FIC: "A Few More Questions" 1/1 (Gerard Butler, Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean)
Title: "A Few More Questions" 1/1
Authors: Brenda & Jo (azewewish & idiosyncratic)
Featuring: Gerard Butler, Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Vampires still don't exist. And Orlando's still not in a relationship with Harry and Karl.
Summary: Josh and Orlando have drinks with Sean and Gerard.
Takes place a couple of months after Progress Report.
Orlando hummed along to the song playing on the radio - some poppy/dance number - as his pen scratched over the papers on his desk, marking each one carefully against the spreadsheet that was open on his laptop. Doing the day to day paperwork wasn't exactly the most glamorous part of his job, but tonight, he didn't mind so much. Viggo was in São Paulo at the G20 summit, which meant Orlando wasn't getting interrupted every ten minutes to search for this document or that, or go over a contract or missive. The past couple of days had been positively peaceful.
"Knock knock."
Orlando jerked his head up. Josh was standing at the door, hands shoved in his jeans, rocking back on his heels as he looked at the cluttered chaos that was Orlando's desk. "Haven't you heard all that paper's bad for the environment? What happened to going green?"
"Tell it to Viggo, not me." Orlando put down his pen and leaned back in his chair, smiling gratefully at the interruption. He was beginning to go a little cross-eyed from reading. "What brings you around here? I thought you were allergic to corporate environments."
Josh grinned as he stepped inside the room. "I was on my way home from the studio and thought I'd drop by to see if I could catch Karl before he left for Chicago."
"He left about -" Orlando looked at the clock on his taskbar, and blinked. "Fuck, wow, an hour ago."
"So I found out when I got here." Josh sprawled gracelessly onto one of the chairs and crossed his ankles. "You working on anything time-consuming or can I talk you into a drink down at the Marmont?"
A drink actually sounded like a damn good idea. "Nothing major. Just going through these LOIs to cross-check and catalogue them for the database," Orlando said, sweeping a hand over the pile.
"LOIs?"
"Letters of Intent." Josh just gave him another blank look. "Um, you probably know them as petitions."
"Oh." Josh's face cleared up. "Like, when a vampire wants to call it a day and head to the vampire spirit in the sky or whatever."
"Yeah," Orlando grinned. He had a sudden vision of Viggo as the Archangel Gabriel, robes, horns, wings and all. "Something like that."
"Anyone we know who's put in a petition, or is it all secret Council business until they make it public?"
"I don't think the LOIs are classified. I mean, they're just a formality, aren't they," Orlando shrugged. "Not like Viggo or the Council could stop a vampire from offing themselves if they really wanted to die."
"Good point. Still, it's gotta be weird for them to want to end it after centuries of living...or maybe it's liberating, who knows. I mean, when you've been around as long as some of these cats, death might seem like a release."
Orlando nodded. "Interestingly enough," he said, flipping through a few pages, "most of the ones tonight are from born vampires. I guess maybe when you want it enough to go through the making process, you tend to hold on to it longer."
"Does it balance out? Do you get a lot of petitions?"
"These are the first I've seen," Orlando admitted. "Dave said they usually come in waves. There will be a bunch, then nothing for several years. And I think there are a few more of one than the other, but it's mostly balanced. I haven't really had a chance to look through the full archive, though, to see."
"Are Karl's parents in there?"
"Yeah." Orlando scrolled down through the spreadsheet until he came to the entries. He turned his laptop so Josh could see. "They went at the same time, with Karl, Harry, and Viggo as witnesses."
"I don't suppose our, ah, buddy has a petition in there," Josh said, quietly, after a long moment of looking around the office.
Orlando didn't need to ask. He already knew Josh meant Joaquin. He looked at the spreadsheet, not bothering to search. If Sean and Gerard were right, then there was no chance Joaquin would be in there.
Without speaking, Orlando picked up his phone and punched a few numbers. "Ashley, love, is Sean around? Thanks...could you have him meet me at the Marmont in, say, an hour? No, no, nothing crucial, just a couple things I want to discuss with him, that's all."
"Why the hell are you calling Sean?" Josh asked, when Orlando hung up the phone.
"He said if we had questions about our, um, buddy, we should talk to him," Orlando replied. "Besides, I have another question to ask him."
"Better call Gerard, then, see if he's available. He could probably answer more questions than Sean, uh, considering his history with said buddy."
"Good idea." Orlando dialed Gerard's assistant, and learned that Gerard was on a conference call, but would be available for a drink later. After Orlando hung up the phone again, he started shutting down his laptop and getting ready to leave. "What car did you drive tonight?"
"Harry wanted me to test drive the Panhead for him to make sure it wasn't still sticking when it shifts into third. I'm surprised he didn't ask you to drive it."
"I, uh." Orlando glanced around for his car keys and iPhone. "I don't exactly know how to ride a bike yet."
"With Harry as your mate?"
"I was planning on getting around to it, I just...I dunno, haven't done it yet." Orlando waited for Josh to walk out of the office before locking it behind them. "I should probably get on that. Seems silly not to know."
"As attached as you are to the Viper, I'm not surprised you haven't learned," Josh grinned, following him down the hallway.
"At least I'll survive a crash in the Viper."
"Not with the way you drive." They stepped into the elevator and Josh opened his mouth again, but Orlando glanced pointedly at the security camera in the corner. Josh seemed to get the hint. "So how'd the visit to Hearst Castle go?"
"Oh, man," Orlando laughed, leaning against the back wall in a relaxed slouch. "Christina fell in love with the place, so Elijah's manning up and asking Karl if that's where they can have the wedding."
"Like he needs to ask," Josh snorted.
"Karl's using the 'let Elijah think he has a little control over this event' angle." The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the parking garage. "Elijah's still all about whatever Christina wants she's going to get, because he's realized there's no way she can bankrupt Karl on this. And," he said, with a sly grin as they approached the Viper with the Panhead beside it, "Harry says to let him know once she settles on just one house."
"Eh, she's got time." Josh unlocked the seat and snagged his helmet from its hook. "And Cooper and Aubrey told me that the initial meeting with Monica on the dress went very well."
"So I heard. I still say Christina should wear yellow, but I guess it's not up to me."
"She's gonna be a knockout no matter what," Josh replied, voice muffled by the helmet. "See you in a few?"
Orlando just gave a thumbs up as Josh swung his leg over the bike and started it. The engine rumbled to life, and it sounded fine to him, but he wasn't a mechanic or in any way mechanically inclined, so what did he know. If Harry said there was something wrong, there probably was.
As he swung out of the garage and hit Sunset, it occurred to him that he hadn't clarified with Josh if they were going to the patio at the Chateau itself or if they were meeting at Bar Marmont. Although, given Josh's love of people watching, he'd probably meant the patio. More girls to ogle who were heading to the pool.
Traffic wasn't totally horrible, for once, and it felt like no time at all before Orlando was handing his keys to the valet. He wasn't surprised to see Josh waiting for him. That was, he had to admit, a big advantage to riding a bike -- the ability to move to the front at red lights.
"So," he said, walking up and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt (and thanking God he'd decided to leave his tie and jacket in the car), "we barring it or..."
"Patio," Josh replied without hesitation.
Orlando laughed. Sometimes it was too easy. "Patio it is," he said with a grin. "And no talking about our buddy until Sean and Gerry are here."
"No worries." Josh slid a glance towards Orlando that immediately made him wary. "So how're things with Harry?"
"They're good," he said as they followed the host outside. "Not perfect, y'know, but better than they were. We're talking now."
"I noticed you moved back into the bedroom, too."
"Is that your way of asking about my sex life?"
"Well, I know you and Karl are finally doing the deed again," Josh grinned, as he sprawled in his seat. Their table was tucked in a corner, but had a great vantage point of the walkway that led to the pool - Orlando wondered if the staff just knew Josh well enough by this point to have this table reserved for him. It wouldn't surprise him. Being pet to a senior Council member had its privileges. "There's no mistaking the way the bond feels after Karl's had really great sex, and it's different when it's you vs. when it's with Harry."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Orlando looked around. Aside from a few of Hollywood's young crowd at the other end of the hedge, he didn't see anyone familiar. Which was good. The less chance of interruption once Sean and Gerry got here, the better. "There's definitely something...more, I guess...in the bond after he and Harry've had sex, which is different than how it feels when he's had sex with you."
Josh nodded, then gave Orlando a pointed look. "You haven't answered my question."
"You haven't asked it yet."
"Are you and Harry having sex again?"
Orlando tipped his chair back and watched a small crowd move towards the pool. He waited until their waiter had placed their drinks on the table. "No," he finally said, not looking at Josh. "And before you ask, no, we haven't talked about it. Karl and I didn't talk about it before we did either."
"Are you going to?"
"Talk about it or actually do it?" Orlando shrugged as he took a long swallow of his drink. "Maybe. Who knows, man. I don't think he's completely forgiven me for vanishing like I did, so I'm not going to push sex when it's not even close to the top of the list of everything that's still fucked up between us. It's enough that we're talking again and I'm back in the bedroom."
"Fair enough," Josh nodded. "And you know, if you ever wanted to talk about it or brainstorm..."
"I appreciate it." Orlando set his glass back on the table. "Right now, I'm just letting things ride. We've got a lot of shit to work out before we're 100%, and I don't want to push him or make him feel pressured. So we're just...going slow."
Josh stretched his legs as he cradled his drink in his hands. His eyes were kind, sympathetic. "Karl told me you officially withdrew your request for the Gift. How're you dealing with that? I can't imagine it was easy for you."
"There's nothing to deal with. I withdrew the request, so it's a non-issue." He braced himself for what he knew was coming next.
"You know," Josh said, after a long moment, "it's okay if -"
"Josh, stop," Orlando said, then sighed. "Please. Look, I don't want to be a dick, but I really don't want to discuss this, so if we could talk about something else?"
"Yeah, sure," Josh replied. He looked a little hurt. And Orlando couldn't really blame him, but he could not talk about the Gift right now. Not with Josh, not with Karl. Not even with Harry.
To be honest, Orlando wasn't sure he'd be able to talk about it in regards to himself for a very long time. But he promised himself that he'd make it up to Josh at some point. Josh was only trying to be a good friend.
"Tell me how the recording's going," he said, pasting on a smile, and hoping like hell that the change in subject would ease some of the ache in his own chest. "Cooper won't tell me anything, and Aubrey just laughs when I ask her about it."
Josh, thankfully, seemed inclined to roll with it. "It's going well. Sort of. I mean, aside from Gibson and Aubrey almost coming to blows every other day on song arrangements, but that's sort of normal for them, so we just ignore it. But that's one of the reasons why we haven't invited anyone up to come and sit in on the sessions."
"Uh, the two of them fighting is a good thing?"
"Let's just say creative people tend to get rather loud when voicing their opinions," Josh chuckled, and motioned to their server for another round. "Plus, if they get too bad, Cooper just steps in and cracks the whip, so it's fine. I think we're onto something special with this one. Cooper's been writing some amazing shit, man, she's in a much better place than she was last time we were in the studio, and it shows."
"So what's her story, anyway?"
"Cooper? That's for her to tell you, not me," Josh replied, his voice tight. "All I'll say is she was dealing with some heavy shit a while back, and she deserves a hell of a lot better, so don't get any ideas."
"I'm not getting any ideas. It's just she's a nice girl, and I get the impression she hasn't had anyone take her out and show her a fun time in a long time."
"And you think -"
"You children aren't fighting, are you?" Sean asked, stepping up to their table and giving them both a look that had Orlando immediately scrambling for an explanation.
"No, no, we weren't," Orlando said, flashing his most charming smile. He knew it wouldn't work, of course, but old habits died hard.
"I was just making sure Orlando knew to behave like a gentleman around Cooper," Josh said, sitting up straight in his chair. "No fighting, I promise."
"And are you?" Sean asked, taking the seat next to Orlando.
"Of course I am," Orlando bristled, even though he knew (or thought he knew) why they'd both seen fit to mention it. "I do know how to behave myself."
"That's up for debate," Sean chuckled, and ordered his usual when the server came around to drop off Josh and Orlando's drinks.
Orlando rolled his eyes. "It isn't," he said. "Just ask Harry."
"Harry will say you know how to behave yourself?"
"Oh, piss off."
"So tell me," Sean said, nodding his thanks at the server as his drink arrived, "is there a reason for this friendly little get together, or were you just missing the pleasure of my company?"
"Let's wait for Gerry," Orlando quietly said. "So we don't have to go through this twice."
"I see," Sean said, and took a healthy sip of his bourbon. "Well, we did tell you both to come to us with any questions..."
"You did. But if you've changed your mind..."
"God no, then the two of you would try to take it upon yourselves to do your own research and the wrong person would most definitely find out about it." Sean rattled the ice cubes in his glass. "But I'm definitely going to need another drink or three."
"I think we can buy you a few drinks," Josh smiled, but Orlando could tell it was slightly strained.
"Better order one for Gerry, too," Orlando said, waving Gerard over as he stepped onto the patio and looked around.
"And here I was flattered to be invited for drinks by Orlando, and come to find out it's a party," Gerard said, strolling over and dropping into the vacant seat. "And you're plying me with alcohol? I am suddenly terrified."
"I'm sure you'll handle it."
"The child's still quick on his feet," Gerard said to Sean, who just laughed. Then Gerard turned back to Orlando with a sly smile. "It's nice to know some things haven't changed with the new you."
New you. It wasn't the first time Orlando had heard it, but he chose to ignore it. Instead, he pasted on a bland smile and sipped his drink.
"So, am I going to have to guess why Sean and I are both here, or do I already know the answer?" Gerard asked, looking between Orlando and Josh.
"We just had a few questions," Josh replied. "And it's not like we could discuss it in Council chambers."
"Well, you could in the actual meeting room itself," Sean commented. "It's swept regularly for bugs or other listening devices. But we appreciate your discretion."
Gerard relaxed back in his seat. "Alright, ask away."
Josh looked to Orlando and nodded, so Orlando fielded the first one. "Well, I was going through the LOIs tonight, and that got Josh and I to thinking about, uh, if Joaquin ever put in a petition himself. And what would have happened to it."
"If he had ever put one in," Sean said, "Viggo would have destroyed it. Like we said before, all mention of him was struck from any records or accounts."
"He never put one in," Gerard said, sounding confident.
"You're sure about that?" Josh asked, voicing the question that was in Orlando's mind.
"As sure as I can be without ever seeing a letter." Gerard finished his drink in one swallow, then motioned for another round. "You have to understand, no one has had any contact with him since he walked away from us. And he's made no effort to contact anyone over the centuries."
"So, uh, he never, y'know..."
"He's still alive," Gerard quietly said. He held Orlando's gaze for a long moment, then looked at Josh. Finally, he glanced at Sean before focusing on the table as their server placed a fresh drink in front of him. "I would know if he'd chosen death."
"Even blocking can't disguise that," Sean added. He looked so serious that Orlando reached across the table and touched his hand without thinking. Sean gave him a small smile in response. "The death of a Sire...it's like something is cut inside you, quick and sharp, and then there's a void. It can still be felt, no matter what, even if you're not particularly close to your Sire, or haven't seen them for centuries."
"So why didn't he?" Josh blurted out, then looked abashed as Sean and Gerard focused on him. "Uh, I mean, if he was so fucked up after Marton -"
Gerard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't really have an answer for you, I'm afraid. Except that I don't think Joaquin really wanted to die. I think he was just lost in his grief and couldn't see a way out of it. You have to understand, no one could get through to him - not myself or Liv or Viggo or Harry - it was like all of the light had gone out of him."
"Speaking of that, why didn't he break the iunctum bond with Liv after he pulled his Houdini act? Can it be broken?"
"Of course it can," Gerard replied, puzzled. "You should already know this."
"I have a feeling this is another one of those things Dave didn't teach you," Sean said. "Yes, it can be broken, just like every other bond. And because it's not a blood bond, it's a little easier. In fact, Liv could have had it broken without Joaquin's presence in the room."
"So, just one of the parties and Viggo need to be there, I'm assuming," Josh said, looking pleased when Sean nodded.
"The fact that neither of them has broken it has always given me hope that one day Joaquin will come back and deal with the mess he left behind."
Orlando cocked his head and studied Gerard's face. It was almost as hard to read him as it was to read Viggo, which was why he was so careful with his next question. "Do you even want him to return?"
"It depends on the day," Gerard answered, with a stark honesty that Orlando admired. "There are still times when I miss him so much I can barely breathe and I know I would forgive him anything, and then there are days when I never want to see him again and I don't care what his reasons were or are."
"He would have a lot to answer for, and many people to answer to, should he ever return," Sean added. "Liv and Gerry would be just the tip of the iceberg."
"Well, yeah, he'd still have to deal with Harry and Karl," Josh said. Orlando knew he didn't want to imagine Harry's wrath at facing the mentor who'd deserted him.
"And Viggo," Gerard reminded them, gently. "More than anyone - even Liv or myself - Viggo is the one person Joaquin would have to answer to, should he ever come back."
"Well, yeah, he's head of the Council, but I don't see how that could supersede an iunctum or Sire bond."
"And in most cases, you'd be right," Sean said. "Normally, precedence would go to the iunctum bonded, then to the Sire/fledgling bonded, then the Council. But Joaquin would be dealing with Viggo as a brother, which they are in all but birth. After Joaquin received the Gift from Marton, he and Viggo underwent the ligeantia."
"Whoa, Viggo's blood brothers with Joaquin?" Josh asked, with wide eyes, sounding shocked. Orlando was just confused.
"What're you talking about?"
"Dave didn't tell you about the...never mind, it's not important," Sean said, shaking his head. "A ligeantia is a blood exchange, a vow similar to what mortals do when they become blood brothers, to borrow Josh's term."
"A very serious one," Gerard added, "given that the vows are made in front of the entire Council, and it links one vampire's house with another."
"Wait, wait, back up," Orlando squeaked, flapping his hands. "You can do that?"
"Why would you think we couldn't?" Gerard asked. "One vampire pledging fealty and loyalty to another is a sacred oath, and certainly means a lot more than the same mortal oath."
"It's much like how the knights of old used to swear themselves to a house or one house to another," Sean explained. "Karl and I made the pledge after he agreed to mentor me. It was my way of honoring him taking me under his wing and making me part of his family."
"You and Karl are blood brothers?" Orlando asked, in a faint voice.
"Jesus, no wonder you're around so much..." Josh said, sinking back in his seat.
Sean grinned at both of them. "Well, since you're both shocked already, I'll go ahead and tell you that Harry and Joaquin also made the pledge not too long after Karl gave Harry the Gift."
Orlando closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Out of all this," he said, "that's possibly the only thing that doesn't surprise me."
"My Aunt Kate always did say that vampires were like one big, incestuous family," Josh smiled, sounding a little more like himself.
Sean laughed. "You'd be surprised at how many of us are connected by one bond or vow or another."
"At this point?" Orlando shook his head. "No, I really wouldn't."
"Once you start learning the relationships and how the bonds and vows work, you'll be able to trace one vampire to another with ease," Gerard said, clearly ready to launch into full lecture mode. "It's also possible to determine which bonds and vows take precedence over others and why. Especially in the position you now hold, it's important you understand all the nuances of each relationship and how all the bonds and vows work. You may find it boring as fuck, to borrow a phrase of yours, but this is important."
Orlando privately thought if he lived to be as old as Viggo, he'd never get the crazy world these people inhabited, and he was starting to wonder why in God's name he wanted to be part of it himself so badly. Karl and Harry are worth it, he told himself. "Sounds educational," he said aloud.
"Harry is definitely going to have his hands full with you. Though you really should consider yourself lucky you're not getting Karl. He was a slave master a lot of the time."
"You say that like you're expecting Harry to be a walk in the park, Sean," Gerard said. "Have you forgotten who was general for every army the two of them ever raised? Or who still trains elite troops for various militaries?"
"Not for a second. But Orlando's not your typical recruit, so..."
Recruit? "Uh, he's not really going to treat me like some kid in boot camp, is he?"
"Oh, no," Gerard said, just as Sean said, "Of course not." Josh just outright laughed.
"I hate the lot of you," Orlando muttered. Then a thought occurred to him, and he looked at Gerard through narrowed eyes. "What if I learn all of this stuff before I get my fangs again? Assuming I do, y'know. And can a mortal do this blood brother thing?"
"There's nothing preventing you from learning our ways and our laws while a mortal," Gerard said. "Josh here is a good enough example of that."
"I got lucky because of my Aunt Kate."
"That's a good thing, and something I'm sure Harry and Karl would encourage in you, Orlando."
"Good," Orlando nodded. Now, at least, he had a starting point of what to ask Karl when they started training or whatever it was. "And the other thing?"
"Mortals can't enter into the ligeantia with vampires, no," Sean said. "But they can certainly swear fealty to a vampire and align their house with a vampire's. For example, Harry's family swore an oath to Karl's long before either of them were ever born, which is why Harry was sent to squire with Karl in the first place."
"So...I could do this, I mean, the swearing fealty thing, with any vampire?"
"As long as the vampire in question accepts your request, certainly."
"You can't ask Harry," Gerard added. "As Sean already said, the house of Sinclair was sworn to house Urban millennia ago, and that bond can never be broken unless both parties agree. Which I think we can all assume it never will. You'd have to swear it to Karl."
"I wasn't thinking of either of them, to be honest."
"Then who..." Josh's face cleared up, and he gave Orlando a disbelieving look. "You're thinking about Viggo, aren't you? Jesus, Orli, is there anything that you do that's not full-tilt, balls to the wall?"
"It's almost like you know him," Gerard murmured as Sean snorted out a laugh.
Orlando gave them both a sour look. Wankers. Why he'd bothered asking them anything was beyond him. "My Nan always told me," he said to Josh, "that I shouldn't do anything if I wasn't prepared to give it 110%."
"That's actually not a bad philosophy to follow," Sean said, after managing to regain his composure.
"Yeah, but damn," Josh said as he shook his head. "Viggo? Why not just swear fealty to Liv if you're going all out?"
"Don't be daft," Orlando replied, primly. He folded his hands on the table and lifted his chin. "Liv scares the ever living fuck out of me - no offense, Gerry - and besides, I work for Viggo."
"Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that he's scared of Liv, yet is thinking nothing of possibly doing this with Viggo who is, frankly, the scariest motherfucker I've ever met?" Josh asked.
"I don't think Orlando here is truly aware of just how powerful Viggo is," Gerard stated. "Otherwise, he would be."
"Besides, Liv's a woman," Sean added. "And we all know how terrified Orlando is of beautiful women."
"Oi, I am not afraid of Liv because she's a bloody woman."
"The hell you're not," Sean rejoined.
"Can we get back to Orlando's insane plan for a minute," Josh said, scooting forward in his chair. "Would Viggo even say yes? Can he even say yes while he's head of the Council?"
"He can," Gerard replied without hesitation. "In fact, Orlando wouldn't be the first mortal to do so, if that is, in fact, what he's thinking."
"He'd be the first in several centuries," Sean pointed out, scratching his chin and looking thoughtful. "But yes, Viggo can do any number of things while he's head of the Council. It simply helps to solidify his position. And it's extremely helpful when it comes to negotiating with mortal governments and corporations."
"As to whether or not he'd say yes..." Gerard shared a look with Sean, then shrugged. "I gave up trying to predict Viggo a long time ago. I think he would give it very careful consideration before accepting or declining."
"Of course," Sean said, with that Cheshire grin back in place, "he's also just as likely to accept without a single second's worth of thought."
"So, um, what's the procedure for that, anyway?"
"Well, you'd have to present your request in writing to both the vampire you've chosen and to the Council, but the Council is just a formality in most cases," Gerard started, and took another sip from his drink. "The only time an alliance wouldn't be allowed would be if there's a conflict of interest or a security breach."
"Wouldn't Orlando have one, though?" Josh asked. "I mean, a conflict of interest."
"No, being a pet doesn't preclude one from allying themselves with another house," Sean explained. "The pet bond would supersede any alliance a pet would make with anyone else, anyway."
"Traditionally, pets would often align themselves with other houses to strengthen a bond between two vampires and their houses," Gerard added. "So, no, there would be no conflict. Especially since Karl and Viggo are joined by the ligeantia."
Orlando rubbed his eyes. "Okay, let me get this straight. Karl and Viggo are blood brothers, as are Karl and Sean, Harry and Joaquin are blood brothers, as are Joaquin and Viggo, and Karl and Harry's houses are joined...Christ, this is making my head hurt."
"You'll learn," Sean smiled, patting his knee.
"Anyway, after the petition has been received, it's either accepted or rejected or modifications are made to the agreement, and once all modifications have been agreed upon, the mortal swears fealty in front of the vampire one is allying themselves with and the head of the vampire's house - Viggo would be both, in this case - and then signed and a copy delivered to the Council for their records."
"That's it? You just file a petition, have it approved, and then...what? Say 'I swear fealty to you' or something?" Surely that wasn't all there was to it.
"No," Sean chuckled. "There's a little more to it than that, but that's the basic gist of it all. The actual swearing is more formal."
"And going back to your question, Josh," Gerard said, wearing a thoughtful look of his own, "it might actually be beneficial for everyone if Orlando were to do this."
Just the way he said it made Orlando suspicious. "Why?"
"You're pet to both the next head of the Council and his second," Sean replied. "Aligning yourself formally with Viggo would place another layer of protection around you. If anyone were to get any funny ideas, they'd have to deal with all the houses allied to Viggo's."
"And that," Gerard said, drily, "is a lot of houses."
"Please don't tell me this means I'm going to have to swear fealty to Viggo, too," Josh said, looking pale.
"Not Viggo, no, but it wouldn't hurt for you to plan an alliance with another powerful house."
"You could swear fealty to Liv," Orlando grinned, happy he wasn't the only one that thought this entire enterprise was more than slightly crazy.
"That actually wouldn't be a bad idea," Sean mused. "Going against the Elder or those under her protection would be tantamount to suicide."
"I'll, um, talk it over with Karl and get back to you."
"Can I please be there when you do?"
"Only if I can be there when you ask Karl and Harry about swearing fealty to Viggo."
"Deal," Orlando said in triumph. He hadn't actually planned to act on the idea, but their reactions... "We can do it when Karl gets back from Chicago."
"Get Karl to help you on the wording of the petition," Gerard suggested, his eyes dancing with suppressed laughter. "And do me one small favor. Present it to Viggo at a full Council session?"
"Uh -"
"Oh, you are evil," Sean laughed.
"You get the feeling you missed something?" Josh asked Orlando, who just nodded.
"The look on Marcus' face when he realizes that if Viggo accepts, he's going to be responsible for helping keep Orlando safe for the rest of his life is going to be priceless," Gerard said. The look on his face made Orlando silently vow to never, ever get on Gerard's bad side.
"What is with the two of you, anyway?" Orlando asked. "I mean, I get it, he's a pompous ass -"
"You really should get to know him before you rush to judgment on him," Sean interrupted. "You'll find he's quite different away from Council chambers."
"In fact, now that you've discovered the joys of women, he'll probably invite you out on the prowl with him one evening," Gerard continued. "And for all that I detest the prick, he does have exquisite taste."
"And a way with the ladies," Sean grinned. "Who's that super model who was just added to the harem...?"
"You two do realize I still think you're full of shite on the harem thing, yes?"
"I believe it," Josh shrugged, and signaled their server for another round. "I mean, he's got that whole arrogant thing working for him, like he could wring you out and not call you the next day, but you wouldn't care because the sex was that good."
Orlando half-turned in his chair to give Josh an incredulous look. "You're not actually attracted to him, are you?"
"Nope, and I wouldn't be even I wasn't tied to Karl," Josh said cheerfully. "But I get the appeal."
"That's just wrong," Orlando groaned, shaking his head.
"Admit it," Josh said, giving Orlando a satisfied grin. "You'd be all over him if you weren't bonded to Harry and Karl. He's just your type."
"He is not!"
"Smart, arrogant, smoking hot," Josh said, ticking off each point on a finger. "And he has fangs."
Sean and Gerard burst out laughing as Orlando made a rude noise. He was just going to ignore the lot of them. They were trying to get a rise out of him now.
"And Orlando is pretty enough to be part of the harem," Gerard commented.
"And he'll be even prettier once he has his fangs back," Sean added. "Maybe even pretty enough to make Marcus stray outside his women only sandbox."
Josh looked surprised. "So, Marcus has never..."
"Oh, he's dabbled," Gerard shrugged. "But the dabbling only lasted long enough for him to decide women were more fun, and that was the end of that. Personally, I think if he had a stiff cock up his ass every once in awhile, it might help his disposition during Council meetings."
Orlando snorted. "You're just as bad as he is."
Gerard gave him a beatific smile. "Is that your subtle way of offering to put your stiff cock up my ass?"
Josh, the bastard, started laughing so hard he practically fell out of his chair. "I would pay so much money to see that."
"You don't have enough money to get to watch," Orlando retorted, reaching over to poke Josh. "I don't prostitute myself for cheap, mate."
"Karl would totally front me the cash, and you know it."
"And what you're saying is, you would prostitute yourself," Sean said, sounding so gleeful that Orlando immediately regretted his choice of words.
"But only for the right amount," Gerard drawled.
Orlando just sniffed and lifted his chin again. If this was how they were going to play, he could play along and even hold his own. "Everyone has their price," he said, with as much dignity as he could muster. "But if it's my cock up your arse that you're wanting, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a rather long time 'til I get those fangs back."
"I'm a vampire. All I've got is time."
"Rosario would definitely insist on watching if you ever decided you wanted to swing the other way again," Sean commented, picking up his fresh drink. "Or joining in."
"I'd bet on joining in," Gerard said. "She likes her men pretty, and Orlando fits that bill to a tee."
"And she's also his type to a tee, as well."
"Would you mind not discussing me like I'm not even here."
"I'll have to introduce them," Gerard mused, ignoring Orlando. "She's been wanting to meet Orlando and Josh for ages."
"And Rosario is your mate?" Josh guessed.
"She is. She's my wife as well," Gerard smiled. "And mortal until her petition is approved."
Orlando looked down at his hands where they were clenched in his lap. Rosario. Now he knew why the name sounded so familiar. Her petition was on his desk, along with half the background paperwork needed. From everything he'd seen so far, she was in no danger of being denied. Although, being married to a Council member would pretty much guarantee she'd be approved no matter what.
"Married, huh?" Josh sounded impressed. "And she wants to meet his highness and myself? Bored with you already?"
"You'll wish once you meet her," Gerard laughed.
Orlando looked up to find Sean watching him with a gentle expression. //Don't// Orlando thought, focusing as hard as he could. //Please, don't.//
Sean nodded slightly. //I'm here if you need me.// Then he frowned slightly. //You shouldn't be able to communicate with me like this now.//
"What?" Orlando was so shocked he almost dropped his drink.
"What what?" Josh asked, looking around. "Orlando, what're you talking about?"
Orlando, however, only had eyes for Sean. "Why shouldn't I?"
"You're mortal," Sean replied, rubbing his chin. "Mortals who aren't pets can't communicate telepathically with vampires, and pets can only do it with their bonded vampire. We can sense your thoughts and emotions if close to the surface, but that's it."
Gerard frowned. "You two were communicating mentally just now?"
"Communicating, and he was able to direct it to just me instead of broadcasting it." Sean grew even more thoughtful. "This is unexpected."
"Great," Orlando muttered, feeling his face flush under their combined stares. "Something else I've managed to fuck up. This is not my fault!"
"No one's saying it is, child," Gerard said, reaching over to catch Orlando's chin in a gentle grip. Orlando went completely still, allowing Gerard to move his head, trying not to squirm under that penetrating gaze. "A residual effect, perhaps? No one's ever been unmade after so long."
"Perhaps," Sean agreed in a mild tone that didn't fool Orlando. Something was bothering him. "But if so, what else carried over?"
"Good question. I'm sure Katie -"
Orlando jerked his head away. "I'm not a lab rat."
"No, but that doesn't change the fact that you just did something you should not have been able to do."
"I dunno why you've got your panties in a twist about it," Josh shrugged. "One would think you'd be happy that you might still have some of your vamp mojo going on, even though you're mortal."
"My panties aren't..." Orlando huffed, and tried again. "I just want to be normal or whatever the hell the pet equivalent is. I'm tired of being a freak."
"Yeah, yeah, been there, heard that, still think you're full of it," Josh replied, waving his hand. "If you didn't like being unique and revered for it, you wouldn't have kept your bond with Karl or accepted the position as Viggo's assistant or asked to be unmade, for that matter."
Orlando crossed his arms and tried for a glare. "You're a pain in the arse."
"I'm still your favorite."
"Not right now you're not."
"Children, no fighting at the table," Sean grinned, then glanced at Orlando. "You know, you really should talk to Katie about this. She is the foremost expert on vampire physiology."
"I'm not a vampire anymore."
"No, you're not," Gerard replied, leaning back in his chair and watching Orlando over steepled fingers. "But it still wouldn't hurt to talk to her. If for no other reason than to ease Harry's and Karl's minds when you tell them."
"I..." Orlando trailed off, then bit his lip. Gerard was right. Even if he'd wanted to keep it a secret, there was no way he could lie to them. Not that he actually knew what he'd be lying about. "I'll talk to her."
"Invite her for dinner," Josh cheerfully suggested. "I'll cook."
"Oi, what'd I tell you about flirting with my nurse!"
"She's not your nurse anymore."
"If I talk to her, she is," Orlando insisted, with a glare. "Get your own nurse."
"Are they always like this?" Gerard asked, watching them with avid interest.
"Like brothers," Sean affirmed. "Right down to cuddling with each other afterwards like the fights never even happened."
"We do not cuddle," Orlando said. Josh, the traitor, stayed silent.
"No, you just sleep twined around each other like limpets," Sean laughed. "It's totally different."
"Remind me why I like you again," Orlando huffed, narrowing his eyes.
"Because I'm brilliant and funny and incredibly fantastic in bed."
"Not to mention arrogant," Gerard chuckled.
"Which, as we just said, definitely makes him Orlando's type," Josh agreed.
Orlando pointed a finger at Josh. He was so not going down alone. "Yours too, or did you forget who you're bonded to?"
"Hey, I never denied I'd bend over for Sean if I wasn't bonded to Karl. Have you seen his ass?"
"Yes, you and Rosario will get on famously," Gerard stated. "She, too, has a fondness for Sean's ass."
"It's an amazing ass," Josh nodded. "Better than Karl's, and that's saying something."
"But not better than Harry's," Orlando chimed in.
"I have to agree with Orlando," Sean laughed. "Harry's ass is a work of art."
"Don't look at me," Gerard said, holding up his hands. "I'm staying neutral in this one."
"Coward," Orlando fired back, grinning at Gerard's expression. "You'd probably agree with your wife, though."
"Probably," Gerard admitted, with an enigmatic smile. "You'll understand why when you meet her. If everything I've heard is correct, she really is your type."
Orlando waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "I've sworn off women for now," he said. "Men, too."
"Orlando," Sean said in a warning voice, and Orlando grimaced.
"Not like that," he said. "Men who aren't Karl or Harry."
"Sorted that all out, have you?" Sean asked in a mild voice that didn't fool Orlando for a second.
"Sort of," Orlando admitted, looking away to watch more people stroll towards the pool. "I, ah, I'm not sleeping in the west wing anymore."
"I see," Sean murmured. "And Harry?"
"We're taking it slow." It helped that Gerard wasn't saying anything and Josh had quietly scooted closer to him, offering silent support. "Karl and I are mostly back to normal, though."
"Karl was always quicker to forgive than Harry," Sean said, offering a sympathetic smile when Orlando turned his head. "Give him time. If you're back in their bedroom, that's a good first step."
"I just don't want to fuck things up, y'know? I did enough damage when I ran off."
"Hey, you've more than paid for that," Josh said softly. "You need to stop beating yourself up over it."
"Easier said than done."
"I'd offer to talk to him for you, but I have a feeling you'd turn me down."
Orlando smiled at Sean, even while he shook his head. "Thanks, but that was part of the problem before. I can't let anyone else fight this for me or get involved. We just need some time."
"Maybe more time isn't what Harry needs," Josh said, with a shrug and a half-smile. He patted Orlando's knee. "Maybe what he needs is for you to grab him, shove him down on the bed, and not give him any choice in the matter."
"That's actually a good idea," Sean said, raising his glass to salute Josh before turning back to Orlando. "Sex is definitely not going to solve all of your problems, but you've always shied away from taking the initiative with Harry, and you shouldn't."
"If he didn't like being manhandled and going to his knees, he and Karl would have never stayed together this long," Gerard added. "You know how important equality is to him."
Orlando nodded, then exhaled. "I do. It's just...harder to practice." The next was said almost in a whisper: "I don't want to lose him."
"You won't," Josh stated firmly, and snagged Orlando's hand. "Look, I may not have known Harry as long as Sean and Gerry here, but I've spent a lot of time with him since I've joined your crazy troupe, and that dude is full on nuts about you. You and Karl are the two most important people in his world, and it's time you started believing that."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Sean added, seriously. "You need to start trusting in that bond again."
"That bond..." Orlando huffed out a short, weak laugh. "That bond is overwhelming."
Gerard looked concerned, but Sean just nodded. "Not surprising given that it rocked Karl when the two of you actually completed it," he said. "And I suppose it's wide open now?"
Orlando nodded, pathetically grateful when Josh squeezed his fingers.
"And it wasn't before?" Sean grunted when Orlando nodded again, and he could swear that he heard Sean mutter something about 'bloody fucking idiot', but Orlando didn't say a word. "I don't suppose Harry's shown you how to actually harness it, has he?"
"He was muffling it before," Orlando said. "When I was recovering."
Sean shook his head. "Not quite the same thing. What he did was something that you wouldn't have been able to break through if you'd tried. What I'm talking about is more like putting a layer of tissue paper over it. It's there and you can feel it, but it's a little softer until one of you simply brushes the tissue aside and sets it loose. It's rather like a volume control, where the difference of going from ten to nine is subtle, but welcome."
"I didn't know that was possible," Orlando admitted, frowning. "Karl's has never been like this unless we want it to be."
"That's because your bond with Karl isn't the alpha bond, remember." Gerard turned to Josh and simply lifted an eyebrow.
Josh just nodded. "I, uh...the bond between me and Karl can get pretty fucking intense," he finally said. "Karl's had to guide me through how not to let it overwhelm me."
Orlando turned wide eyes to Josh. "You never told me that."
"I didn't want it to be an issue." Josh squeezed Orlando's hand again. "Your bond with Karl is important to both of you."
"It is," Orlando said, and offered a smile. "I actually feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one dealing with this."
"Believe me, you're not." Josh returned the smile. "So start there, if you have to. It's his friggin' job now to teach you how to be a pet, so make him do it."
"Again, easier said than done."
"No," Sean argued. "It is easily done. You spend too much time worrying about him, love, and not enough time worrying about yourself. Talk to him. He may be able to glance through your thoughts, but he can't read your mind, and you shouldn't expect him to."
"Was it ever like this with you and Dom?" Orlando asked, searching Sean's face for...well, he wasn't quite sure.
"Oh yes. We had more than our share of growing pains in the beginning."
"Many was the night that Sean would show up on my doorstep, wondering how he'd managed to get himself bonded to a mortal who didn't understand him and had such radically different views on everything," Gerard offered, giving Sean an affectionate look. "I'm amazed they made it through that first decade. Marton and Billy were much the same way, as well. Being bonded isn't easy on either the mortal or vampire. It takes some getting used to."
"It's especially hard the older the vampire is. And not to flog a dead horse," Sean said, with a wry grin, "but you are unique, and whether he admits it or not, that double bond you carry has got to play a part. It's not in our nature to share easily, regardless of how things sometimes look to outsiders."
"You know," Gerard said, giving Orlando a shrewd look, "that might actually be a very large portion of the problem."
"The double bond?" Orlando stared at Gerard, positive he couldn't mean that the way it sounded. Horror crept up on him at everything those words seemed to imply.
Gerard nodded, and Sean just gave him an odd look, almost as if he'd just figured out something. "Harry's always been more aggressive, mostly due to his upbringing and early years. But he's subordinate to Karl -- don't give me that look, child, it's true, trust me -- and since Karl had first claim on you, well..." He shrugged, still studying Orlando with that same expression. "Your first years together were a cake walk to what I think the next few are going to be, at least until Harry can come to terms to Karl's bond being there, now that you and Harry are fully bonded. Now if there were some way to keep them separate, or if Karl was willing to suppress his for a year or two so it wasn't as strong while Harry gets used to actually carrying a pet bond...of course, I'm just speculating without all the facts."
Orlando thought Gerard might be onto something, but he also knew things with the three of them were so much more complicated than anyone else knew or even suspected. "Karl's offered to suppress the bond," he said. "But Harry... he likes having Karl's bond with me as a buffer."
"That also sounds like Harry," Sean said. "And it makes sense for him - I think the idea of having a full and complete pet bond terrifies him in ways that are probably hard for him to articulate."
"It's still up to Harry to teach Orlando how to harness and control the bond, though," Josh said. "It's not healthy for Orlando to be wandering around slammed with all of that intensity all the freakin' time. I mean, not that you're weak or anything, but..."
"No, I get it. I think it'd be a lot of emotion for anyone to take in."
"Talk to him," Gerard suggested. "It's past time the two of you - the three of you, really - established your parameters with each other. Things are different now that you're mortal, and all of you need to deal with it."
"I know," Orlando said. He studied his drink for a moment, then pushed it away. The last thing he needed was alcohol clouding his mind. "And I will. Talk to him, I mean."
Sean smiled. "Do you mean it this time?"
"Piss off," Orlando replied, making a face. "I will talk to him. Tonight. Maybe I can figure out what I need to say on the drive home."
"Well, if you need any advice..."
"Thanks, but I think maybe I need to work it out by myself."
"I know. But Harry and Karl are..." Sean's lips curved upwards "...as unique as you are, especially in the vampire world, and sometimes having someone who knows them well helps."
"It does. I mean, you do, you have." Orlando gently extricated his other hand from Josh's. "But I think it's time I start to figure them out for myself. I mean, not that they're incredibly forthcoming about their past a lot of the time -"
"Tell me about it," Josh muttered. "It's like pulling teeth to get Karl to talk about his past."
"Exactly," Orlando nodded. "Maybe it's time we ganged up on him."
"Fine with me, man. I think the sooner Karl realizes we're not Harry, and he's got to actually tell us shit, the better."
"And the sooner Harry realizes he's going to have to open up to you, the better," Gerard said to Orlando. "If he wants that equality, remind him it goes both ways."
Orlando snorted. "Would you like me to request the sun to rise in the west in the morning while I'm at it? And speaking of, I should probably head out. And before you ask, yes, I'm fine to drive, I'll be careful, and I'll talk to Harry. Scout's honor."
"You were never a scout," Sean pointed out.
"Shut it," Orlando growled. "Or I'll change my mind about footing this bill and inviting the three of you to stay and have another round after I leave."
"If he's buying," Gerard said, already signaling for another round, "I'm drinking."
"Speaking of being safe to drive, make Harry teach you to ride," Josh told him. "Trust me, you'll love the freedom of a bike, and he'll love teaching you."
"Good idea." Orlando gave Josh a quick fistbump, and stood. "And, on that note, I'm out. Sean, make sure Josh gets home in one piece. I'd hate to face Karl's wrath if anything happened to him."
"Of course," Sean nodded, then gave Orlando a crooked grin. "And good luck. Remember you've got a set and to use them."
"You do realize it was my ballsiness that got me into all this mess in the first place, right?"
"And think of all the fun you would have missed if you hadn't gotten in that limo. I think we all know you wouldn't have traded these last twelve years for anything."
Orlando looked at Sean for a moment, then smiled. He wasn't going to admit it aloud, but Sean was right. A quick nod to Gerard, then Orlando focused on Sean. //And you would have missed me if I hadn't crawled in that limo.//
Sean smile was bright and warm, and it calmed the last of Orlando's nerves. //You're right, child, I would have. Now go home and sort yourself.//
He gave a quickly sketched salute that had them all laughing, then walked away with his head high. Talk to Harry. Right. He could do this. He'd been doing it for twelve years. It was just a matter of figuring out what to say. Maybe he could just walk in with the motorcycle helmets and ask Harry to take him for a ride. Long time since they'd done that. A long time, even since before his unmaking.
Maybe he would do that. After all, he had to start somewhere.
***
Authors: Brenda & Jo (azewewish & idiosyncratic)
Featuring: Gerard Butler, Josh Hartnett, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Vampires still don't exist. And Orlando's still not in a relationship with Harry and Karl.
Summary: Josh and Orlando have drinks with Sean and Gerard.
Takes place a couple of months after Progress Report.
Orlando hummed along to the song playing on the radio - some poppy/dance number - as his pen scratched over the papers on his desk, marking each one carefully against the spreadsheet that was open on his laptop. Doing the day to day paperwork wasn't exactly the most glamorous part of his job, but tonight, he didn't mind so much. Viggo was in São Paulo at the G20 summit, which meant Orlando wasn't getting interrupted every ten minutes to search for this document or that, or go over a contract or missive. The past couple of days had been positively peaceful.
"Knock knock."
Orlando jerked his head up. Josh was standing at the door, hands shoved in his jeans, rocking back on his heels as he looked at the cluttered chaos that was Orlando's desk. "Haven't you heard all that paper's bad for the environment? What happened to going green?"
"Tell it to Viggo, not me." Orlando put down his pen and leaned back in his chair, smiling gratefully at the interruption. He was beginning to go a little cross-eyed from reading. "What brings you around here? I thought you were allergic to corporate environments."
Josh grinned as he stepped inside the room. "I was on my way home from the studio and thought I'd drop by to see if I could catch Karl before he left for Chicago."
"He left about -" Orlando looked at the clock on his taskbar, and blinked. "Fuck, wow, an hour ago."
"So I found out when I got here." Josh sprawled gracelessly onto one of the chairs and crossed his ankles. "You working on anything time-consuming or can I talk you into a drink down at the Marmont?"
A drink actually sounded like a damn good idea. "Nothing major. Just going through these LOIs to cross-check and catalogue them for the database," Orlando said, sweeping a hand over the pile.
"LOIs?"
"Letters of Intent." Josh just gave him another blank look. "Um, you probably know them as petitions."
"Oh." Josh's face cleared up. "Like, when a vampire wants to call it a day and head to the vampire spirit in the sky or whatever."
"Yeah," Orlando grinned. He had a sudden vision of Viggo as the Archangel Gabriel, robes, horns, wings and all. "Something like that."
"Anyone we know who's put in a petition, or is it all secret Council business until they make it public?"
"I don't think the LOIs are classified. I mean, they're just a formality, aren't they," Orlando shrugged. "Not like Viggo or the Council could stop a vampire from offing themselves if they really wanted to die."
"Good point. Still, it's gotta be weird for them to want to end it after centuries of living...or maybe it's liberating, who knows. I mean, when you've been around as long as some of these cats, death might seem like a release."
Orlando nodded. "Interestingly enough," he said, flipping through a few pages, "most of the ones tonight are from born vampires. I guess maybe when you want it enough to go through the making process, you tend to hold on to it longer."
"Does it balance out? Do you get a lot of petitions?"
"These are the first I've seen," Orlando admitted. "Dave said they usually come in waves. There will be a bunch, then nothing for several years. And I think there are a few more of one than the other, but it's mostly balanced. I haven't really had a chance to look through the full archive, though, to see."
"Are Karl's parents in there?"
"Yeah." Orlando scrolled down through the spreadsheet until he came to the entries. He turned his laptop so Josh could see. "They went at the same time, with Karl, Harry, and Viggo as witnesses."
"I don't suppose our, ah, buddy has a petition in there," Josh said, quietly, after a long moment of looking around the office.
Orlando didn't need to ask. He already knew Josh meant Joaquin. He looked at the spreadsheet, not bothering to search. If Sean and Gerard were right, then there was no chance Joaquin would be in there.
Without speaking, Orlando picked up his phone and punched a few numbers. "Ashley, love, is Sean around? Thanks...could you have him meet me at the Marmont in, say, an hour? No, no, nothing crucial, just a couple things I want to discuss with him, that's all."
"Why the hell are you calling Sean?" Josh asked, when Orlando hung up the phone.
"He said if we had questions about our, um, buddy, we should talk to him," Orlando replied. "Besides, I have another question to ask him."
"Better call Gerard, then, see if he's available. He could probably answer more questions than Sean, uh, considering his history with said buddy."
"Good idea." Orlando dialed Gerard's assistant, and learned that Gerard was on a conference call, but would be available for a drink later. After Orlando hung up the phone again, he started shutting down his laptop and getting ready to leave. "What car did you drive tonight?"
"Harry wanted me to test drive the Panhead for him to make sure it wasn't still sticking when it shifts into third. I'm surprised he didn't ask you to drive it."
"I, uh." Orlando glanced around for his car keys and iPhone. "I don't exactly know how to ride a bike yet."
"With Harry as your mate?"
"I was planning on getting around to it, I just...I dunno, haven't done it yet." Orlando waited for Josh to walk out of the office before locking it behind them. "I should probably get on that. Seems silly not to know."
"As attached as you are to the Viper, I'm not surprised you haven't learned," Josh grinned, following him down the hallway.
"At least I'll survive a crash in the Viper."
"Not with the way you drive." They stepped into the elevator and Josh opened his mouth again, but Orlando glanced pointedly at the security camera in the corner. Josh seemed to get the hint. "So how'd the visit to Hearst Castle go?"
"Oh, man," Orlando laughed, leaning against the back wall in a relaxed slouch. "Christina fell in love with the place, so Elijah's manning up and asking Karl if that's where they can have the wedding."
"Like he needs to ask," Josh snorted.
"Karl's using the 'let Elijah think he has a little control over this event' angle." The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the parking garage. "Elijah's still all about whatever Christina wants she's going to get, because he's realized there's no way she can bankrupt Karl on this. And," he said, with a sly grin as they approached the Viper with the Panhead beside it, "Harry says to let him know once she settles on just one house."
"Eh, she's got time." Josh unlocked the seat and snagged his helmet from its hook. "And Cooper and Aubrey told me that the initial meeting with Monica on the dress went very well."
"So I heard. I still say Christina should wear yellow, but I guess it's not up to me."
"She's gonna be a knockout no matter what," Josh replied, voice muffled by the helmet. "See you in a few?"
Orlando just gave a thumbs up as Josh swung his leg over the bike and started it. The engine rumbled to life, and it sounded fine to him, but he wasn't a mechanic or in any way mechanically inclined, so what did he know. If Harry said there was something wrong, there probably was.
As he swung out of the garage and hit Sunset, it occurred to him that he hadn't clarified with Josh if they were going to the patio at the Chateau itself or if they were meeting at Bar Marmont. Although, given Josh's love of people watching, he'd probably meant the patio. More girls to ogle who were heading to the pool.
Traffic wasn't totally horrible, for once, and it felt like no time at all before Orlando was handing his keys to the valet. He wasn't surprised to see Josh waiting for him. That was, he had to admit, a big advantage to riding a bike -- the ability to move to the front at red lights.
"So," he said, walking up and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt (and thanking God he'd decided to leave his tie and jacket in the car), "we barring it or..."
"Patio," Josh replied without hesitation.
Orlando laughed. Sometimes it was too easy. "Patio it is," he said with a grin. "And no talking about our buddy until Sean and Gerry are here."
"No worries." Josh slid a glance towards Orlando that immediately made him wary. "So how're things with Harry?"
"They're good," he said as they followed the host outside. "Not perfect, y'know, but better than they were. We're talking now."
"I noticed you moved back into the bedroom, too."
"Is that your way of asking about my sex life?"
"Well, I know you and Karl are finally doing the deed again," Josh grinned, as he sprawled in his seat. Their table was tucked in a corner, but had a great vantage point of the walkway that led to the pool - Orlando wondered if the staff just knew Josh well enough by this point to have this table reserved for him. It wouldn't surprise him. Being pet to a senior Council member had its privileges. "There's no mistaking the way the bond feels after Karl's had really great sex, and it's different when it's you vs. when it's with Harry."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Orlando looked around. Aside from a few of Hollywood's young crowd at the other end of the hedge, he didn't see anyone familiar. Which was good. The less chance of interruption once Sean and Gerry got here, the better. "There's definitely something...more, I guess...in the bond after he and Harry've had sex, which is different than how it feels when he's had sex with you."
Josh nodded, then gave Orlando a pointed look. "You haven't answered my question."
"You haven't asked it yet."
"Are you and Harry having sex again?"
Orlando tipped his chair back and watched a small crowd move towards the pool. He waited until their waiter had placed their drinks on the table. "No," he finally said, not looking at Josh. "And before you ask, no, we haven't talked about it. Karl and I didn't talk about it before we did either."
"Are you going to?"
"Talk about it or actually do it?" Orlando shrugged as he took a long swallow of his drink. "Maybe. Who knows, man. I don't think he's completely forgiven me for vanishing like I did, so I'm not going to push sex when it's not even close to the top of the list of everything that's still fucked up between us. It's enough that we're talking again and I'm back in the bedroom."
"Fair enough," Josh nodded. "And you know, if you ever wanted to talk about it or brainstorm..."
"I appreciate it." Orlando set his glass back on the table. "Right now, I'm just letting things ride. We've got a lot of shit to work out before we're 100%, and I don't want to push him or make him feel pressured. So we're just...going slow."
Josh stretched his legs as he cradled his drink in his hands. His eyes were kind, sympathetic. "Karl told me you officially withdrew your request for the Gift. How're you dealing with that? I can't imagine it was easy for you."
"There's nothing to deal with. I withdrew the request, so it's a non-issue." He braced himself for what he knew was coming next.
"You know," Josh said, after a long moment, "it's okay if -"
"Josh, stop," Orlando said, then sighed. "Please. Look, I don't want to be a dick, but I really don't want to discuss this, so if we could talk about something else?"
"Yeah, sure," Josh replied. He looked a little hurt. And Orlando couldn't really blame him, but he could not talk about the Gift right now. Not with Josh, not with Karl. Not even with Harry.
To be honest, Orlando wasn't sure he'd be able to talk about it in regards to himself for a very long time. But he promised himself that he'd make it up to Josh at some point. Josh was only trying to be a good friend.
"Tell me how the recording's going," he said, pasting on a smile, and hoping like hell that the change in subject would ease some of the ache in his own chest. "Cooper won't tell me anything, and Aubrey just laughs when I ask her about it."
Josh, thankfully, seemed inclined to roll with it. "It's going well. Sort of. I mean, aside from Gibson and Aubrey almost coming to blows every other day on song arrangements, but that's sort of normal for them, so we just ignore it. But that's one of the reasons why we haven't invited anyone up to come and sit in on the sessions."
"Uh, the two of them fighting is a good thing?"
"Let's just say creative people tend to get rather loud when voicing their opinions," Josh chuckled, and motioned to their server for another round. "Plus, if they get too bad, Cooper just steps in and cracks the whip, so it's fine. I think we're onto something special with this one. Cooper's been writing some amazing shit, man, she's in a much better place than she was last time we were in the studio, and it shows."
"So what's her story, anyway?"
"Cooper? That's for her to tell you, not me," Josh replied, his voice tight. "All I'll say is she was dealing with some heavy shit a while back, and she deserves a hell of a lot better, so don't get any ideas."
"I'm not getting any ideas. It's just she's a nice girl, and I get the impression she hasn't had anyone take her out and show her a fun time in a long time."
"And you think -"
"You children aren't fighting, are you?" Sean asked, stepping up to their table and giving them both a look that had Orlando immediately scrambling for an explanation.
"No, no, we weren't," Orlando said, flashing his most charming smile. He knew it wouldn't work, of course, but old habits died hard.
"I was just making sure Orlando knew to behave like a gentleman around Cooper," Josh said, sitting up straight in his chair. "No fighting, I promise."
"And are you?" Sean asked, taking the seat next to Orlando.
"Of course I am," Orlando bristled, even though he knew (or thought he knew) why they'd both seen fit to mention it. "I do know how to behave myself."
"That's up for debate," Sean chuckled, and ordered his usual when the server came around to drop off Josh and Orlando's drinks.
Orlando rolled his eyes. "It isn't," he said. "Just ask Harry."
"Harry will say you know how to behave yourself?"
"Oh, piss off."
"So tell me," Sean said, nodding his thanks at the server as his drink arrived, "is there a reason for this friendly little get together, or were you just missing the pleasure of my company?"
"Let's wait for Gerry," Orlando quietly said. "So we don't have to go through this twice."
"I see," Sean said, and took a healthy sip of his bourbon. "Well, we did tell you both to come to us with any questions..."
"You did. But if you've changed your mind..."
"God no, then the two of you would try to take it upon yourselves to do your own research and the wrong person would most definitely find out about it." Sean rattled the ice cubes in his glass. "But I'm definitely going to need another drink or three."
"I think we can buy you a few drinks," Josh smiled, but Orlando could tell it was slightly strained.
"Better order one for Gerry, too," Orlando said, waving Gerard over as he stepped onto the patio and looked around.
"And here I was flattered to be invited for drinks by Orlando, and come to find out it's a party," Gerard said, strolling over and dropping into the vacant seat. "And you're plying me with alcohol? I am suddenly terrified."
"I'm sure you'll handle it."
"The child's still quick on his feet," Gerard said to Sean, who just laughed. Then Gerard turned back to Orlando with a sly smile. "It's nice to know some things haven't changed with the new you."
New you. It wasn't the first time Orlando had heard it, but he chose to ignore it. Instead, he pasted on a bland smile and sipped his drink.
"So, am I going to have to guess why Sean and I are both here, or do I already know the answer?" Gerard asked, looking between Orlando and Josh.
"We just had a few questions," Josh replied. "And it's not like we could discuss it in Council chambers."
"Well, you could in the actual meeting room itself," Sean commented. "It's swept regularly for bugs or other listening devices. But we appreciate your discretion."
Gerard relaxed back in his seat. "Alright, ask away."
Josh looked to Orlando and nodded, so Orlando fielded the first one. "Well, I was going through the LOIs tonight, and that got Josh and I to thinking about, uh, if Joaquin ever put in a petition himself. And what would have happened to it."
"If he had ever put one in," Sean said, "Viggo would have destroyed it. Like we said before, all mention of him was struck from any records or accounts."
"He never put one in," Gerard said, sounding confident.
"You're sure about that?" Josh asked, voicing the question that was in Orlando's mind.
"As sure as I can be without ever seeing a letter." Gerard finished his drink in one swallow, then motioned for another round. "You have to understand, no one has had any contact with him since he walked away from us. And he's made no effort to contact anyone over the centuries."
"So, uh, he never, y'know..."
"He's still alive," Gerard quietly said. He held Orlando's gaze for a long moment, then looked at Josh. Finally, he glanced at Sean before focusing on the table as their server placed a fresh drink in front of him. "I would know if he'd chosen death."
"Even blocking can't disguise that," Sean added. He looked so serious that Orlando reached across the table and touched his hand without thinking. Sean gave him a small smile in response. "The death of a Sire...it's like something is cut inside you, quick and sharp, and then there's a void. It can still be felt, no matter what, even if you're not particularly close to your Sire, or haven't seen them for centuries."
"So why didn't he?" Josh blurted out, then looked abashed as Sean and Gerard focused on him. "Uh, I mean, if he was so fucked up after Marton -"
Gerard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't really have an answer for you, I'm afraid. Except that I don't think Joaquin really wanted to die. I think he was just lost in his grief and couldn't see a way out of it. You have to understand, no one could get through to him - not myself or Liv or Viggo or Harry - it was like all of the light had gone out of him."
"Speaking of that, why didn't he break the iunctum bond with Liv after he pulled his Houdini act? Can it be broken?"
"Of course it can," Gerard replied, puzzled. "You should already know this."
"I have a feeling this is another one of those things Dave didn't teach you," Sean said. "Yes, it can be broken, just like every other bond. And because it's not a blood bond, it's a little easier. In fact, Liv could have had it broken without Joaquin's presence in the room."
"So, just one of the parties and Viggo need to be there, I'm assuming," Josh said, looking pleased when Sean nodded.
"The fact that neither of them has broken it has always given me hope that one day Joaquin will come back and deal with the mess he left behind."
Orlando cocked his head and studied Gerard's face. It was almost as hard to read him as it was to read Viggo, which was why he was so careful with his next question. "Do you even want him to return?"
"It depends on the day," Gerard answered, with a stark honesty that Orlando admired. "There are still times when I miss him so much I can barely breathe and I know I would forgive him anything, and then there are days when I never want to see him again and I don't care what his reasons were or are."
"He would have a lot to answer for, and many people to answer to, should he ever return," Sean added. "Liv and Gerry would be just the tip of the iceberg."
"Well, yeah, he'd still have to deal with Harry and Karl," Josh said. Orlando knew he didn't want to imagine Harry's wrath at facing the mentor who'd deserted him.
"And Viggo," Gerard reminded them, gently. "More than anyone - even Liv or myself - Viggo is the one person Joaquin would have to answer to, should he ever come back."
"Well, yeah, he's head of the Council, but I don't see how that could supersede an iunctum or Sire bond."
"And in most cases, you'd be right," Sean said. "Normally, precedence would go to the iunctum bonded, then to the Sire/fledgling bonded, then the Council. But Joaquin would be dealing with Viggo as a brother, which they are in all but birth. After Joaquin received the Gift from Marton, he and Viggo underwent the ligeantia."
"Whoa, Viggo's blood brothers with Joaquin?" Josh asked, with wide eyes, sounding shocked. Orlando was just confused.
"What're you talking about?"
"Dave didn't tell you about the...never mind, it's not important," Sean said, shaking his head. "A ligeantia is a blood exchange, a vow similar to what mortals do when they become blood brothers, to borrow Josh's term."
"A very serious one," Gerard added, "given that the vows are made in front of the entire Council, and it links one vampire's house with another."
"Wait, wait, back up," Orlando squeaked, flapping his hands. "You can do that?"
"Why would you think we couldn't?" Gerard asked. "One vampire pledging fealty and loyalty to another is a sacred oath, and certainly means a lot more than the same mortal oath."
"It's much like how the knights of old used to swear themselves to a house or one house to another," Sean explained. "Karl and I made the pledge after he agreed to mentor me. It was my way of honoring him taking me under his wing and making me part of his family."
"You and Karl are blood brothers?" Orlando asked, in a faint voice.
"Jesus, no wonder you're around so much..." Josh said, sinking back in his seat.
Sean grinned at both of them. "Well, since you're both shocked already, I'll go ahead and tell you that Harry and Joaquin also made the pledge not too long after Karl gave Harry the Gift."
Orlando closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Out of all this," he said, "that's possibly the only thing that doesn't surprise me."
"My Aunt Kate always did say that vampires were like one big, incestuous family," Josh smiled, sounding a little more like himself.
Sean laughed. "You'd be surprised at how many of us are connected by one bond or vow or another."
"At this point?" Orlando shook his head. "No, I really wouldn't."
"Once you start learning the relationships and how the bonds and vows work, you'll be able to trace one vampire to another with ease," Gerard said, clearly ready to launch into full lecture mode. "It's also possible to determine which bonds and vows take precedence over others and why. Especially in the position you now hold, it's important you understand all the nuances of each relationship and how all the bonds and vows work. You may find it boring as fuck, to borrow a phrase of yours, but this is important."
Orlando privately thought if he lived to be as old as Viggo, he'd never get the crazy world these people inhabited, and he was starting to wonder why in God's name he wanted to be part of it himself so badly. Karl and Harry are worth it, he told himself. "Sounds educational," he said aloud.
"Harry is definitely going to have his hands full with you. Though you really should consider yourself lucky you're not getting Karl. He was a slave master a lot of the time."
"You say that like you're expecting Harry to be a walk in the park, Sean," Gerard said. "Have you forgotten who was general for every army the two of them ever raised? Or who still trains elite troops for various militaries?"
"Not for a second. But Orlando's not your typical recruit, so..."
Recruit? "Uh, he's not really going to treat me like some kid in boot camp, is he?"
"Oh, no," Gerard said, just as Sean said, "Of course not." Josh just outright laughed.
"I hate the lot of you," Orlando muttered. Then a thought occurred to him, and he looked at Gerard through narrowed eyes. "What if I learn all of this stuff before I get my fangs again? Assuming I do, y'know. And can a mortal do this blood brother thing?"
"There's nothing preventing you from learning our ways and our laws while a mortal," Gerard said. "Josh here is a good enough example of that."
"I got lucky because of my Aunt Kate."
"That's a good thing, and something I'm sure Harry and Karl would encourage in you, Orlando."
"Good," Orlando nodded. Now, at least, he had a starting point of what to ask Karl when they started training or whatever it was. "And the other thing?"
"Mortals can't enter into the ligeantia with vampires, no," Sean said. "But they can certainly swear fealty to a vampire and align their house with a vampire's. For example, Harry's family swore an oath to Karl's long before either of them were ever born, which is why Harry was sent to squire with Karl in the first place."
"So...I could do this, I mean, the swearing fealty thing, with any vampire?"
"As long as the vampire in question accepts your request, certainly."
"You can't ask Harry," Gerard added. "As Sean already said, the house of Sinclair was sworn to house Urban millennia ago, and that bond can never be broken unless both parties agree. Which I think we can all assume it never will. You'd have to swear it to Karl."
"I wasn't thinking of either of them, to be honest."
"Then who..." Josh's face cleared up, and he gave Orlando a disbelieving look. "You're thinking about Viggo, aren't you? Jesus, Orli, is there anything that you do that's not full-tilt, balls to the wall?"
"It's almost like you know him," Gerard murmured as Sean snorted out a laugh.
Orlando gave them both a sour look. Wankers. Why he'd bothered asking them anything was beyond him. "My Nan always told me," he said to Josh, "that I shouldn't do anything if I wasn't prepared to give it 110%."
"That's actually not a bad philosophy to follow," Sean said, after managing to regain his composure.
"Yeah, but damn," Josh said as he shook his head. "Viggo? Why not just swear fealty to Liv if you're going all out?"
"Don't be daft," Orlando replied, primly. He folded his hands on the table and lifted his chin. "Liv scares the ever living fuck out of me - no offense, Gerry - and besides, I work for Viggo."
"Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that he's scared of Liv, yet is thinking nothing of possibly doing this with Viggo who is, frankly, the scariest motherfucker I've ever met?" Josh asked.
"I don't think Orlando here is truly aware of just how powerful Viggo is," Gerard stated. "Otherwise, he would be."
"Besides, Liv's a woman," Sean added. "And we all know how terrified Orlando is of beautiful women."
"Oi, I am not afraid of Liv because she's a bloody woman."
"The hell you're not," Sean rejoined.
"Can we get back to Orlando's insane plan for a minute," Josh said, scooting forward in his chair. "Would Viggo even say yes? Can he even say yes while he's head of the Council?"
"He can," Gerard replied without hesitation. "In fact, Orlando wouldn't be the first mortal to do so, if that is, in fact, what he's thinking."
"He'd be the first in several centuries," Sean pointed out, scratching his chin and looking thoughtful. "But yes, Viggo can do any number of things while he's head of the Council. It simply helps to solidify his position. And it's extremely helpful when it comes to negotiating with mortal governments and corporations."
"As to whether or not he'd say yes..." Gerard shared a look with Sean, then shrugged. "I gave up trying to predict Viggo a long time ago. I think he would give it very careful consideration before accepting or declining."
"Of course," Sean said, with that Cheshire grin back in place, "he's also just as likely to accept without a single second's worth of thought."
"So, um, what's the procedure for that, anyway?"
"Well, you'd have to present your request in writing to both the vampire you've chosen and to the Council, but the Council is just a formality in most cases," Gerard started, and took another sip from his drink. "The only time an alliance wouldn't be allowed would be if there's a conflict of interest or a security breach."
"Wouldn't Orlando have one, though?" Josh asked. "I mean, a conflict of interest."
"No, being a pet doesn't preclude one from allying themselves with another house," Sean explained. "The pet bond would supersede any alliance a pet would make with anyone else, anyway."
"Traditionally, pets would often align themselves with other houses to strengthen a bond between two vampires and their houses," Gerard added. "So, no, there would be no conflict. Especially since Karl and Viggo are joined by the ligeantia."
Orlando rubbed his eyes. "Okay, let me get this straight. Karl and Viggo are blood brothers, as are Karl and Sean, Harry and Joaquin are blood brothers, as are Joaquin and Viggo, and Karl and Harry's houses are joined...Christ, this is making my head hurt."
"You'll learn," Sean smiled, patting his knee.
"Anyway, after the petition has been received, it's either accepted or rejected or modifications are made to the agreement, and once all modifications have been agreed upon, the mortal swears fealty in front of the vampire one is allying themselves with and the head of the vampire's house - Viggo would be both, in this case - and then signed and a copy delivered to the Council for their records."
"That's it? You just file a petition, have it approved, and then...what? Say 'I swear fealty to you' or something?" Surely that wasn't all there was to it.
"No," Sean chuckled. "There's a little more to it than that, but that's the basic gist of it all. The actual swearing is more formal."
"And going back to your question, Josh," Gerard said, wearing a thoughtful look of his own, "it might actually be beneficial for everyone if Orlando were to do this."
Just the way he said it made Orlando suspicious. "Why?"
"You're pet to both the next head of the Council and his second," Sean replied. "Aligning yourself formally with Viggo would place another layer of protection around you. If anyone were to get any funny ideas, they'd have to deal with all the houses allied to Viggo's."
"And that," Gerard said, drily, "is a lot of houses."
"Please don't tell me this means I'm going to have to swear fealty to Viggo, too," Josh said, looking pale.
"Not Viggo, no, but it wouldn't hurt for you to plan an alliance with another powerful house."
"You could swear fealty to Liv," Orlando grinned, happy he wasn't the only one that thought this entire enterprise was more than slightly crazy.
"That actually wouldn't be a bad idea," Sean mused. "Going against the Elder or those under her protection would be tantamount to suicide."
"I'll, um, talk it over with Karl and get back to you."
"Can I please be there when you do?"
"Only if I can be there when you ask Karl and Harry about swearing fealty to Viggo."
"Deal," Orlando said in triumph. He hadn't actually planned to act on the idea, but their reactions... "We can do it when Karl gets back from Chicago."
"Get Karl to help you on the wording of the petition," Gerard suggested, his eyes dancing with suppressed laughter. "And do me one small favor. Present it to Viggo at a full Council session?"
"Uh -"
"Oh, you are evil," Sean laughed.
"You get the feeling you missed something?" Josh asked Orlando, who just nodded.
"The look on Marcus' face when he realizes that if Viggo accepts, he's going to be responsible for helping keep Orlando safe for the rest of his life is going to be priceless," Gerard said. The look on his face made Orlando silently vow to never, ever get on Gerard's bad side.
"What is with the two of you, anyway?" Orlando asked. "I mean, I get it, he's a pompous ass -"
"You really should get to know him before you rush to judgment on him," Sean interrupted. "You'll find he's quite different away from Council chambers."
"In fact, now that you've discovered the joys of women, he'll probably invite you out on the prowl with him one evening," Gerard continued. "And for all that I detest the prick, he does have exquisite taste."
"And a way with the ladies," Sean grinned. "Who's that super model who was just added to the harem...?"
"You two do realize I still think you're full of shite on the harem thing, yes?"
"I believe it," Josh shrugged, and signaled their server for another round. "I mean, he's got that whole arrogant thing working for him, like he could wring you out and not call you the next day, but you wouldn't care because the sex was that good."
Orlando half-turned in his chair to give Josh an incredulous look. "You're not actually attracted to him, are you?"
"Nope, and I wouldn't be even I wasn't tied to Karl," Josh said cheerfully. "But I get the appeal."
"That's just wrong," Orlando groaned, shaking his head.
"Admit it," Josh said, giving Orlando a satisfied grin. "You'd be all over him if you weren't bonded to Harry and Karl. He's just your type."
"He is not!"
"Smart, arrogant, smoking hot," Josh said, ticking off each point on a finger. "And he has fangs."
Sean and Gerard burst out laughing as Orlando made a rude noise. He was just going to ignore the lot of them. They were trying to get a rise out of him now.
"And Orlando is pretty enough to be part of the harem," Gerard commented.
"And he'll be even prettier once he has his fangs back," Sean added. "Maybe even pretty enough to make Marcus stray outside his women only sandbox."
Josh looked surprised. "So, Marcus has never..."
"Oh, he's dabbled," Gerard shrugged. "But the dabbling only lasted long enough for him to decide women were more fun, and that was the end of that. Personally, I think if he had a stiff cock up his ass every once in awhile, it might help his disposition during Council meetings."
Orlando snorted. "You're just as bad as he is."
Gerard gave him a beatific smile. "Is that your subtle way of offering to put your stiff cock up my ass?"
Josh, the bastard, started laughing so hard he practically fell out of his chair. "I would pay so much money to see that."
"You don't have enough money to get to watch," Orlando retorted, reaching over to poke Josh. "I don't prostitute myself for cheap, mate."
"Karl would totally front me the cash, and you know it."
"And what you're saying is, you would prostitute yourself," Sean said, sounding so gleeful that Orlando immediately regretted his choice of words.
"But only for the right amount," Gerard drawled.
Orlando just sniffed and lifted his chin again. If this was how they were going to play, he could play along and even hold his own. "Everyone has their price," he said, with as much dignity as he could muster. "But if it's my cock up your arse that you're wanting, I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a rather long time 'til I get those fangs back."
"I'm a vampire. All I've got is time."
"Rosario would definitely insist on watching if you ever decided you wanted to swing the other way again," Sean commented, picking up his fresh drink. "Or joining in."
"I'd bet on joining in," Gerard said. "She likes her men pretty, and Orlando fits that bill to a tee."
"And she's also his type to a tee, as well."
"Would you mind not discussing me like I'm not even here."
"I'll have to introduce them," Gerard mused, ignoring Orlando. "She's been wanting to meet Orlando and Josh for ages."
"And Rosario is your mate?" Josh guessed.
"She is. She's my wife as well," Gerard smiled. "And mortal until her petition is approved."
Orlando looked down at his hands where they were clenched in his lap. Rosario. Now he knew why the name sounded so familiar. Her petition was on his desk, along with half the background paperwork needed. From everything he'd seen so far, she was in no danger of being denied. Although, being married to a Council member would pretty much guarantee she'd be approved no matter what.
"Married, huh?" Josh sounded impressed. "And she wants to meet his highness and myself? Bored with you already?"
"You'll wish once you meet her," Gerard laughed.
Orlando looked up to find Sean watching him with a gentle expression. //Don't// Orlando thought, focusing as hard as he could. //Please, don't.//
Sean nodded slightly. //I'm here if you need me.// Then he frowned slightly. //You shouldn't be able to communicate with me like this now.//
"What?" Orlando was so shocked he almost dropped his drink.
"What what?" Josh asked, looking around. "Orlando, what're you talking about?"
Orlando, however, only had eyes for Sean. "Why shouldn't I?"
"You're mortal," Sean replied, rubbing his chin. "Mortals who aren't pets can't communicate telepathically with vampires, and pets can only do it with their bonded vampire. We can sense your thoughts and emotions if close to the surface, but that's it."
Gerard frowned. "You two were communicating mentally just now?"
"Communicating, and he was able to direct it to just me instead of broadcasting it." Sean grew even more thoughtful. "This is unexpected."
"Great," Orlando muttered, feeling his face flush under their combined stares. "Something else I've managed to fuck up. This is not my fault!"
"No one's saying it is, child," Gerard said, reaching over to catch Orlando's chin in a gentle grip. Orlando went completely still, allowing Gerard to move his head, trying not to squirm under that penetrating gaze. "A residual effect, perhaps? No one's ever been unmade after so long."
"Perhaps," Sean agreed in a mild tone that didn't fool Orlando. Something was bothering him. "But if so, what else carried over?"
"Good question. I'm sure Katie -"
Orlando jerked his head away. "I'm not a lab rat."
"No, but that doesn't change the fact that you just did something you should not have been able to do."
"I dunno why you've got your panties in a twist about it," Josh shrugged. "One would think you'd be happy that you might still have some of your vamp mojo going on, even though you're mortal."
"My panties aren't..." Orlando huffed, and tried again. "I just want to be normal or whatever the hell the pet equivalent is. I'm tired of being a freak."
"Yeah, yeah, been there, heard that, still think you're full of it," Josh replied, waving his hand. "If you didn't like being unique and revered for it, you wouldn't have kept your bond with Karl or accepted the position as Viggo's assistant or asked to be unmade, for that matter."
Orlando crossed his arms and tried for a glare. "You're a pain in the arse."
"I'm still your favorite."
"Not right now you're not."
"Children, no fighting at the table," Sean grinned, then glanced at Orlando. "You know, you really should talk to Katie about this. She is the foremost expert on vampire physiology."
"I'm not a vampire anymore."
"No, you're not," Gerard replied, leaning back in his chair and watching Orlando over steepled fingers. "But it still wouldn't hurt to talk to her. If for no other reason than to ease Harry's and Karl's minds when you tell them."
"I..." Orlando trailed off, then bit his lip. Gerard was right. Even if he'd wanted to keep it a secret, there was no way he could lie to them. Not that he actually knew what he'd be lying about. "I'll talk to her."
"Invite her for dinner," Josh cheerfully suggested. "I'll cook."
"Oi, what'd I tell you about flirting with my nurse!"
"She's not your nurse anymore."
"If I talk to her, she is," Orlando insisted, with a glare. "Get your own nurse."
"Are they always like this?" Gerard asked, watching them with avid interest.
"Like brothers," Sean affirmed. "Right down to cuddling with each other afterwards like the fights never even happened."
"We do not cuddle," Orlando said. Josh, the traitor, stayed silent.
"No, you just sleep twined around each other like limpets," Sean laughed. "It's totally different."
"Remind me why I like you again," Orlando huffed, narrowing his eyes.
"Because I'm brilliant and funny and incredibly fantastic in bed."
"Not to mention arrogant," Gerard chuckled.
"Which, as we just said, definitely makes him Orlando's type," Josh agreed.
Orlando pointed a finger at Josh. He was so not going down alone. "Yours too, or did you forget who you're bonded to?"
"Hey, I never denied I'd bend over for Sean if I wasn't bonded to Karl. Have you seen his ass?"
"Yes, you and Rosario will get on famously," Gerard stated. "She, too, has a fondness for Sean's ass."
"It's an amazing ass," Josh nodded. "Better than Karl's, and that's saying something."
"But not better than Harry's," Orlando chimed in.
"I have to agree with Orlando," Sean laughed. "Harry's ass is a work of art."
"Don't look at me," Gerard said, holding up his hands. "I'm staying neutral in this one."
"Coward," Orlando fired back, grinning at Gerard's expression. "You'd probably agree with your wife, though."
"Probably," Gerard admitted, with an enigmatic smile. "You'll understand why when you meet her. If everything I've heard is correct, she really is your type."
Orlando waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. "I've sworn off women for now," he said. "Men, too."
"Orlando," Sean said in a warning voice, and Orlando grimaced.
"Not like that," he said. "Men who aren't Karl or Harry."
"Sorted that all out, have you?" Sean asked in a mild voice that didn't fool Orlando for a second.
"Sort of," Orlando admitted, looking away to watch more people stroll towards the pool. "I, ah, I'm not sleeping in the west wing anymore."
"I see," Sean murmured. "And Harry?"
"We're taking it slow." It helped that Gerard wasn't saying anything and Josh had quietly scooted closer to him, offering silent support. "Karl and I are mostly back to normal, though."
"Karl was always quicker to forgive than Harry," Sean said, offering a sympathetic smile when Orlando turned his head. "Give him time. If you're back in their bedroom, that's a good first step."
"I just don't want to fuck things up, y'know? I did enough damage when I ran off."
"Hey, you've more than paid for that," Josh said softly. "You need to stop beating yourself up over it."
"Easier said than done."
"I'd offer to talk to him for you, but I have a feeling you'd turn me down."
Orlando smiled at Sean, even while he shook his head. "Thanks, but that was part of the problem before. I can't let anyone else fight this for me or get involved. We just need some time."
"Maybe more time isn't what Harry needs," Josh said, with a shrug and a half-smile. He patted Orlando's knee. "Maybe what he needs is for you to grab him, shove him down on the bed, and not give him any choice in the matter."
"That's actually a good idea," Sean said, raising his glass to salute Josh before turning back to Orlando. "Sex is definitely not going to solve all of your problems, but you've always shied away from taking the initiative with Harry, and you shouldn't."
"If he didn't like being manhandled and going to his knees, he and Karl would have never stayed together this long," Gerard added. "You know how important equality is to him."
Orlando nodded, then exhaled. "I do. It's just...harder to practice." The next was said almost in a whisper: "I don't want to lose him."
"You won't," Josh stated firmly, and snagged Orlando's hand. "Look, I may not have known Harry as long as Sean and Gerry here, but I've spent a lot of time with him since I've joined your crazy troupe, and that dude is full on nuts about you. You and Karl are the two most important people in his world, and it's time you started believing that."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Sean added, seriously. "You need to start trusting in that bond again."
"That bond..." Orlando huffed out a short, weak laugh. "That bond is overwhelming."
Gerard looked concerned, but Sean just nodded. "Not surprising given that it rocked Karl when the two of you actually completed it," he said. "And I suppose it's wide open now?"
Orlando nodded, pathetically grateful when Josh squeezed his fingers.
"And it wasn't before?" Sean grunted when Orlando nodded again, and he could swear that he heard Sean mutter something about 'bloody fucking idiot', but Orlando didn't say a word. "I don't suppose Harry's shown you how to actually harness it, has he?"
"He was muffling it before," Orlando said. "When I was recovering."
Sean shook his head. "Not quite the same thing. What he did was something that you wouldn't have been able to break through if you'd tried. What I'm talking about is more like putting a layer of tissue paper over it. It's there and you can feel it, but it's a little softer until one of you simply brushes the tissue aside and sets it loose. It's rather like a volume control, where the difference of going from ten to nine is subtle, but welcome."
"I didn't know that was possible," Orlando admitted, frowning. "Karl's has never been like this unless we want it to be."
"That's because your bond with Karl isn't the alpha bond, remember." Gerard turned to Josh and simply lifted an eyebrow.
Josh just nodded. "I, uh...the bond between me and Karl can get pretty fucking intense," he finally said. "Karl's had to guide me through how not to let it overwhelm me."
Orlando turned wide eyes to Josh. "You never told me that."
"I didn't want it to be an issue." Josh squeezed Orlando's hand again. "Your bond with Karl is important to both of you."
"It is," Orlando said, and offered a smile. "I actually feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one dealing with this."
"Believe me, you're not." Josh returned the smile. "So start there, if you have to. It's his friggin' job now to teach you how to be a pet, so make him do it."
"Again, easier said than done."
"No," Sean argued. "It is easily done. You spend too much time worrying about him, love, and not enough time worrying about yourself. Talk to him. He may be able to glance through your thoughts, but he can't read your mind, and you shouldn't expect him to."
"Was it ever like this with you and Dom?" Orlando asked, searching Sean's face for...well, he wasn't quite sure.
"Oh yes. We had more than our share of growing pains in the beginning."
"Many was the night that Sean would show up on my doorstep, wondering how he'd managed to get himself bonded to a mortal who didn't understand him and had such radically different views on everything," Gerard offered, giving Sean an affectionate look. "I'm amazed they made it through that first decade. Marton and Billy were much the same way, as well. Being bonded isn't easy on either the mortal or vampire. It takes some getting used to."
"It's especially hard the older the vampire is. And not to flog a dead horse," Sean said, with a wry grin, "but you are unique, and whether he admits it or not, that double bond you carry has got to play a part. It's not in our nature to share easily, regardless of how things sometimes look to outsiders."
"You know," Gerard said, giving Orlando a shrewd look, "that might actually be a very large portion of the problem."
"The double bond?" Orlando stared at Gerard, positive he couldn't mean that the way it sounded. Horror crept up on him at everything those words seemed to imply.
Gerard nodded, and Sean just gave him an odd look, almost as if he'd just figured out something. "Harry's always been more aggressive, mostly due to his upbringing and early years. But he's subordinate to Karl -- don't give me that look, child, it's true, trust me -- and since Karl had first claim on you, well..." He shrugged, still studying Orlando with that same expression. "Your first years together were a cake walk to what I think the next few are going to be, at least until Harry can come to terms to Karl's bond being there, now that you and Harry are fully bonded. Now if there were some way to keep them separate, or if Karl was willing to suppress his for a year or two so it wasn't as strong while Harry gets used to actually carrying a pet bond...of course, I'm just speculating without all the facts."
Orlando thought Gerard might be onto something, but he also knew things with the three of them were so much more complicated than anyone else knew or even suspected. "Karl's offered to suppress the bond," he said. "But Harry... he likes having Karl's bond with me as a buffer."
"That also sounds like Harry," Sean said. "And it makes sense for him - I think the idea of having a full and complete pet bond terrifies him in ways that are probably hard for him to articulate."
"It's still up to Harry to teach Orlando how to harness and control the bond, though," Josh said. "It's not healthy for Orlando to be wandering around slammed with all of that intensity all the freakin' time. I mean, not that you're weak or anything, but..."
"No, I get it. I think it'd be a lot of emotion for anyone to take in."
"Talk to him," Gerard suggested. "It's past time the two of you - the three of you, really - established your parameters with each other. Things are different now that you're mortal, and all of you need to deal with it."
"I know," Orlando said. He studied his drink for a moment, then pushed it away. The last thing he needed was alcohol clouding his mind. "And I will. Talk to him, I mean."
Sean smiled. "Do you mean it this time?"
"Piss off," Orlando replied, making a face. "I will talk to him. Tonight. Maybe I can figure out what I need to say on the drive home."
"Well, if you need any advice..."
"Thanks, but I think maybe I need to work it out by myself."
"I know. But Harry and Karl are..." Sean's lips curved upwards "...as unique as you are, especially in the vampire world, and sometimes having someone who knows them well helps."
"It does. I mean, you do, you have." Orlando gently extricated his other hand from Josh's. "But I think it's time I start to figure them out for myself. I mean, not that they're incredibly forthcoming about their past a lot of the time -"
"Tell me about it," Josh muttered. "It's like pulling teeth to get Karl to talk about his past."
"Exactly," Orlando nodded. "Maybe it's time we ganged up on him."
"Fine with me, man. I think the sooner Karl realizes we're not Harry, and he's got to actually tell us shit, the better."
"And the sooner Harry realizes he's going to have to open up to you, the better," Gerard said to Orlando. "If he wants that equality, remind him it goes both ways."
Orlando snorted. "Would you like me to request the sun to rise in the west in the morning while I'm at it? And speaking of, I should probably head out. And before you ask, yes, I'm fine to drive, I'll be careful, and I'll talk to Harry. Scout's honor."
"You were never a scout," Sean pointed out.
"Shut it," Orlando growled. "Or I'll change my mind about footing this bill and inviting the three of you to stay and have another round after I leave."
"If he's buying," Gerard said, already signaling for another round, "I'm drinking."
"Speaking of being safe to drive, make Harry teach you to ride," Josh told him. "Trust me, you'll love the freedom of a bike, and he'll love teaching you."
"Good idea." Orlando gave Josh a quick fistbump, and stood. "And, on that note, I'm out. Sean, make sure Josh gets home in one piece. I'd hate to face Karl's wrath if anything happened to him."
"Of course," Sean nodded, then gave Orlando a crooked grin. "And good luck. Remember you've got a set and to use them."
"You do realize it was my ballsiness that got me into all this mess in the first place, right?"
"And think of all the fun you would have missed if you hadn't gotten in that limo. I think we all know you wouldn't have traded these last twelve years for anything."
Orlando looked at Sean for a moment, then smiled. He wasn't going to admit it aloud, but Sean was right. A quick nod to Gerard, then Orlando focused on Sean. //And you would have missed me if I hadn't crawled in that limo.//
Sean smile was bright and warm, and it calmed the last of Orlando's nerves. //You're right, child, I would have. Now go home and sort yourself.//
He gave a quickly sketched salute that had them all laughing, then walked away with his head high. Talk to Harry. Right. He could do this. He'd been doing it for twelve years. It was just a matter of figuring out what to say. Maybe he could just walk in with the motorcycle helmets and ask Harry to take him for a ride. Long time since they'd done that. A long time, even since before his unmaking.
Maybe he would do that. After all, he had to start somewhere.
***