Bed of Wild Roses

"Oh fuck." Sean whispered, his feet suddenly glued to the ground. Viggo. Why the fuck was Viggo waiting for them? Damn.

"Sean?"

He could feel Karl shift behind him, effectively using him as a shield to hide from Sean. Obviously fairies did not put too much trust in bravery. He studied Viggo's thunderous expression again, smirking. Or maybe they were brave enough to know when cowardice was the better option.
"Viggo." Sean forced his voice to remain neutral, hoping that his face was as impassive as it felt. "What are you still doing here?"

"I had hoped," Viggo glared briefly at Karl, "That you might be a bit more reasonable after cooling off." He gave Karl another pointed glance. "But it seems that you're still somewhat.... distracted."

Sean flinched. If looks could kill both, he and Karl, would be in an advanced stage of decomposition. He glared back, unwilling to explain himself to his soon-to-be-ex agent. He was not going to make this any easier on Viggo. Especially if it meant giving Viggo any kind of ammunition. He was not going to lose Karl over this. He simply refused to. Lose Karl? His stomach clenched. Nope. There was no way he was going to let something like that happen. Not when he had just managed to get him back.

"So?" Viggo said after a while, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Ae you willing to discuss the proposal without resorting to violence?"

"I already told you. I won't do it."

"So you're really going to give it all up for that," he nodded at Karl, sneering, "Boytoy of yours."

"He is not my boytoy." Sean closed his eyes, inhaling slowly. One - Mississippi, two - Mississippi, three - Mississippi... He opened his eyes again. "And I'd really appreciate it, if you'd leave now."

"Sean."

He simply shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut again as he slowly counted to ten. Unfortunately Viggo was still there when he opened them again. "Leave." He repeated harshly, firmly placing himself between Viggo and Karl. "You're not welcome here anymore. And I'll be looking for a new agent as soon as I can," he added almost as an afterthought.

"You can't do that." Viggo's eyes narrowed dangerously. Bull's eye! "I've been with you from the beginning" Hell, no other agent was willing to take you on!"

Sean winced. Viggo's voice had risen uncomfortably in pitch. He never would have thought that the other man was actually capable of squealing. Obviously he had been wrong.

"You never would have sold a single book if it had not been for me." Viggo insisted, well on his way to yelling now. "How dare you threaten to fire me! Why?"

"One, very easily," Sean retorted, his irritation growing with each of Karl's uneasy shifts, "And two because you show neither respect nor regard for my work and feelings. I think," he added, his voice dripping sarcasm, "That's quite enough to part because of irreconsiable differences. Or artistic differences," he added as an afterthought, "Whatever you prefer."

"You wouldn't."

Sean shook his head. How could Viggo still sound so convinced, so sure, after everything that he had said?

"You know you owe everything to me!" Viggo continued. "Hell, you'd be dead if it wasn't for me" You'd have offed yourself after Abigail's death if I hadn't stopped you!"

"And I'll always be grateful for that." Sean sighed, shaking his head. "But no matteer how much I owe you, it will never be enough to make take every last bit of shit you decide to dish out."

"Dish out?" Viggo repeated incredulously. "Dish out? I don't just dish out! For fuck's sake, Sean, I'm worried about you! Your bouts of depression were bad enough but now you suddenly decide that you're gay? Dammit, Sean, you've always been straight!"

"No."

"No?" Viggo's voice hitched as he deflated visibly. "What do you mean 'No'?"

"I mean no, I'm not straight. I never was."

"Never? Never?" Viggo sputtered. "But....but.... Abigail!"

"Being bisexual does not mean that I did not love Abigail."

"And now you're going to set it all aside? Set her aside? What about Evie? Will you stop telling her who her mother was too?"

"No!" Sean frowned, tasting blood. Stunned he raised his hand to his lip. He had actually bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood. "But maybe I'm finally ready to move on." He just was not ready to have this discussion now. "And no matter what I may or may not be feeling for Karl, it's none of your fucking business."

"Oh?" Viggo's eyebrows rose dramatically. "It's that serious, isn't it?"

"None of your business." Sean repeated. If only Viggo would just fuck the hell of.

"For heaven's sake, Sean!" Great. Sean winced. Now the bastard was yelling again. "Is this," he gestured wildly at Karl, "What you want Evie to grow up with?"

"I already told you to leave my daughter out of this!" Sean yelled back, gnashing his teeth between words. He winced as he sensed Karl flinching away. "Just get the fuck out of my life!"

"I can't dammit!" Viggo's face was a dark as a thunderstorm. "I can't leave a child in a situation like this! Fuck, social services would have a field day with this!"

Sean froze, a sudden chill, rushing through him, extinguishing even the last bit of his anger. "Don't." He whispered, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He really needed to hit something. Hard. "Don't you dare threaten my daughter." The air stung as he forced it into his lungs, silently cursing the burning oxygen. He leaned into the sudden warmth on his arm, allowing Karl's touch to calm and comfort him. The letter opener incident had been more than enough.

"Go." He said after a painful heartbeat full of silence. "Really Viggo. I will call the police if you don't go now." He closed his eyes, unable to bear the disgust and revulsion in the other man's eyes. Air rushed from his lungs an a relieved sigh as he finally heard footsteps stomping away.

"Thank you." He whispered, smiling softly as Karl's arms wrapped themselves around his waist, drawing him into a comforting embrace.

."I'm sorry." Karl said softly, his head warm on Sean's shoulder, the warmth of his breath slowly seeping through Sean's shirt.

"What for?" Sean laughed bitterly, ignoring the renewed butterfly parade in his stomach. Heck, by now the butterflies were probably waving raoinbow-coloured flags and singing YMCA. "It's not your fault that Viggo's a fucking homophobe."

Silence was his only answer. Sean shivered as Karl's embrace tightened. This felt almost too good to be true. And it made the flag-waving butterflies happy. Way too happy.

"But you lost a friend because of me." Karl insisted softly.

"Maybe." Sean awkwardly patted Karl's hands, reluctantly pushing himself out of the embrace. "Right now I'm not even sure if he actually was my friend to begin with."

"I see." Karl said quietly, stepping around Sean and starting towards the house. Sean followed silently, Viggo's threats still ringing in his ears.

~***~

Evie was standing in the living room door, eyes wide and bright with unshed tears and her arms wrapped protectively around her waist. "Daddy?" She asked before Sean had even entered the house, her lower lip trembling dangerously. "Why were you yelling outside? Are you going to send Karl away?"

"No, honey, nothing like that." Sean immediately assured her, his stomach tightening into a painful knot even as he scooped her up in his arms. Send Karl away? "Viggo and I just had a loud discussion, that's all. Don't worry." He pressed a tender kiss to the crown of her head. "He's gone now."

"He won't yell at you anymore?"

"No, darling, he won't." Sean shifted Evie onto his right hip. Damn. Were seven-year olds really that heavy? "Come on," he called towards Karl, "Let's get dinner started."
He really needed to do something that would calm him down. Something that would occupy him for a while. Cooking would do just that. And it had the added bonus of allowing him to chop the vegetables.

~***~

"She seems okay." Karl observed, setting the last cinnamon roll onto the tray as he looked at Evie, who was contentedly playing in the garden, movin some cars and dolls along the paved path that led from the sandbox to the kitchen.

"Fortunately." Sean grimaced. "She has always hated yelling, especiall if someone was yelling at me or her mother."He smiled softly. "And she hated it even more when her mother and I were yelling at each other."

"And Viggo?"

Sean felt his face harden immediately, barely managing to stop himself from grinding his teeth. "I want him out of my life and I never, ever want him to come near Evie again." For a few minutes they were silent, both of them lost in his own thoughts as they stared into the garden. At least until a sudden hissing and explosion of steam drew them out of their respective musings.

"Damn, the taters!" Sean jumped into action, yanking the pot from the stove. "Fuck!" He yelped, almost dropping the pot as he jumped backwards. "Hot!"

"Sean!" Karl was beside him in a heartbeat, prying the pot from his clenched fingers. "Sean?" The pot and the potatoes tumbled into the sink, emitting yet another cloud of hot, white steam. "Sean, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I...." Sean shook his head, before continuing peevishly, "I just splashed some boiling water onto my feet."

"Ouch." Kal winced, patting Sean's shoulder. Sean felt his cheeks flame. There went the fucking butterflies again. For that alone it had almost been worth it.
"You should probably hold your toes under cold water." Karl said, pointing into the direction of the bathroom. "Go, I'll finish dinner."

"Um, yeah, I probably should." Sean winced as his socks squelched on the kitchen tiles. "I'll just... you know," he waved at the door, loath to walk away from Karl, "Go.. do that." He finished lamely. He shuddered, turning. If only Karl would smile less often. Maybe then the butterflies would finally sit still for bit.

~***~

Karl and Evie were already laying out the plates when Sean returned with cold and pain-throbbing feet.He hated it. His feet had not really been burnt, but they still hurt like hell. Or at least they did since he had climbed out of the bath tub. Why did burns, no matter of which degree, always hurt more after cooling them? It was not fair.

"Hey Dad!" Evie hugged him, awkwardly pressing the glasses she was holding into his back in the process. "Karl mashed the potatoes!"

"He did?"

"I had to." Karl explained, taking the glasses from Evie and putting them onto the table. "They were a bit.. soggy after your accident."

"I can imagin." Sean said drily, gently disentangling himself from his daughter. "Evie, would you mind fetching a few bottles of water from the cellar?"

"Dad..." Evie started, looking sideways at Karl.

"Please."

"'kay." With a long-suffering sigh she scurried out of the room.

"And no running on the stairs!" Sean called after her, chuckling as an annoyed 'Da-ad' floated back to him. Okay. Sean inhaled deeply. Almost time to pop the question.

"You know," he said slowly, desperately trying to get a grip on his flutterinf nerves, "The idea with the mall was really great."

"Yeah." Karl grinned broadly. "It was."

"So..." Sean blinked. Just when had he stepped up to Karl again? He backed off a bit. "Do you have a suggestion what we could do tomorrow? Maybe another family outing of sorts?"

"A family outing?" Karl's eyes widened as a big grin spread over his face. "You'd really want to take me along?"

"Yes." Sean said, smiling softly. "You were absolutely right. It had been too long since I reall spent some fun time with Evie."

"How about a trip to the zoo?"

"The zoo?" Sean repeated. "I bet Evie would like it."

"Exactly." Karl's grin broadened even more.

"Water!" Evie gasped, bounding through the door. "Can we eat now?"

Sean raised a disapproving eyebrow at his daughter. "You ran on the stairs."

"I'm sorry?"

Sean felt a smile tug on the corners of his moutth as Evie looked up at him with the wides puppy-dog eyes imaginable.

"I'll try to remember not to do it again." She offered.

"Well..." Sean hesitated. He knew he should tell her off, but the whole day had already been upsetting and stressful enough for her.

"Dad?" Evie asked again.

"Yes?"

"Can we eat now?"

"Of course." Sean smiled. "If you're still hungry, that is."

Within the blink of an eye Evie was seated at the table, fork and knife clutched in her hands as she stared longingly at the tofu Karl had picked out at the mall. Sean wondered if her enthusiasm for the stuff would survive once she had tasted the tofy. Somehow he doubted it.

~***~

"Bed." Sean repeated, giving his daughter a determined stare. "It's aöready after ten."

"But Da-ad-" Evie's stuck-out bottom lip quivered dangerously. "It's friday" I don't have school tomorrow!"

"So?" Sean cocked his head at her. "It's still late."

"But I don't have to get up early tomorrow!"

"Yes you do." Sean finally allowed the grin he had been holding back to show. "We have plans for tomorrow."

"We do?"

"Yes."

"What?" Evie's eyes were alight with curiosity. "What? What are we going to do? Are we going to go somewhere?"

"Nuh-uh." Sean nodded at the stairs. "Bed."

"Da-ad." Another whine.

"Evie."

"Dad."

"Bed." Sean said firmly.

"Story?"

"A short one."

"Deal!" Evie gave him a brilliant smiled, skipping off towards the stairs. Sean smiled as she stopped halfway up. "Can Karl come help tuck me in?"

"Maybe." Sean glanced towardst the open kitchen door. Karl had just finished sorting the last of the strange herbal teas he had chosen away. "If he wants to. Go uo, get ready. I'll ask him."

~***~

"And so they lived happily ever after."

Sean smiled as Karl finished the story, gingerly closing the book. They had agreeed that Sean would read the first part of the story and Karl the second. Which had left him with a few precious minutes to watch the other man. He still was beautiful. And Sean's body was still determined to take notice of that. He frowned. He had promised Karl not to hit on him again. And yet here he was, sitting on his daughter's bed, close enough to Karl to sense his body warmth and considering his looks. Damn. This was going to be much more difficult than he had originally thought. Especially since he liked Karl's voice. Really liked is voice. Hell, Karl could probably read the phonebook to him and he would still listen with rapture.

Sighing he smiled at Karl, jerking his head into the direction of the door. With an almost impercebtible nod Karl laid the book aside and followed him, softly pulling the door closed behind them.

"Well..." Sean cleared his throat. "That went well."

"Why?" Karl frowned.

"It usually takes a lot longer for her to settle down." Sean took a step back. Too close. Too damn close. Fuck the butterflies and fuck their damned flags. This just would not work.
"Yeah, anyway," he started breathlessly, "I guess I'll try to write a bit before I go to bed. What about you?"

"Um." Karl seemed to think for a while. "Would it be okay if I read one of the books you have downstairs? I skimmed the summaries of a few of them and one or two really sounded interesting."

"Sure." Sean nodded. "Knock yourself out."

"Thanks."

"I don't know how long I'l be writing." Sean continued. "I mean, you don't mind if I..." he trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

"No, not at all."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Gawds. Could he soun anymore pathetic? "Goodnight." Yep, seemed that he could. Shaking his head he fled down the stairs and towards his study, almost missing Karl's whispered goodnight.