A Ranch In Idaho

Title: A Ranch In Idaho (3/4)
Author: laeglass
Pairing: VM/OB
Rating: NC-17
Warning: AU, language, sex, spoiled brat!Orlando
Disclaimer: It's just a dream and a lie; no money made and no harm intended.
Summary: On their way to Des Moines Elijah and Orlando’s car breaks and they are forced to rely on the kindness of a stranger.
Beta by tularia


Part Three

Orlando cursed aloud as he felt sweat trickling down his back. He was used to training at a gym, as well as sweating up the sheets (which was his favourite means of maintaining his slim physique anyway), but he had never before done any physical work such as this. Despite it being the middle of September it was boiling hot and his hung-over state made him a very unhappy camper. Jesus! Why couldn’t he have just said no to Viggo when the cowboy had knocked on his door this morning and asked if he’d like to help in the stables? Because he was a pathetic pussy, that’s why. Because he had wanted to show Viggo that he, unlike certain people, wasn’t a selfish fuck who only cared about himself.

And because Elijah was even more hung-over than he and, according to Viggo, was throwing up in his bathroom. Orlando’s lips twitched despite his own discomfort; Eli could never hold his booze when they went out, which was often, and always vowed the next morning that he’d give up alcohol for good. Orlando wasn’t as lightweight as Eli was but even he could admit that they had been a bit too wild the night before. The boy from last night had been a nice diversion, he thought, but he had really been nothing special and Orlando couldn’t even remember his name anymore. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if he’d known it in the first place. There are moments in every man’s life when it doesn’t matter whose lips he has around his cock, as long as they are there. For Orlando it was always like that.

Has been, his mind corrected sneakily. It has always been like that before coming here; before Viggo.

And that was the thing that bothered him the most; that their little encounter hadn’t seemingly meant anything to Viggo, whereas he had been willing to give himself to the older man, something he didn’t do often. Truth be told, he had never let his guards down as completely as he had the night before with Viggo, and look where it had got him. Nowhere. Viggo just thought that he was a useless slut that could be tossed aside just like that.

“Stupid fucking cunting shit”, Orlando cursed enthusiastically as his back twinged in discomfort when he bent to scoop some hay with the shovel. “Fucking piece of shit”, he groaned and dropped the shovel, his hands coming to rub his back desperately. His back didn’t trouble him often, and he had painkillers for the occasions when it did. However, the meds were in his backpack in his room and he was hot and tired and headachy and couldn’t be arsed to walk all the way to the house and then climb all those stairs to fetch his meds. The boy leaned tiredly on the wall of one of the stalls, not noticing that the stall had an occupant who was interested in him.

Orlando cried out in pain and surprise as he felt strong teeth bite on his shoulder. He might have forgiven it under any other circumstances, but the hay that tickled his skin until he wanted to scratch himself bloody, the backache from the fiery pits of hell and the headache that seemed intent on cracking his skull caused him to lash out without thinking. He turned around and smacked the horse’s nose with an annoyed yell, and had to jump back as the spooked horse neighed loudly and got on his back feet. Orlando’s heart hammered in his chest as his hand came to cradle his shoulder. What a crazy fucking horse! Suddenly strong arms grabbed his shoulders and spun him around.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Viggo asked sternly, his angry blue eyes fastened on Orlando, his fingers gripping the boy’s slight shoulders just enough to hurt. He had noticed Orlando’s difficulties and he felt for the kid, but nothing could justify the abuse of animals in his eyes.

“Did you see what that fucker just did?” Orlando asked incredulously after he’d recovered from the shock of being grabbed like that. “He fucking bit me! I could so press charges for this!”

“We don’t hit horses here, ever”, Viggo said, but still he didn’t let go. In fact, he tightened his grip and shook Orlando a little. “I don’t care if you’re not used to working with animals. There are still some boundaries you will not cross and hitting is one of them.”

Orlando licked his lips. Angry as he was at Viggo for the night before, he couldn’t help but being affected by the cowboy, and he did nothing to contain the grin that came on his lips as Viggo’s lower body pressed against his thigh. “You’re hard”, he remarked casually and rubbed his thigh against the man’s cock languidly. Does seeing me all sweaty make you hard, cowboy? He thought, knowing full well that seeing Viggo like that made him as horny as a hormone-charged teenager.

“And you’re shameless”, Viggo said and released his grip on Orlando, pushing him away. “Go and wake Elijah. Please. I was promised that you’d help with the chores here, and I’d really appreciate if you at least tried and kept your word.”

Orlando stood there, unable to say anything at first; Viggo had rejected him, again. Then it dawned on him what the man meant. “Wait just a minute. Eli’s sick, and you asked me to help, which, just for the record, I’m doing. You can’t just order me about; I’m not your servant, man.”

“No, you’re not. You’re just the kid that borrows my car without asking and hits my horses”, Viggo drawled and leaned on the wall of the stall. “Go and wake Elijah and tell him that I’d like to see him here this morning. I don’t want to see you here right now, Orlando. You can make us breakfast instead.”

The boy clenched his jaw and nodded curtly, turning on his heels and leaving the stables. What a fucking prick that guy was, and definitely not hot, Orlando thought as he stomped his way to the house. Fucker and his fucking crazy fuck horses.

“Elijah!” He yelled as he reached the other boy’s room. “Eli! Get your lazy arse off your bed, now! Mortensen wants you at the stables this morning.”

First he heard nothing, but after he pounded the door there was some faint rustling to be heard. “Orli, what the fuck? I’m fucking sick, man, I’m not gonna go and shovel some horse shit in some hot stall”, he groused, opening the door and letting Orlando in. He gathered his jeans from the floor and looked for a t-shirt as he spoke. “What crack is that guy on, anyway? He was here this morning but I made a convincing show of almost throwing up on his shoes just to get him go away.”

“Man’s fucking obsessed with his horses”, Orlando said and leaned on the door. “Anyway, he’s the boss. So it’s you at the stables and me in the kitchen, apparently. I can’t cook for shit, man.”

Elijah looked up at him from buttoning up his jeans. “Shut up, Orli. At least you don’t have to clean some fucking grimy horse.”

“One of those monsters bit me”, Orlando snapped and rolled up the sleeve of his designer t-shirt. “Look.”

“I can’t see anything”, Elijah said after a moment’s perusing. He looked at his friend suspiciously. “You’re just being a girl again, aren’t you?”

Orlando ignored the insult as he craned his neck to see his shoulder properly and was dismayed to find out that other than being slightly pinked, there was nothing wrong with his shoulder. “Well it hurt like a motherfucker”, he said defensively and rolled the sleeve down. Having seen that there really hadn’t been any real damage made him feel kind of bad at lashing out on the horse.

“So what did you do to get banished from the stables?” Elijah asked from beneath the shirt he was pulling over his head. “Or did Mortensen think the horse was gonna eat ya and decided to save your pert little ass?”

Orlando snorted. “Yeah, right. Mister White knight with his crazy horses”, he said but for some reason making fun of Viggo behind his back didn’t make him feel any better. “So when is Robin and the crew going to be here?” he asked just to change the subject. It wasn’t like he missed the bitching director or the smug camera men, but he was starting to feel a bit neglected in the middle of nowhere.

Elijah rolled his eyes as he pushed past Orlando. “How the fuck should I know? You know what? You call Robin and ask her. You always make me deal with her. You call her and tell them to hurry the fuck up before we’re buried under a six foot pile of horse shit!”

Orlando shuddered at the mention of him calling Robin. “No way, man”, he quickly said. “They can take their time as far as I’m concerned. Now go before Mortensen gets agitated and I’ll have to look for his nitros.”

“Whatever”, was Elijah’s parting comment as he left Orlando standing in the hallway.

~*~

Orlando watched the two men from the kitchen window. Viggo was obviously in a much better mood than he had been earlier, judging from how animatedly he talked to Elijah and even smiled occasionally. Brigit was jumping up and down at their feet, barking in her excitement. Orlando was briefly reminded of Sidi but he pushed the thought away.

Elijah didn’t look as chipper as Mortensen did, but he looked good, too. There was some hay in his hair and his t-shirt was sweaty, but he was grinning at Mortensen and petting the mad fur-ball.

Orlando looked at the breakfast he’d prepared them and couldn’t help a little grin; he had made toast, bacon and some oatmeal porridge as well as a pot of coffee. He heard the front door open and retreated to the staircase. “I made breakfast, it’s already on the table, help yourselves”, he yelled and sat on the stairs.

“Thank you”, Mortensen said politely from the kitchen and Orlando could hear water running and guessed that the man was washing his hands.

“I’m fucking starving”, said Elijah’s voice.

“You better wash your hands first, too”, Mortensen suggested sensibly and Orlando rolled his eyes at the tone. The guy obviously thought that they were some fucking ten-year-olds.

Orlando strained his hearing. He heard someone pouring a cup of coffee and taking some porridge on a plate. He had to smile at Elijah’s inquiry if there was anything low-carb at the house, to which Mortensen suggested he tried out the bacon. Then…

“Orli! Godddamn man I’m gonna kill you!” Elijah shrieked and bolted from his chair. Orlando, still sitting in the staircase burst out laughing and stood up.

“Sugar in the bacon”, Elijah said furiously from where he was standing at the feet of the stairs. “And salt in the coffee! What the hell were you thinking?”

Orlando’s grin dimmed a little as he saw that Elijah really was angry. He went on to defensive. “Chill out, man, it was just a joke. I told you I can’t cook but the fucker just had to insist on putting me into kitchen duty.”

“Just because you fucking hit Kenny”, Lij said angrily. Mortensen had obviously filled him in, Orlando thought morosely. “Shit man, we’re hungry. And you just couldn’t try to make a decent breakfast, could you? It’s not fucking funny, man. If I was Viggo I’d send you to the store to buy some more food and then I’d kick your ass good and proper.”

“I won’t send him”, said a voice behind Elijah’s back. “I’ll go myself. You can come along if you like, Elijah. A pity to waste all that food, but not even the animals will eat that.”

“What’s wrong with the porridge?” Elijah asked, still looking at Orlando. “Let me guess; sugar or salt.”

“Tabasco”, Mortensen said calmly and then turned around. “We’ll leave in five.”

“Elijah”, Orlando said pleadingly when they were alone again. “Come on, mate. It was just a joke. Mortensen has been a real prick to me and I just thought I’d teach him a lesson.”

“You don’t get it, do you”, Elijah said drolly. “This is Viggo’s home. He’s kindly letting us stay here, and you promised that we’d help in return; and so far you’ve done nothing that would even remotely justify your being here.”

Orlando gaped at him. “Just when did you join the Mortensen fan club? Eli, come on. You know what it’s like; us pulling pranks and being just plain silly. The people love watching that.”

“The fucking camera crew isn’t even here!” Elijah said irritably. “You’re just being immature, childish and really stupid and I’m so ashamed right now to be your friend.” He glared at Orlando some more and then said softly. “I talked with him back there at the stables. He’s a really decent guy, and I feel really bad that we’ve been so shitty to him. What’s even worse is that you don’t even realise it.”

With that he left. Orlando stood there on the stairs looking after him, an incredulous look on his face. Elijah had never yelled at him. He had never called him names before, and he most definitely had never said anything that mean about him before this.

I’m so ashamed right now to be your friend.

Orlando blinked a few times rapidly. Viggo hadn’t said anything to him, but the look he’d given him told all Orlando needed to know about the man’s feelings for him; disappointment had clearly showed in his kind blue eyes.

So he really was the immature brat everyone always accused him of being. Shame burned Orlando’s cheeks hotly, and to his imminent surprise the boy felt hot prickling behind his eyelids and realised that he was going to cry for the first time in at least ten years. Fuck.

“Well I’m not going to stay here”, Orlando said aloud and climbed the stairs down, heading outside. Elijah hated him. Mortensen hated him. The camera crew would be here tomorrow at the earliest. For a moment Orlando missed Robin; how she always spurred him on, telling that the audience loved his saucy wit and mean streak; that he was so good at what he was doing that he should never change his style. Orlando knew that Robin would have loved the breakfast prank and praised his meanness, just like she would have adored the borrowing of Viggo’s car the night before. The thought held no comfort, though.

He almost walked past the stable building but changed his mind and went in instead, founding some comfort in the animals’ smell and the noises they made. Orlando made slowly his way to Kenny’s stall, not sure if the animal would kick his cunt for being such an arse earlier. A soft whinny greeted him, and Orlando made a small noise in the back of his throat.

“Hey, boy”, he said quietly. “I’m sorry I hit you. You probably just wanted to play with me.” The horse tipped his head and Orlando tangled his fingers in the brown mane. “You’re gorgeous, mate. And Viggo obviously adores you. Fuck”, he whispered and closed his eyes as those stupid tears threatened again.

Just when did I become a twelve-year-old girl? he asked himself sarcastically. Crying over some guy, jesus. Robin would so kick my arse if she saw me now. But Robin wasn’t there, and Orlando knew that Viggo wasn’t just some guy; he was a man who he could come to care very much about; he already cared more than he wanted to admit, even to himself. Nothing had ever hurt him more than being rejected by Viggo the night before; and now he had ruined even what little he had ever meant to the older man.

Another revelation was that Robin’s opinion of him wasn’t all that important to him anymore. He had always looked up to the woman, listening to her advice, wanting to please her, but now all he wanted was to be forgiven by his friend and the man he wished would be his lover. Orlando snorted at the irony; he, who’d always prided on sleeping with pretty young things, now was fantasizing of a man who had nothing to do with the glamorous lifestyle of Hollywood and was almost twice his age.

Orlando closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against Kenny’s, glad that the horse didn’t seem to hold any grudges. Animals are better than people in that regard, he thought. They don’t hold your idiotic actions against you. The thought of facing Viggo and Elijah when they came back was down-right scary; not just because he knew he had acted horribly and was ashamed of himself, but also because so much depended on his and Eli’s friendship. Cuntry Boys might have been silly entertainment but the friendship and affection between him and Elijah was genuine and the foundation the entire show was based on.

And Viggo... Orlando tried to come up with some reason why the cowboy would ever want to be with him. All he could think was that he wasn’t what you would call a nice person. He wasn’t mature or kind or really anything that would make any decent person want to be friends with him. Orlando let out a breathy, long sob as he fought the tears. What kind of a fucking idiot ruins other people’s breakfast and finds it funny? What kind of a person takes revenge on someone who has every right to be cross with them? And what kind of a self-centered fuck hits an animal, for fucks sake, that doesn’t know any better?

Orlando lifted his head and looked around, spotting a pile of blankets at the end of the corridor. He felt so tired all of a sudden, last night’s activities finally catching up on him, and he wanted just to close his eyes and sleep. Maybe everything would be better when he woke up.

~*~

In fact, everything was a little better when he woke up; Viggo’s hand was resting on his shoulder and the man was kneeling next to him.

“Why are you sleeping here?” the man asked carefully, but amusement twinkled in his eyes. The beautiful boy made quite a sight, lying curled up beneath an old saddle blanket, his hair sleep-mussed and straws of hay clinging to his curls.

“I didn’t want to be alone”, Orlando said sleepily. “God, what time it is?” he asked, his hands coming to smooth his unruly hair, knowing without even having to look that he was, once again, suffering from serious case of bed hair.

“It’s almost six”, Viggo said. “Of course when we saw that you were missing Elijah and I went out to search for you, and somehow I didn’t come to think that you’d be sleeping here in an empty stall, in a pile of hay nonetheless.” His hands stilled the boy’s fidgeting ones, pulling them away from his hair and took them in his larger ones. “Please don’t do that; you look lovely.”

”What?” Orlando said, perplexed. “Aren’t you going to yell at me?”

“No”, Viggo said huskily, his blue eyes looking soft and kind in the fading light. “I’m going to kiss you.”

~to be concluded~