Saving Smiles

Title: Saving Smiles , part 1/?

Author: Eärendil

Email: coincidenceofmemory @ yahoo.com

Rating: PG

Pairing: Orlando Bloom / Viggo Mortensen

Summary: Prelude to the fall...

Disclaimer: I don't own them. I'm just enjoying playing with them. It's fiction.

Archive: Lirimaer. Recent Forgeries. Anywhere else. Just ask.

Note: This is my first attempt at a long fiction in the world of RPS. Please give me honest opinions on it. Thank you.

Part 1: Live While You Can

"Take my hand,e whe while you can. Don't you feel your dreams are right in the palm our hur hand?" -- Vanessa Carlton

Life was very simple. Or at least that was how Orlando Bloom saw it. You lived, you experienced, and then you died. Some people only lived and died, but that was their prerogative. Sometimes love was thrown in for flavor, but Orlando felt that it more often than not detracted from the experience part of life. And that was what he was there for. The experience.

oursourse, he'd not always felt that way. In fact, up until two years ago, he'd enjoyed letting life leisurely drift along, experiencing here and there, loving every once in a while. That was until he'd broken his back and come to realize that leisure was something that one did not have. It was not in the mix of life, not productively anyway. -- Of course there was more to it than that, but that 'more' was not something Orlando enjoyed dwelling on, and didn't. He dwelt on the experience.

And so Orlando Bloom, aspiring actor, became the life of life. Because life was a party, and it was all about the experience. And it had worked well for him up to this point. It had even gotten him the role of a lifetime.

---

"You wouldn't happen to be Orlando Bloom would you?"

The young man in question turned around to face the smaller questioning man, his brown eyes lighting up. "Billy?!" They laughed together, joshing and cajolinout out as they made their way to the gate and plane that would take them to Los Angelos to meet the rest of the cast.

"So I hear you're fresh outta Guildhall," Billy prompted amicably, smiling as he sipped his birthday champagne.

"Yeah, mate, I just finished up there and had put in a tape to get a role in this movie and wham bam here I am," Orlando chuckled, pouring himself some more champagne.

Billy grinned, snagging the bottle himself. "Well, aren't we the lucky gent."

---

The first months of practice and filming went by as perfectly as Orlando could wish for. He spent the nights with the Hobbits, hitting the clubs and pubs, carousing around and thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Then the issues with Stuart hit and the cast held their collective breath as the Irish actor stormed out of Peter's office and towards his caravan, a dark look upon his face. His trailer door slammed with a certain finality that the cast was not happy to hear.

---

Peter sighed as he exited the small caravan that served as his on-location office. It was a director's worst nightmare, having to 'let an actor go' this far into filming. The short Kiwi rubbed his eyes and when he removed his hand he found the majority of the cast surrounding him, questioning looks upon their faces. The director sighed again.

"Stuart will no longer be working as our Aragorn," he announced, meriting a range of expressions from shock to sympathetic understanding.

"So who's gonna be our Strider?" Elijah asked, blinking his big blue eyes at PJ, a little apprehensive about having to work with another actor on such short notice. Everyone had worked hard at becoming friends so they could work together and make the roles all the more realistic on the screen. You couldn't just replace one member and have it run smoothly.

"I've got a candidate or two," Peter said, meaning he had one candidate and he hoped to God he could convince him to come and play the role.

"Who'd'ya have in mind?" Dom asked, peeling glue out of his ear and grimacing at the flesh toned goo.

"Viggo Mortensen."

---

"Hey check it out!" Elijah practically bounce out of his seat, pointing at the computer screen wildly. "I own a good few of his movies." A chorus of 'wow' and 'didn't know he was in that one's rose around the room before everyone scuttled out and into the living room for a round of 'Viggo Watching.'

'Viggo Watching' soon turned into the 'Viggo Drinking Game' and eventually everyone was too pissed to care that they were all staring at the screen, watching one scene over and over again with the segment loop set on the DVD player. [AN: guess the scene/movie and you get a cookie, sorry no hints]

Several hours later, and a little more sober, the four hobbits and the elf decided that they had no clue on earth, or middle earth for that matter, what this man was going to be like.

"He's too good at playing his character," Billy stated, slumped across Dom's lap, fiddling with the drawstring of Dom's sweatshirt. "But at least we kinda know what he looks like."

"Got that right, mate," Orlando said grinning, "All of what he looks like."

Elijah swatted him, yawning and, with a dirty smile, collapsing against Orlando's shoulder.

"Well, I should be heading home," Astin said, dusting his pants legs as he stood. "Christine'll be waiting up, plus we hobbits have an early call." He gave the three other hobbits a fatherly look. "See you guys."

"I guess that ends the 'Night o Viggo,'" Orlando said, a little too chipper for having been pretty wasted not a few hours before. He swatted at Elijah's roaming hands, jumping up and stretching his stiff back. "Cheers mates, but I think I'm going to get some sleep. If Pete got this Viggo guy to come, then he'll be here tomorrow."

"Oh?" Dom gave him a conspiratorial grin. "Does our Elf want to look his best for the new Ranger?"

Orlando just shot him a grin. "Nah, I always look my best. I just want to actually be able to see the guy, and not be having to refocus me eyes every thirty-seconds. Cheers!" And he was out the door.

---

It was noon before the Hobbits were found dragging their rubber feet into the meal tent, their four am wake up call plus non stop shooting for the past six hours had left them tired and hungry.

"A horse, my pipe-weed for a horse!" Elijah shouted, entering the tent.

"Wha'd'ya want a horse for, Lij?" Billy asked, resisting the urge to rub his fist in his eye. Make-up would simply love him if he messed up his nicely done dirt.

"To eat, of course!"

"You and your nasty habits of eating meat," Orlando said from behind them, tossing his finished can of mushrooms in the trash bin. "Can't you be civilized, and eat lembas? Fills you right up!"

"Bah! Give me meat or give me death."

"Lij," Dom said poking the lead hobbit's shoulder. "You're misquoting again."

The brash young American just smiled and trotted off to find something that recently bled.

"He could get away with murder by just flashing that smile," Billy muttered, following the other to find food.

"So have you seen Viggo yet, Orli?" Dom asked, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah. I saw him exiting wardrobe this morning headed toward the armoury. Not met the bloke yet though," was the boy's reply as he plucked a sprig of broccoli off a near-by veggie plate.

"So we have an Aragorn. Pete musta talked him a deal... or pleaded the poor bloke's heart out," Dom chuckled. "Whelp, I'm gonna head over and grab me a bite. Pete wants us back on set within the hour."

"Cheers, mate," Orli replied, waving.

---

None of the hobbits nor Orlando saw Viggo through the rest of the filming day.

"Maybe he's just hiding?" Lij suggested, shrugging. "I mean, he's replacing a member of a close knit group. He might be as apprehensive about it as we are."

"Ah well, he can't hide forever, we film Weathertop tomorrow," Astin said, wrangling the hobbits into his SUV. "Where to, boys?"

"How about that pub Beanie likes? He says they got good brew," Dom suggested, eyes sparking as he mentioned the beer.

"Hobbit," Orlando accused, shaking his head.

"Oh? Who had mushrooms for lunch?" Dom retorted.

Orli only stuck his tongue out in reply.

---

"Hey! Seems Beanie's got himself some friends tonight!" Dom said loudly as they entered the pub, spotting Bean in the back corner table with Viggo and Ian. "So this must be the ever illusive Viggo. Hey, mate, good ta meet ya, I'm Dom, Meriadoc, if you will."

Viggo nodded welcomes as Dominic introduced each hobbit and then turned to the Elf.

"And this is our dear Prince of Mirkwood, Orlando Bloom."

"Hello, Orlando." And then, Viggo smiled.

Orlando's breath caught and he noticed all at once that Viggo never really smiled in those movies they'd seen. And he wondered why? "Hey," was about all he could manage. He had a million and one questions to ask. Why didn't he smile like that in the movies? What had possessed him to smile at Orlando? Why was the blue sky painted red on lovely summer evenings when it should only be so if this man were to smile like that? Strange questions, intimate questions, simple and hard questions, all running through his mind so fast, so consuming that it took him all of five minutes to realize he'd seated himself and had a drink before him, still full.

He listened as the group around him talked, but didn't feel the urge to join in on some silly discussion about an American television show he knew nothing about. Instead, he let his mind wander again.

His mind was thrown a-whirl once more because Viggo smiled at him again as they left the pub.


The End (TBC)

Love lots, Eärendil