the bathroom and she was just far enough away from the rest of the party to be able to hear a small noise come out of that spare room. It was somewhere between a curse and a yell, and it was followed by a heavy thump. It definitely wasn’t the kind of noise that should be coming out of a spare room filled with boxes of junk.
Confused and curious, Maggie crossed the hallway and turned the doorknob. She had to kick aside a few boxes but eventually she forced her way into the room, where she discovered the source of the noise.
A giant, furry, white bunny was picking itself up off the floor after being half-buried by boxes of her old clothes that had apparently fallen on top of it.
Maggie stared at the creature for a few seconds, shocked into silence. She'd dismissed Ian's comments as a joke, but apparently... She shook her head, laughing quietly as the bunny began dusting itself off. His head jerked up, noticing her for the first time as she sauntered toward him.
Her hands slid down the chest of furry bunny hair--the suit made Ian's usually scrawny physique seem a bit bulkier--and grinned against the side of the mask. "Hey."
A small, muffled noise came from inside the mask. He couldn't turn his head.
"I didn't think you were being literal," she said through a small laugh, leaning against him like it was the most natural thing in the world to be molesting a bunny. “But I can’t say I’m disappointed. You certainly know how to work the bunny costume, Mr. Somerhalder.”
He was trying to say something -his voice barely able to penetrate the huge bunny head-but she cut him off by stepping closer, doing a little shimmy right up against his chest. One hand snaked around behind him, sliding down his back until she found the fluffy cotton tail. He was barely moving, barely breathing, she noticed, and her grin turned wicked when she gave that tail a squeeze.
“This is a great idea, Ian. Everyone’s going to get such a kick out of this bunny suit.” Her body was pressed completely against his and she leaned closer, dropping her voice to a low, sexy purr. “But I hope you know a few tricks to get this suit off in a hurry. Because just for tonight, just for you… I’m not wearing anything under this skirt.”
Ian made a strange noise, somewhere between a squeak and a cough, and backed up quickly. Maggie laughed, pursuing him. “Don’t get so anxious. We can’t ditch this party to go have hot, amazing sex. It was your idea, after all-”
His back against a wall --literally, since Ian had walked backwards until he had nowhere else to go-- he couldn’t really move away when Maggie advanced, her predatory gaze leaving no doubt as to what her intentions were. To accentuate the point she licked her lower lip, slow and deliberate. The idea of Ian in a bunny suit was hilarious on its own, but the idea of getting Ian hot while he was wearing the costume was undeniably appealing to Maggie’s evil side.
He was trying to speak again, those strange muffled noises she couldn’t really make out. The head was so big his voice practically echoed inside it, and Maggie had to lean in close to even try to make out what he was saying. Not that she minded, oh no, she had no problems invading his personal space, her arms bracing herself against the wall, one on either side of him, her chest against his.
“Maggie.” Her name. She got that much. Leaning in a little closer so the whiskers tickled her ear, she nodded to signal for him to continue. “I’m not Ian!”
Oh, God.
Maggie knew she’d had a drink, or two, maybe even three. But all the alcohol in the world couldn’t provide her with any excuses for why Ian-in-a-bunny-suit’s mumbles sounded British.
“Oh, my God.” Maggie backed up, fast, her sultry expression transforming very quickly into something much more akin to horror. “Orlando?!”
A slow nod.
“Oh, my God.” That phrase seemed to sum up the situation, so she stuck to it. Her hand slowly raised to her mouth and she added, “Holy shit. This is...the most--"
Her cheeks burning bright red, Orlando could see that much even in the dark room, she stumbled a little more, boxes nearly tripping as she did so. With no intention of looking back, she turned and left the room without another word said.
Orlando stood there for a second, burning up inside of the bunny suit but making no move to remove the head. He didn't need to take it off to swear repeatedly at himself or to attempt unsuccessfully to erase what Maggie had said to him completely out of his mind.
'Because just for tonight, just for you...I’m not wearing anything under this skirt.'
Oh god. Maggie was an attractive woman, everyone knew it, but dear god he did not need to know that about her. That image needed to go away, fast. Not that he was imagining anything, no, never! Evangeline. Evangeline. Evangeline. He needed her face in his mind, not Maggie's... anything, at this point.
He let his head fall back against the wall, the dull thud barely making any noise because of the thick faux-fur.
"Orlando?" There was a soft knock at the door, and that familiar voice made Orlando breathe a sigh of relief. He shook his head one more time, keeping any and all thoughts about Maggie's choice of undergarment as far away as possible, before he felt his way carefully to the door. The costume limited his vision to a very narrow area, and the big feet made walking a little more difficult. His paw found the doorknob after a try or two, and there he was greeted by a welcome sight.
"Good, you got the costume on. No problems with it, right?" Evi grabbed his hand, grinning at him as she led him down the hallway.
Problems. Orlando almost chuckled, but he was still too mortified to see any humor in the situation. He tugged until Evi stopped walking and turned to face him, and then his arms were around him and all that could be seen of Evi was a little patch of brown hair peeking out of a mound of white fur.
Evi laughed, hugging him back. "Oh, do I get the honor of having the first bunny hug tonight?" Orlando mumbled something, his head dropping to her shoulder, which was difficult considering his head was about twice the size of hers. "Hmm? Didn't catch that."
He raised his voice, speaking carefully so she could understand him. "There was a problem."
Evi frowned, giving him a once-over. "What, are you having second thoughts now? You can't possibly be worried about looking stupid in front of this crowd. Almost everyone's drunk, they probably won't even realize it's you in there. I'll say I hired a professional. Come on, I want to see everyone's reactions!"
She started pulling him down the hallway again, making it nearly to the living room before his insistent mumbled made her stop again.
"That's what the problem was." Damn this head. Orlando practically had to shout to be heard. He turned around in a complete circle to make sure no one else was within hearing distance, then explained, "Maggie saw me already!"
"Maggie did? Did she laugh her ass off at you?"
Orlando shook his head. "She... sort of... groped me."
"What?" Evi leaned in, her hand on Orlando's shoulder. "I can barely understand you."
"Maggie thought I was Ian! She told me she's got no knickers on!" Orlando emphasized this exclamation with a hand gesture and nearly knocked two drinks out of Dom's hands as he was passing them. Orlando rotated slowly, realizing that Dom had just left the kitchen, and if Dom had heard what he'd just said, he was completely fucked.
"Orlando? 'S that you?" Dom's giddy grin, like a kid in a candy store on Christmas morning right after winning the lottery, told Orlando that yes, he was indeed quite fucked, and all hopes of living this down gracefully were now out the window. "And did you just say that Maggie --dear, sweet, innocent Maggie-- is walking around this party with not a stitch on beneath her clothes?"
"Who's getting stitches?" Emilie made her entrance known with a little hop over to Dom's side, throwing a teasing wink to the Bunny, tapping his head lightly with one hand while taking one of the drinks from Dom with the other. "Who's in there? Ian?"
Orlando sighed. "Why does everyone keep thinking that?"
"Huh?" Emilie looked to Evi, confused. "Can't hear him, what'd he say?"
"He said--" Dom cut her off, leaning in and whispering into Emilie's ear. As the story--for even the smallest of incidents always escalated into stories when Dom was the one telling it--progressed, her eyes got wider and wider.
"Oh my god!" Her eyes immediately shot around the room, looking for the tall blonde. "How is this common knowledge?"
"Ask Orlando, I think she might be putting on a show or something," Dom suggested and took a pull from his drink, only to nearly choke on it when he had two hands and a paw smacking at him. "Shite, what's wrong with everybody tonight? Maggie not wearing knickers isn't some awful thing. We shouldn't hide it, we should embrace it."
Emilie narrowed her eyes dangerously, immediately giving Dom the hint.
"Or...not."
"You can't tell people about this." Evi poked Dom in the chest. "Promise, Dom. No one else can find out. Poor Maggie! She'd die!"
"Why's Maggie dying?" Orlando jumped when Ian appeared next to him, a fresh drink in his hand. He looked Orlando up and down, laughing as he clapped him on the shoulder. "And Orlando, looking good! Glad to see you went through with it, this costume was a great idea."
Orlando, safely hidden inside the costume, swallowed hard. He realized that he now knew some of the tactics Maggie used when she and Ian...
It was going to be difficult to look Ian in the eyes anytime soon.
"Yeah, I think Maggie liked the costume, too." Dom coughed when Emilie's heel connected with his foot in a rather rough manner. Ian cocked an eyebrow and gave him a quizzical look, and Dom wasn't going to let the threat of broken toes stop him now. This was too priceless an opportunity. "Strange fetish to have, but then, you'd expect a girl who goes out without her bloomers on to be a bit kinky."
Dom winked exaggeratedly as Emilie gasped, "Dom!" Her eyes flashed when she turned to face him, and only then did Dom feel the slightest bit intimidated.
"Excuse me a minute, mate. Have to go avoid bodily harm from my gorgeous but violent girlfriend." Dom gave a quick bow and disappeared, Emilie's heels nearly denting the hardwood floors as she stalked off after him.
Ian turned a bewildered gaze on Evi and Orlando. "What... should I even ask?"
Orlando didn't even waste a moment. Usually, the best way to go about a situation was to sit down and talk with the person. And he did that every time something came up, because he was a mature man and that was the right thing to do.
But now? Oh no. Denial was the best way to go. "No, no point in asking. Dom's just being a wank."
"When's he not?"
"You got that right," Evi muttered behind her glass before downing it. It was going to be a long night. "Orlando, let's go... over there."
She made a vague gesture and grabbed Orlando's wrist, leading him away. They were absorbed into the general party very quickly, and it soon became everyone's new favorite game to try to sneak up on Orlando and take advantage of his limited field of vision by pushing him over.
Maggie had retreated to the backyard after her debacle with Orlando, and after letting the night air cool her burning cheeks she ventured back inside, hoping to find Ian. Orlando wasn't the type to go spreading this story around to anyone who would listen, but she knew very well how easily secrets leaked out around this cast, and if anyone was going to tell Ian that she'd been grabbing someone else's tail, it was going to be her.
She found him smiling as he mingled, his eyes wandering about most likely looking for her. Wasting no time, she walked over and entangled her fingers with his. The warmth that spread from her hand up her arm and throughout the rest of her body never got old.
"Hey." He put his drink down on the nearest surface so that he had a free hand to cup her face, gently brushing his lips over hers in as chaste a kiss as he could manage. It was all there in his eyes; the only thing keeping him from having his way with her right then and there was the fact that they were surrounded by a crowd of people, two-thirds of which would gladly take photographic evidence to use as blackmail at a later time. And even that was barely keeping his instincts under control. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"
Oh, well that's just great. Here he is telling me I'm beautiful and I'm off announcing to one of his friends that I'm currently not wearing any hello kitties. Just great.
"Might've mentioned it." She shrugged one shoulder, giving him a small smile. "Never a bad thing to hear, though."
Ian leaned in, rubbing his nose against her neck, just below her ear. He let go of her hand only so his arm could wrap around her waist, pulling her closer so they were hip-to-hip. "Seen Orlando? He's the one jumping around in the bunny suit." Ian laughed, shaking his head. "It's hilarious."
Maggie chuckled, a little forcedly, and took a drink from Ian's glass. "Yeah, I saw that. Pretty funny."
"Had some big fuss earlier, he was acting a little weird," Ian absently told her.
Maggie took in a deep breath. "Ian?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not wearing anything under this skirt." She didn't need to see his face to know his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at that.
"...really?"
"But..." she pulled back so she looked him in the eyes. "The thing is...the thing--okay, here's the thing--"
"Mags," Ian grinned. "What's the thing?"
"Orlando...in the bunny suit, I--I thought it was you and I didn't," she bit her lip for a moment before finally, finally just saying it. "I kinda told Orlando too."
Ian's eyes widened momentarily. "That you...?"
"Yeah."
"And he heard...?"
"Kinda."
A long minute passed where nothing happened, Ian's eyes drifting a little, glazing over, processing the information he'd just been given.
Maggie, anxious, blurted out, "And I sort of groped him a little bit too."
And that did it, right then. As wide-eyed as Ian was one moment, the next he was bursting with laughter, face buried in her neck to stifle it so he didn't garner too much attention from everyone else. "That has got to be the funniest--"
"Ian!" she ineffectually slapped his shoulder, smiling despite herself. "This isn't funny!"
"What do you mean it's not funny?" Ian took a few deep breaths, snorted, and started laughing again. "You molested the Easter bunny. How is this not hilarious?"
"Ian," she hissed. "At least pretend to care that your friend knows that your fiancée isn't wearing any underwear!"
"Ah, c'mon, it's Orlando. He probably wasn't even listening. I bet you he was off in his own little world, counting how many words Evi had said to him that day or something." Ian put his hand on the small of Maggie's back. "You're making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be."
Maggie pursed her lip, then sighed heavily. "Maybe... I guess, yeah, you're right. I mean, this'll just stay between you, me, and Orlando, right?"
Ian frowned. "Well, actually... Dom said something weird to me earlier..."
"Dom? Oh, God. If Dom knows, everyone knows," Maggie groaned, turning toward Ian so she could hide her face against his neck.
"No, I'm sure he was just being Dom, you know, saying things to be a wank," Ian said, completely unconvincingly.
Perfectly on cue, Josh walked over to the couple just then, a Mai Tai in his hand. "Mags!" A cheery smile on his face, he slung an arm around the blonde's shoulders when she turned to face him. "Wooo, girl, I knew you had a naughty side to ya, but I didn't peg you as the commando type!"
Maggie let out a noise that was half-squeal, half-shriek, and all angry. Scanning the crowd, her eyes narrowed when she spotted Dom across the room, a small crowd of people listening intently as he recounted a story with large, animated hand gestures.
"Excuse me a minute, boys," Maggie said quietly. "There's a hobbit over there that needs a good ass-kicking."
TBC…
Authors: CJ [vylentcrymz], Emilie [emilierevan], Jen [savvy_elf] and Stacy [seemedsobright].
Rating: Hard R / NC-17
Pairings: Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder/Maggie Grace, Orlando Bloom/Evangeline Lilly
Summary: Love. Friendship. Growth. Sex. Change. Drama. But mostly just sex. Sure, we have a plot… somewhere around here (now where did I put that thing?), but when broken down into its simplest form, Epico = SEX!
Disclaimer: We don't own these people. They're real, sure, but none of these events have or ever will transpire. No offense is meant and we're making no profit from this. Title taken from the song A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos.
Authors' Notes: We the writers would like to thank ALL the readers for…well, reading, of course. And commenting, and making icons and graphics and for epico_squee in general. We love writing this story and we love that you love reading it. *BIG hugs*
Please remember: Feedback is to us as sex is to Magsian, Domilie, and Orlilly. As in, very important, and something that needs to be done 24/7.
AN2: Again, sorry for this taking so long!
---
Even though they were whispering, they were far from quiet. Never mind the sound of boxes hitting each other and Dom cursing when he stubbed his toe, the box labeled (much to his delight) underwear and bras blocking his view of the misplaced stool. Never mind that there were dozens of things needing to be done around the house before the movers arrived or that Ian and Dom were breaking a sweat--and looking good as they did--doing all the work.
There were bridal magazines in the room.
"Were you going to get floor length?" Again, the whispers that seemed to carry throughout the house, followed by giggling. Dom rolled his eyes at Ian, who good naturedly shrugged.
"How long is your train going to be?"
"Are you going to wear a tiara?" At that, Ian couldn't help but join in on the eye-rolling. A tiara? He mouthed to Dom, who snickered.
"Hope she doesn't forget the glass slippers," Dom whispered.
"Heaven forbid." Ian shook his head and the men shared a laugh. "Think she'll try to get me into a suit of armor?"
Dom nodded. "And you'll ride a great white steed into the sunset."
They were both laughing at that image, leaning against the stacks of boxes near the front door, when Maggie came out of the living room. Her arms crossed over her chest, she smirked a little and waited for them to notice her presence and shut up.
"I see you boys are working hard."
Dom spluttered indignantly. "We've been-- are you joking? Hours of hard labor, and you three are in there, giggling away...!"
"We'd have invited you to join us, but we didn't think you'd find the debate over the color of the bridesmaids' dresses very interesting," Maggie explained.
"What's up, baby?" Ian walked over to her, sliding an arm around her waist. "Need us to go on an emergency run to the market and grab the newest bridal magazines?"
"Between Evi, Emilie, and me, we've cleaned out every magazine rack from here to the mainland," Maggie shook her head. "Actually, Emilie's mixing up some iced tea, and I was wondering if you two wanted any. You're both dripping sweat all over the place, and it's hardly attractive."
"It's not?" Ian pouted. "I thought you told me I look sexy when I sweat."
"Oh you are, when I said I was unattractive I was mostly referring to..." she nodded to Dom, who scowled. "Him."
"I happen to have been told by my very attractive girlfriend, who's got excellent eye sight, mind you, that I look quite fexy when I'm sweating. Or maybe it's just the activity that brought me to a sweat that she liked...I dunno, ask her."
Maggie's nose wrinkled and she shut her eyes, shaking her head. "Um...fexy?"
Dom nodded. "Yeah."
"What's fexy mean?" Ian asked when it didn't seem like Dom was going to explain.
"Well, my culturally-retarded friends, fexy is the abbreviation of fucking sexy. And, again you can ask my girlfriend with the wonderful eyesight to confirm this, I am--"
"Please," Maggie stopped him. "Don't continue. We get it."
Ian rolled his eyes and nodded toward Dom. "And this is what I've been putting up with while you're off in Wedding Land."
"I'm so sorry," Maggie said in a tone that suggested she really wasn't. "Take a break, come get something to drink."
"In a minute. We've just got to organize these boxes so everything'll be ready to roll when the movers get here." Ian motioned to the chaotic arrangement of cardboard boxes, some of them not even taped shut yet, in the entrance hall. "Because we are, after all, amazing boyfriends, and not bitter in the least about moving all of Emilie's shit by ourselves."
Ian flashed a huge grin to punctuate his statement, and Maggie laughed and punched him in the chest.
"You're right on one count. There's one amazing boyfriend here." Maggie pointed at Dom, and before Ian could protest, she added, "And one absolutely incredible fiancé."
Ian smiled, satisfied with her response, and leaned in to kiss her, completely ignoring Dom's pointed cough.
"We'd get a lot more done around here if certain people weren't so horny," Dom said loudly a few seconds later.
"Don't be jealous, Dom, it's very unbecoming." Maggie squeezed Ian's hand before she turned and left, disappearing into the kitchen. Immediately Ian and Dom could hear more whispering, giggling, and the occasional squeal. Exchanging a look, they heaved identical sighs and went back to attempting to stack Emilie's boxes in an organized manner.
When they had the boxes straight, working up even more of a sweat in the process, they went into the kitchen to find refreshment. Just before Ian pushed open the door, an ear-splitting squeal came from inside, followed by what could have been either a sob or a laugh. Dom and Ian looked at each other, eyebrows inching toward their hairlines, before Ian opened the door.
Evi was sitting on a counter, looking board while she flipped through a bridal magazine as thick as a dictionary. She seemed completely unfazed by the dramatic scene unfolding in the middle of the kitchen. Maggie and Emilie were clinging to each other as though their very lives depended on it, Emilie on her tiptoes and Maggie bent over with her head on the shorter woman's shoulder.
"This is really happening!" Emilie was saying, voice choked with emotion. "We're really not going to be roomies anymore!"
"No more walking in on each other having sex!" Maggie said.
"No more fighting over condoms at three a.m.!"
"No more all-night chick flick marathons!"
"Are you moving three blocks away from each other or going to war?" Evi asked, shaking her head and laughing a little.
"She doesn't understand," Emilie muttered, loud enough for Evi to hear it.
"Obviously she's never had a bond like ours with anyone," Maggie stage-whispered.
"Kind of pathetic, isn't it?"
Evi threw the magazine at them.
Ian cleared his throat, "Um...sorry to interrupt but--"
"Not that I'm in the mood to do any more manly lugging around but, just wanted to check if everything's packed, luv," Dom interrupted him, scratching his skin and trying to look as innocent as possible. "Got all your things in order? Panties all packed away? Not that I'd mind if you misplaced a few--or all--of them, really."
Pulling away, reluctantly, Emilie brushed her hand beneath her eyes to rid of any tears before turning to her boyfriend. "Dom."
"Ah, I know that tone." He looked to Ian with mock-disappointment. "I've blown it now. She's finally sick of me and my perverted ways. Know any good street corners I can bum out on? Maybe sell my body for currywurst cash?"
"You could go live with that bum near set. The guy with the foot-long beard that lives in the tent off the highway?" Ian got two glasses out of the cupboard and poured himself and Dom a glass of tea from the pitcher on the counter. "He's probably looking for a roommate."
"We haven't even lived together for a week and you're already looking for a new place?" Emilie put her hands on her hips, a mockingly angry expression on her face. "What is that about?"
"Ah, c'mon luv." Dom sauntered over to her, putting his arms around her and dipping her backward. "You know any house I could try to live in would be a cold and empty place without you there to make it a home."
"Cheesy, but you're cute, so it'll do." Emilie brushed her fingers through his hair as he peppered her neck with kisses, finally straightening when Ian coughed loudly.
"I'm sorry, but I can't say I'll miss knowing all about your sex life, man," Ian said, shaking his head as he handed Dom a glass.
"Likewise, and no hard feelings." They clinked glasses and drank deeply, Ian dribbling a little tea down his chin.
"Hmmph. Men." Maggie shook her head, wiping the drip away with her thumb. "No emotion, just a reference to sex and that's that. Won't you guys miss each other?"
"Of course. Dom was my shoulder to cry on during all those tough times." Ian pretended to wipe a tear from his eye and sighed, wrapping an arm around Dom's shoulder. "We used to stay up all night, having pillow fights and talking about girls we liked. I'll miss those days, definitely, but I think we're mature enough to move on."
Emilie and Maggie rolled their eyes at each other as Ian and Dom laughed.
The doorbell rang a few seconds later. Ian downed the last of his tea, setting the glass in the sink. "Must be the movers. Back to work for us, Dom."
"Don't you ladies worry about a thing. God knows we wouldn't want you to break any nails lifting boxes or anything. We'll handle everything," Dom assured them.
"Great." Evi hopped off the counter, gathering the bridal magazines strewn about. "Why don't we head over to your place and get things ready while you boys help them unload Ian's stuff and load up Emilie's?"
"Good plan. We can take my car," Maggie said.
"Bring the magazines, Evi. We can look over the bridesmaids' dresses on the way there," Emilie said. The five of them headed back into the entrance hall, Ian opening the door and greeting the movers.
"The house is two minutes away, tops. How many dresses can you look at in that time?" Dom asked, incredulous.
"We're efficient." Emilie brushed her lips over Dom's. "Don't hurt yourself, and don't you dare break anything of mine. See you in an hour or so."
---
Dom collapsed onto the couch, head immediately finding its way to rest in Emilie's lap. "This has got to be the most exhausting day of my life. Luv, if you weren't so amazing and gorgeous I don't think I'd be able to forgive you for putting me through this."
"Oh really?" she ran her fingers through his hair comfortingly, smiling.
"Thankfully you are and..." he turned over so he could look up at her, an ear-to-ear smile on his face. "Now we're officially living together. That makes up for it a bit."
Emilie scoffed, "A bit?"
Still smiling, Dom nodded. "Yeah, just a bit. I'll expect a reward that is equal to or even more physically demanding than this day was later tonight. But the good kind of--"
"And that's our cue to go!" Ian, arm around Maggie's waist, reached over the couch and smacked Dom's arm as they started to leave. Not even two steps were taken and Maggie slipped away from him, glumly returning to where Emilie sat and wrapping her arms around her. "You're not changing your mind now are you, Mags?"
"Shush. Roommate bonding going on here," Maggie said, pouting as she hugged Emilie tightly.
"Ex-roommate," Dom corrected. "She's mine now, and I bet our pillow fights are going to be so much more fun. 'Cause we'll be naked." He yelped when Emilie's hand smacked his arm. "What?! It's true."
"Shut up, Dom." Emilie squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around Maggie. "Gonna miss you. Thanks for all your help today."
"You, too. Come back and visit sometime, kay?" Maggie laughed quietly.
"Maybe Dom and I'll visit occasionally and have really loud sex while you're trying to sleep. Just for old time's sake."
"Are you sure living with Dom is such a good idea? I can already see his influence on you." Maggie shook her head, ignoring the mock glare Dom was sending her over Emilie's head. "I guess this is goodbye, roomie."
"I guess so." Emilie rubbed Maggie's back a few times before they pulled apart. "I'm sorry for kicking you in the shin."
"No you're not," Maggie accused, and Emilie smiled sheepishly. "You would've done anything for that condom."
"If it makes a difference, that night we had really great--"
"And that's our second cue. Maggie?" Ian held out his hand, waiting for Maggie and Emilie to share one last, tearful hug before Maggie stood up and walked back to Ian. "Dom, we had some good times. Sayonara, buddy."
"Good riddance. You always left your dirty dishes in the sink, I hated that," Dom scowled.
"That was you, asshole," Ian laughed.
"Oh, yeah." Dom grinned and stood up. He and Ian shared a manly clap on the back, and Dom opened the front door for the couple. "See you guys later, yeah?"
Nodding, Ian pressed a kiss to Maggie's temple when he noticed she was still wiping away some tears. "At the party?"
"That's not for another week," Dom pointed out, then shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining with what I have in mind in terms of celebration for the next seven days."
"All seven days? How do you--?" Maggie cleared her throat and shook her head. "Never mind."
While Dom gave her an exaggerated wink, Emilie rested her chin on the edge of the couch and looked up at Evi with curious eyes. "Orlando'll be there, right?"
"Hopefully, the director seems to not really care that we're in love and want to spend time together--" Everybody collectively rolled their eyes at the smooshiness and she rolled her eyes right back at them. "--and all that annoying, romantic crap you guys have no interest in, obviously."
"Romance?" Dom snorted. "Bah, who needs it? It's all about sex for us."
Emilie stepped on his foot. Hard. He yelped, then added, "What I meant to say is, we enjoy making sweet, sweet love because we are soul mates and meant to be together forever and always."
"Good boy." Emilie patted him on the head.
"So yeah, Orlando should get in sometime this week, and I won't be the fifth wheel anymore. And just to get even with all of you, we're going to be making out all the time, and we're going to call each other by smoopy nicknames, and we're going to recite awful love poems about each other..."
"Oh, come on Evi, we're not that bad," Maggie interrupted, lacing her fingers with Ian's.
"Maybe not, but I tell you, it's hard watching you fawn all over each other while my boyfriend's a thousand miles away." Evi shook her head, smiling a little wistfully. "Dom, Emilie, congratulation on the house. Try not to break any furniture on your first day. Ian, Maggie, same goes to you. If you need any help planning the party, just call."
"Will do. Thanks for helping today, Evi." Maggie let go of Ian's hand so she could hug her.
"It was my pleasure. See you guys at work." Evi waved goodbye to everyone and walked out the front door.
Maggie and Emilie looked at each other for a second before they reached out for one last hug. Ian and Dom looked at each other, rolling their eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time. Sniffling and laughing at the same time, Maggie and Emilie said their goodbyes before finally separating. Ian took Maggie's hand, gently but firmly leading her out the front door before she spent all night hugging Emilie in the foyer. Dom and Emilie stood in the doorway, arms around each other's waist while they waved goodbye.
Once Ian and Maggie's car was out of sight, Dom turned to Emilie with a wicked grin.
"Alone at last," he said, letting the door fall shut. He pulled Emilie against him, looking down at her face. "Whatever are we going to do with ourselves in this big old house, with no interruptions and no bothersome roommates?"
---
Maggie held her drink above her head as she weaved through the small crowd inexplicably gathered in the archway. Why they were huddled there of all places, she didn't care to think about, her eyes on the new arrivals pushing themselves through the front door as politely as possible. She waved, catching their attention.
As Orlando took her jacket, Evi greeted her with a wide smile. "Hey! The place looks great."
"Yeah." Orlando hung his and Evi's jacket on the coat racket and looked around the room. "No more boxes!"
"No, we still have them I just..." Maggie made a motion with her hands. "Shoved them all in the closet."
"I always had Ian labeled as the kind of guy who'd absolutely need to have his stuff together as soon as possible," Evi admitted as they made their way into the kitchen where the counter was, from edge to edge, filled with a variety of drinks. As was the rule of all of their parties.
Maggie kept a smile on her face but it had a little less spark to it than just a moment before as she said over the music, loud enough for just Evi to hear. "Well, with everything that's been going on..."
Eyebrows raised, Evi made an 'aha!' noise and pointedly looked down at her watch before looking to Orlando. "Less than five minutes before someone's sex life was mentioned. I win."
He rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"I'm not--" Maggie cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink, pointing to some of the drinks as an indication for them to make themselves at home and have one. "I meant the other stuff."
Ian's final scenes had been filmed just two days ago. The entire set had been in tears when Boone took his final breath, and that night Ian walked off set with the knowledge he'd never really be back. He'd come to visit, to see Maggie, maybe to do some guest appearances, but his days as a regular cast member of Lost were over.
Orlando looked up from pouring some rum into a glass, sympathy pouring out of his chocolate eyes. "How's he been doing?"
"Good." She bit down a little too hard on an ice cube, the crrrrrack echoing in the room when the stereo was in between songs. "Very good, actually. He's handling it better than I thought. He's--He's doing great. Really great."
"Maggie?" Evi's hand touched her arm and she had no choice other than to look up at her friend. "How're you doing?"
“I’m fine.” Maggie flashed a bright smile to prove her point; a smile Orlando and Evi saw straight through, and their expressions told her so. With a small sigh, she corrected herself, “I’m okay. It’s just...shitty, going to work without him. They only deliver one script to our house, and it’s… it’s shitty. But!”
She held up her drink and nodded toward it. “90 percent vodka. I’ll be feeling great in about five minutes.”
Evi smiled and rubbed Maggie’s arm, her face a mixture of amusement and concern. “Hopefully tonight’ll raise everyone’s spirits.”
“Yeah, I think it will,” Maggie nodded. “Excuse me a minute, I think Daniel and Yunjin just got here. I’m gonna go say hi to them.”
Orlando wrapped an arm around Evi and she leaned into his chest as Maggie walked off, waving at the newest arrivals to the party. Evi took a sip of the drink Orlando handed to her and looked up at him, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.
“The costume’s in the car, right?” she asked, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
Orlando nodded. “Right down to the whiskers. I’ll wait ‘till everyone’s a bit more drunk before I put it on.”
“Probably for the best.”
---
Maggie didn't bother to try and convince herself she was being a good host and checking up on everybody as she found a path through the crowd. She'd caught sight of Ian when greeting Yunjin and Daniel at the door and hadn't been able to take her mind off of getting to talk to him. He was over by the stereo, on his knees with serious eyes narrowed at the selection of CD's to choose from.
He was still fingering the CD cases when she got to his side of the room, bottom lip snagged between his teeth as he perused the options. His beer balanced on his knee skillfully as he knelt there, as still as a statue and just as perfect.
Maggie took a few steps forward and gave him a small nod when he looked up at her, smiling wryly. "I told you we should just get one of those stereos that play more than one CD at a time."
Grabbing his beer and placing it on the shelf, Ian stood and smiled sweetly at her, his free hand reaching out to touch her waist. "But then I wouldn't spend half the night bending over and showing off my cute little butt."
With his fingers barely touching her hip he managed to pull her closer, so that her body was mere inches from his, heat passing between them. Maggie unconsciously licked her lips. "I came over to see how you were doing."
"You did," he nodded, still smiling. "I'm doing great, Mags."
"Yeah?"
Ian laughed and ducked his head, "It's like you want me to not be doing great."
"No," Maggie shook her head, hand touching his cheek and making him look back up at her. "I'm glad you're doing great, I just want you to know it's alright--"
"I know," he kissed the corner of her mouth and his smile brightened a little bit. "If I focus on all the positive things going on, Mags...I, well, I'm the happiest fucking man in the world right now, then."
Color rose to Maggie's cheeks, burning bright red at his words. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." His thumb massaged slow circles into her hip as he continued, voice soft but sounding like he was on the verge of laughing. "I could hop into a bunny suit right now I'm so happy."
"Well, it'd be going with the theme, I can say that much."
"I'd make fur look good."
Maggie nodded, smiling as brightly as ever for the first time that night. "Oh, I don't doubt it."
Ian kissed her, slow and sensual. His lips tasted of Corona and hers tasted of Cosmo yet somehow, it mixed perfectly. When he pulled away, his forehead rested against hers. "You're ignoring all of our guests."
She sighed and closed her eyes, letting his arms wrap around her and basking in the amazing feeling for just a moment. "So are you."
"Mmm, you're right." he tilted his head slightly to kiss her jaw, then her neck, and then her pulse point. "We're terrible hosts."
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Maggie whispered into his hair.
"At least everyone's having fun," he smiled against the curve of her neck.
Maggie kissed his temple, "Who's everyone? Everything is just blurry shapes to me now."
He pulled back and kissed her chin, looking up at her. Their eyes met and he winked. "Good."
---
Dom made a grand gesture to the bottle of wine, twisting his wrist extravagantly in circles before presenting it to Maggie in a bow. "A wine, from the cellar."
Maggie looked at the bottle and up at Dom. "Thanks."
"My beautiful live-in girlfriend here suggested we bring a bottle as an official housewarming gift and I thought it was a marvelous idea," he said in a faux-posh accent. "We are, in fact grownups now. Living together and all."
Laughing, Maggie looked to a half-exasperated yet also quite-amused Emilie. "Where does he come up with this stuff?"
Emilie brushed a piece of rebellious hair out of his eyes and smiled at him. "He rehearsed it in the car ride over."
"Oi!" Dom looked at her, his façade dropping instantaneously. "I can be a polite man without rehearsal, mind you."
Maggie snorted, "Did he rehearse that to?"
He shut his eyes pointedly for a moment before exiting the doorway and making his way into the kitchen, muttering under his breath. "Bloody unbelievable...can be polite. Fucking...ridiculous is what it is."
Emilie watched him go, shaking her head. "Excuse him, he was on set for twelve hours and we didn't get much sleep before then."
"Ah, so I see you're enjoying having the house to yourself." Maggie gave her friend a raised-eyebrow as they turned into the living room.
“Don’t try to act like you and Ian haven’t enjoyed having private time.” Emilie grinned and nudged Maggie with her shoulder, eliciting a telltale smile from her. “I need to go track down Dom and make sure he’s not pouting into his beer.”
“You go on. I need to pee.” Maggie and Emilie separated, Emilie following the sound of vehement cursing coming from the kitchen while Maggie went down a hallway. The bathroom was on her left, across from a spare room that she and Ian had no idea what to do with yet. For now it was a storage room for the boxes they hadn’t unpacked.
There was a lull in the music when she came out of the bathroom and she was just far enough away from the rest of the party to be able to hear a small noise come out of that spare room. It was somewhere between a curse and a yell, and it was followed by a heavy thump. It definitely wasn’t the kind of noise that should be coming out of a spare room filled with boxes of junk.
Confused and curious, Maggie crossed the hallway and turned the doorknob. She had to kick aside a few boxes but eventually she forced her way into the room, where she discovered the source of the noise.
A giant, furry, white bunny was picking itself up off the floor after being half-buried by boxes of her old clothes that had apparently fallen on top of it.
Maggie stared at the creature for a few seconds, shocked into silence. She'd dismissed Ian's comments as a joke, but apparently... She shook her head, laughing quietly as the bunny began dusting itself off. His head jerked up, noticing her for the first time as she sauntered toward him.
Her hands slid down the chest of furry bunny hair--the suit made Ian's usually scrawny physique seem a bit bulkier--and grinned against the side of the mask. "Hey."
A small, muffled noise came from inside the mask. He couldn't turn his head.
"I didn't think you were being literal," she said through a small laugh, leaning against him like it was the most natural thing in the world to be molesting a bunny. “But I can’t say I’m disappointed. You certainly know how to work the bunny costume, Mr. Somerhalder.”
He was trying to say something -his voice barely able to penetrate the huge bunny head-but she cut him off by stepping closer, doing a little shimmy right up against his chest. One hand snaked around behind him, sliding down his back until she found the fluffy cotton tail. He was barely moving, barely breathing, she noticed, and her grin turned wicked when she gave that tail a squeeze.
“This is a great idea, Ian. Everyone’s going to get such a kick out of this bunny suit.” Her body was pressed completely against his and she leaned closer, dropping her voice to a low, sexy purr. “But I hope you know a few tricks to get this suit off in a hurry. Because just for tonight, just for you… I’m not wearing anything under this skirt.”
Ian made a strange noise, somewhere between a squeak and a cough, and backed up quickly. Maggie laughed, pursuing him. “Don’t get so anxious. We can’t ditch this party to go have hot, amazing sex. It was your idea, after all-”
His back against a wall --literally, since Ian had walked backwards until he had nowhere else to go-- he couldn’t really move away when Maggie advanced, her predatory gaze leaving no doubt as to what her intentions were. To accentuate the point she licked her lower lip, slow and deliberate. The idea of Ian in a bunny suit was hilarious on its own, but the idea of getting Ian hot while he was wearing the costume was undeniably appealing to Maggie’s evil side.
He was trying to speak again, those strange muffled noises she couldn’t really make out. The head was so big his voice practically echoed inside it, and Maggie had to lean in close to even try to make out what he was saying. Not that she minded, oh no, she had no problems invading his personal space, her arms bracing herself against the wall, one on either side of him, her chest against his.
“Maggie.” Her name. She got that much. Leaning in a little closer so the whiskers tickled her ear, she nodded to signal for him to continue. “I’m not Ian!”
Oh, God.
Maggie knew she’d had a drink, or two, maybe even three. But all the alcohol in the world couldn’t provide her with any excuses for why Ian-in-a-bunny-suit’s mumbles sounded British.
“Oh, my God.” Maggie backed up, fast, her sultry expression transforming very quickly into something much more akin to horror. “Orlando?!”
A slow nod.
“Oh, my God.” That phrase seemed to sum up the situation, so she stuck to it. Her hand slowly raised to her mouth and she added, “Holy shit. This is...the most--"
Her cheeks burning bright red, Orlando could see that much even in the dark room, she stumbled a little more, boxes nearly tripping as she did so. With no intention of looking back, she turned and left the room without another word said.
Orlando stood there for a second, burning up inside of the bunny suit but making no move to remove the head. He didn't need to take it off to swear repeatedly at himself or to attempt unsuccessfully to erase what Maggie had said to him completely out of his mind.
'Because just for tonight, just for you...I’m not wearing anything under this skirt.'
Oh god. Maggie was an attractive woman, everyone knew it, but dear god he did not need to know that about her. That image needed to go away, fast. Not that he was imagining anything, no, never! Evangeline. Evangeline. Evangeline. He needed her face in his mind, not Maggie's... anything, at this point.
He let his head fall back against the wall, the dull thud barely making any noise because of the thick faux-fur.
"Orlando?" There was a soft knock at the door, and that familiar voice made Orlando breathe a sigh of relief. He shook his head one more time, keeping any and all thoughts about Maggie's choice of undergarment as far away as possible, before he felt his way carefully to the door. The costume limited his vision to a very narrow area, and the big feet made walking a little more difficult. His paw found the doorknob after a try or two, and there he was greeted by a welcome sight.
"Good, you got the costume on. No problems with it, right?" Evi grabbed his hand, grinning at him as she led him down the hallway.
Problems. Orlando almost chuckled, but he was still too mortified to see any humor in the situation. He tugged until Evi stopped walking and turned to face him, and then his arms were around him and all that could be seen of Evi was a little patch of brown hair peeking out of a mound of white fur.
Evi laughed, hugging him back. "Oh, do I get the honor of having the first bunny hug tonight?" Orlando mumbled something, his head dropping to her shoulder, which was difficult considering his head was about twice the size of hers. "Hmm? Didn't catch that."
He raised his voice, speaking carefully so she could understand him. "There was a problem."
Evi frowned, giving him a once-over. "What, are you having second thoughts now? You can't possibly be worried about looking stupid in front of this crowd. Almost everyone's drunk, they probably won't even realize it's you in there. I'll say I hired a professional. Come on, I want to see everyone's reactions!"
She started pulling him down the hallway again, making it nearly to the living room before his insistent mumbled made her stop again.
"That's what the problem was." Damn this head. Orlando practically had to shout to be heard. He turned around in a complete circle to make sure no one else was within hearing distance, then explained, "Maggie saw me already!"
"Maggie did? Did she laugh her ass off at you?"
Orlando shook his head. "She... sort of... groped me."
"What?" Evi leaned in, her hand on Orlando's shoulder. "I can barely understand you."
"Maggie thought I was Ian! She told me she's got no knickers on!" Orlando emphasized this exclamation with a hand gesture and nearly knocked two drinks out of Dom's hands as he was passing them. Orlando rotated slowly, realizing that Dom had just left the kitchen, and if Dom had heard what he'd just said, he was completely fucked.
"Orlando? 'S that you?" Dom's giddy grin, like a kid in a candy store on Christmas morning right after winning the lottery, told Orlando that yes, he was indeed quite fucked, and all hopes of living this down gracefully were now out the window. "And did you just say that Maggie --dear, sweet, innocent Maggie-- is walking around this party with not a stitch on beneath her clothes?"
"Who's getting stitches?" Emilie made her entrance known with a little hop over to Dom's side, throwing a teasing wink to the Bunny, tapping his head lightly with one hand while taking one of the drinks from Dom with the other. "Who's in there? Ian?"
Orlando sighed. "Why does everyone keep thinking that?"
"Huh?" Emilie looked to Evi, confused. "Can't hear him, what'd he say?"
"He said--" Dom cut her off, leaning in and whispering into Emilie's ear. As the story--for even the smallest of incidents always escalated into stories when Dom was the one telling it--progressed, her eyes got wider and wider.
"Oh my god!" Her eyes immediately shot around the room, looking for the tall blonde. "How is this common knowledge?"
"Ask Orlando, I think she might be putting on a show or something," Dom suggested and took a pull from his drink, only to nearly choke on it when he had two hands and a paw smacking at him. "Shite, what's wrong with everybody tonight? Maggie not wearing knickers isn't some awful thing. We shouldn't hide it, we should embrace it."
Emilie narrowed her eyes dangerously, immediately giving Dom the hint.
"Or...not."
"You can't tell people about this." Evi poked Dom in the chest. "Promise, Dom. No one else can find out. Poor Maggie! She'd die!"
"Why's Maggie dying?" Orlando jumped when Ian appeared next to him, a fresh drink in his hand. He looked Orlando up and down, laughing as he clapped him on the shoulder. "And Orlando, looking good! Glad to see you went through with it, this costume was a great idea."
Orlando, safely hidden inside the costume, swallowed hard. He realized that he now knew some of the tactics Maggie used when she and Ian...
It was going to be difficult to look Ian in the eyes anytime soon.
"Yeah, I think Maggie liked the costume, too." Dom coughed when Emilie's heel connected with his foot in a rather rough manner. Ian cocked an eyebrow and gave him a quizzical look, and Dom wasn't going to let the threat of broken toes stop him now. This was too priceless an opportunity. "Strange fetish to have, but then, you'd expect a girl who goes out without her bloomers on to be a bit kinky."
Dom winked exaggeratedly as Emilie gasped, "Dom!" Her eyes flashed when she turned to face him, and only then did Dom feel the slightest bit intimidated.
"Excuse me a minute, mate. Have to go avoid bodily harm from my gorgeous but violent girlfriend." Dom gave a quick bow and disappeared, Emilie's heels nearly denting the hardwood floors as she stalked off after him.
Ian turned a bewildered gaze on Evi and Orlando. "What... should I even ask?"
Orlando didn't even waste a moment. Usually, the best way to go about a situation was to sit down and talk with the person. And he did that every time something came up, because he was a mature man and that was the right thing to do.
But now? Oh no. Denial was the best way to go. "No, no point in asking. Dom's just being a wank."
"When's he not?"
"You got that right," Evi muttered behind her glass before downing it. It was going to be a long night. "Orlando, let's go... over there."
She made a vague gesture and grabbed Orlando's wrist, leading him away. They were absorbed into the general party very quickly, and it soon became everyone's new favorite game to try to sneak up on Orlando and take advantage of his limited field of vision by pushing him over.
Maggie had retreated to the backyard after her debacle with Orlando, and after letting the night air cool her burning cheeks she ventured back inside, hoping to find Ian. Orlando wasn't the type to go spreading this story around to anyone who would listen, but she knew very well how easily secrets leaked out around this cast, and if anyone was going to tell Ian that she'd been grabbing someone else's tail, it was going to be her.
She found him smiling as he mingled, his eyes wandering about most likely looking for her. Wasting no time, she walked over and entangled her fingers with his. The warmth that spread from her hand up her arm and throughout the rest of her body never got old.
"Hey." He put his drink down on the nearest surface so that he had a free hand to cup her face, gently brushing his lips over hers in as chaste a kiss as he could manage. It was all there in his eyes; the only thing keeping him from having his way with her right then and there was the fact that they were surrounded by a crowd of people, two-thirds of which would gladly take photographic evidence to use as blackmail at a later time. And even that was barely keeping his instincts under control. "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"
Oh, well that's just great. Here he is telling me I'm beautiful and I'm off announcing to one of his friends that I'm currently not wearing any hello kitties. Just great.
"Might've mentioned it." She shrugged one shoulder, giving him a small smile. "Never a bad thing to hear, though."
Ian leaned in, rubbing his nose against her neck, just below her ear. He let go of her hand only so his arm could wrap around her waist, pulling her closer so they were hip-to-hip. "Seen Orlando? He's the one jumping around in the bunny suit." Ian laughed, shaking his head. "It's hilarious."
Maggie chuckled, a little forcedly, and took a drink from Ian's glass. "Yeah, I saw that. Pretty funny."
"Had some big fuss earlier, he was acting a little weird," Ian absently told her.
Maggie took in a deep breath. "Ian?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not wearing anything under this skirt." She didn't need to see his face to know his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at that.
"...really?"
"But..." she pulled back so she looked him in the eyes. "The thing is...the thing--okay, here's the thing--"
"Mags," Ian grinned. "What's the thing?"
"Orlando...in the bunny suit, I--I thought it was you and I didn't," she bit her lip for a moment before finally, finally just saying it. "I kinda told Orlando too."
Ian's eyes widened momentarily. "That you...?"
"Yeah."
"And he heard...?"
"Kinda."
A long minute passed where nothing happened, Ian's eyes drifting a little, glazing over, processing the information he'd just been given.
Maggie, anxious, blurted out, "And I sort of groped him a little bit too."
And that did it, right then. As wide-eyed as Ian was one moment, the next he was bursting with laughter, face buried in her neck to stifle it so he didn't garner too much attention from everyone else. "That has got to be the funniest--"
"Ian!" she ineffectually slapped his shoulder, smiling despite herself. "This isn't funny!"
"What do you mean it's not funny?" Ian took a few deep breaths, snorted, and started laughing again. "You molested the Easter bunny. How is this not hilarious?"
"Ian," she hissed. "At least pretend to care that your friend knows that your fiancée isn't wearing any underwear!"
"Ah, c'mon, it's Orlando. He probably wasn't even listening. I bet you he was off in his own little world, counting how many words Evi had said to him that day or something." Ian put his hand on the small of Maggie's back. "You're making this into a bigger deal than it needs to be."
Maggie pursed her lip, then sighed heavily. "Maybe... I guess, yeah, you're right. I mean, this'll just stay between you, me, and Orlando, right?"
Ian frowned. "Well, actually... Dom said something weird to me earlier..."
"Dom? Oh, God. If Dom knows, everyone knows," Maggie groaned, turning toward Ian so she could hide her face against his neck.
"No, I'm sure he was just being Dom, you know, saying things to be a wank," Ian said, completely unconvincingly.
Perfectly on cue, Josh walked over to the couple just then, a Mai Tai in his hand. "Mags!" A cheery smile on his face, he slung an arm around the blonde's shoulders when she turned to face him. "Wooo, girl, I knew you had a naughty side to ya, but I didn't peg you as the commando type!"
Maggie let out a noise that was half-squeal, half-shriek, and all angry. Scanning the crowd, her eyes narrowed when she spotted Dom across the room, a small crowd of people listening intently as he recounted a story with large, animated hand gestures.
"Excuse me a minute, boys," Maggie said quietly. "There's a hobbit over there that needs a good ass-kicking."
TBC…