Title: Need
Fandom: Lotrips
Pairing: Viggo Mortensen/Elijah Wood, sort of (implied Viggo/Orlando, Viggo/Bean, Viggo/Karl, Elijah/Dom)
Rating: PG
Summary: Elijah can't figure out how to get what he needs.
Disclaimer: Fiction, folks. But if you believe this really happened, I've got some prime real estate I wanna sell you…
Notes: The 'third day of Christmas', and many thanks to
claudia603 for providing the pairing and prompt. This one's for you, sweetie, so enjoy! :)
At first, when Orlando had crawled into Viggo's bed, Elijah had been thrilled for them. At first.
Then, due to Orlando's close friendship with the hobbits, Elijah had started to spend more and more time in Viggo's presence. He tried to hold his emotions in check, tried to ignore how he felt every time Viggo looked at him, eyes crinkling in a smile. And it worked for a while.
Until the day Orlando caught him watching Viggo. Elijah wasn't fast enough, or clever enough, to hide the naked longing in his eyes before Orlando saw.
But all Orlando did was smile a little, clap a hand on Elijah's shoulder, and say it was nothing but a thing and it'd be over soon enough.
* * *
The day came when Orlando crawled back out of Viggo's bed. Elijah had hope. He allowed it to grow, to overwhelm him, ignoring the advice offered from the other hobbits and from Orlando himself. So what that Viggo was more than old enough to be his father.
When Elijah saw Viggo sitting with Bean at the impromptu picnic, heads bent together as they whispered, he knew.
Hope that, just hours earlier, had blossomed and flourished, withered and died on the vine, and all Elijah could do was stare in shock. Bean had moved too fast for him, because Elijah was too young.
Or so he told himself.
Orlando had seen the stricken look. Shaking his head, he threw an arm around Elijah's neck and dragged him off to the beer keg, saying it was just a thing, mate, and it'd be all alright soon. Elijah would see.
Elijah didn't think so.
* * *
When Bean boarded the plane that would take him back to England for the last time, Elijah had rejoiced in silence. Sure, he was sad to see the man leave, but Elijah couldn't -- and wouldn't -- deny that a large part of him was thrilled that his path was clear.
He remained thrilled just long enough to turn away from the gate and see Viggo giving the plane a last look before sliding into Karl's truck.
Karl. Possibly the only person, other than Orlando with his natural beauty and zest for life, that Elijah had no hope competing against for anything. Once again, he'd waited too long, even though the chance had just then presented itself.
Elijah couldn't even bring himself to attempt a smile that night as Orlando got him good and drunk and poured him into bed.
* * *
Over time, the longing eased, but Elijah was never sure if that was time or just the fact that he wasn't around Viggo nearly as much. He'd slipped into something with Dom, something that neither of them could quite explain, and Orlando had just smiled a little when he'd found out. Elijah hadn't known what to make of Orlando's whispered it's just a thing, right, and finally convinced himself he'd imagined it.
The day came, finally, when it was time for the last of them to leave. Elijah was going to London for a bit with Dom and Billy, the three of them intent on continuing the magic for just a little longer.
There were hugs and tears and promises to get together regularly, even with the natives who had come to see them off. Then Elijah found himself face to face with Viggo. He looked up into blue eyes, crinkled at the edges with a warm smile, and felt his stomach do a flip. He couldn't breathe, couldn't swallow, couldn't think, as Viggo wrapped him in a tight hug, the scent of soap and woods and developing fluid washing over Elijah's senses until there was nothing left.
Only then did Viggo pull away, one hand still curled comfortably around the back of Elijah's neck. He smiled again, and warm lips touched Elijah's in the briefest of brief kisses. It was never a competition, little hobbit, call me when you get back to L.A., Elijah heard Viggo say from a great distance, the soft voice nearly drowned out by the roaring in his ears.
Hope came roaring back, and Elijah knew he'd keep the dazed grin from Auckland to London.