Smack the Dog

Chapter 33: Thanks for the Memory
Author: Foofy
Rating: NC17
Summary: The night’s conclusion. However, Sean discovers to his horror that the scary excitements for that evening were not limited to just those people in the gym. WARNING: BDSM AT PLAY

*

To take him.

That *had* been the plan, anyway. Things were never as easy as you first imagined them to be.

After receiving the order, Sean’s mind had gone blank for a momentary second before he worked out how to move his limbs. His eyes fell on Karl, then slowly moved onto Orlando who was watching him in interest. In fact, they were all pretty much watching him in interest. To say that this was disconcerting was an understatement.

Sean’s mind started to whirr with possibilities. Take him, Viggo had said. Now, did this mean Karl or Orlando? Oh god, don’t tell him he had a *choice*. Choices were not something he really wanted to focus on at the moment, as this suggested that there was always going to be judgement necessary. What ever happened to the good old fashioned point and go?

Green eyes fell onto Viggo in question. Neutrality looked back at him, as though the empty pages at the back of a book. No help there. Viggo’s hand had dropped away from Orli, the last indication of possession having vanished. A small smile aimed itself at Sean.

“ Something the matter, Sean?” came the soft query. Karl, who still had his back pretty much to Viggo, was able to roll his eyes towards Sean without getting the full force of the Viggo on him. Well, that had been the plan. Obviously he had forgotten the vast amounts of mirrors in this place. Sean watched Viggo’s expression get tighter for a moment, then relax again.

“ Who…?” Sean asked finally in a little bit of desperation. Viggo raised an eyebrow.

” Who would you like?” the tone was sweetness itself.

Oh, now that was really not fair! This sort of thing shouldn’t happen to a wanna-be submissive. That was the whole bloody point, surely? Sean resisted the urge to kick Karl, who had developed a grin in the meantime, and looked at Orlando who was also giving him an interested amused look, made by one who had realised he was going to get fucked no matter what the decision.

There was a long pause. Sean wasn’t sure that his body was still under his control. Desperately, Sean raced through the possibilities; Orli didn’t seemed too bothered about whether it was Sean or Viggo who breached him, but then again could the injuries put up with Viggo in this sort of mood? And then, of course, if Sean paid attention to Orlando, that would leave Viggo with Karl. How much of Karl would be left afterwards?

But then, of course, should he have chosen Karl over his lovers, what did that say about the pleasures of the blackmailed night? It was one thing to be persuaded and forced for a night. It was quite another to go back for seconds, especially with a Get Out Of Jail Free card waiting in the wings.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-

“ When you’re ready, Sean,” Viggo looked a little bored. Damn, where was the frustration being kept? The man should have been in the mood to jump on the nearest bloke and go for it. The mental willpower must be ridiculous. Orlando was fidgeting, obviously eager to start. Karl was giving him a look that suggested that his patience was on the last lap and approaching the finishing line at a record breaking speed. And it was all up to him.

“ Can I toss a coin?” Sean tried to make it sound like a joke. Orli laughed to himself.

” Two men available and he wants to toss *a coin*?” he murmured.

” That’s me. Genuine tosser,” shrugged Sean.

Viggo ran his hand over Orli’s shoulder in what was at least the first signs of possession. Orlando shivered at the touch and leant back against him, making a mewing noise in the back of his throat which was often used to try and persuade people to keep doing what they were doing. Cool blue eyes studied Sean in interest.

“ Snap decision, Sean,” he murmured. “ Choose,”

“ But-“

“ Choose, for Chrissake!” snapped Karl who was still on his knees. Sean gave him a hard glare, and was startled to notice the man gave him a wink back. Taking a deeper breath, Karl started again. “ This is always your problem, you know that Bean? Can’t work out the simplest decisions! I’m surprised that they haven’t slinged you out long ago for being indecisive.”

“ Shut the fuck up, Karl,” growled Sean, who was beginning to grasp what the man was trying to do. Fresh motivation on scene here, make room. Karl made sure that Sean’s body was blocking him from Viggo’s line of sight in the mirror, and continued again.

“ Yeah, that’s right, all mouth and no action,” and there was the drawl that Sean remembered, the distain. Suddenly not quite all of the annoyance was acting. Sean’s glare intensified, but Karl either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “ Go on, go play with Orlando. Play it safe, Sean. Like you always do, eh?”

There was a flash, just a flash, where Sean suddenly had a real desire to let Viggo take the bastard and see how cocky the youngster was after that. However, he reined in his own personal anger, although the expression was kept for window dressing.

“ I’m warning you-“

” More talking? Why you surprise me! And there’s me thinking you might actually get your ass in gear and *do something*-“

Sean pounced. He hadn’t been expecting it himself. But suddenly he was moving at some speed and with some determination, his eyes fixed on Karl. Sean was briefly aware of dark hazel eyes opening in surprise before they collided, rolling over and over in a tangle of legs, arms and outrage. Out of the background haze Sean could just about hear Orli commenting to Viggo, before that too faded in the new and improved focus of hot, bothered and unmistakably *eager* Karl. There had been a chuckle in his ear, and not a small amount of fighting back. But the eagerness was still there between them. It was not hard to guess who would win this little battle, just as it wasn’t hard to guess that bruises would be incredible the next day.

And how could Sean refuse an offer like that? He would have had to be a saint or an innocent or anyone else other than the lust crazed man he was at the moment. Sean could have almost heard his willpower shatter. Karl was breathing heavily by his ear, his fist had managed to punch him in the thigh, and there had been a quite impressive whimper as Karl’s bruised backside, plus toy, had collided with the floor. However, the fighting was all for show.

Sean rolled him over in a manner that spoke of wars rather than grace, Karl not accepting this without a minor struggle. The struggle halted immediately at the point where Sean’s hand seized hold of the toy that was still an important current part of Karl’s anatomy. Karl was suddenly so tense he could have been used as a surfboard without any fuss whatsoever.

A movement by Orlando allowed Sean’s eyes to flicker to them; Orlando had managed to bypass Viggo’s trousers again, presumably with consent, and had his hand gently moving over Viggo’s crotch. Viggo’s eyes were still incredibly mild considering, although the grip he had on Orlando’s shoulder spoke of the force needed to do this. Sean wasn’t entirely sure whether this was passion induced or whether it was simply Karl’s presence in this. Karl seemed to have an odd effect on Viggo.

Finally discussions were completely out the window. Not bothering to check whether anyone was sure on anything, mostly worried about the answer should he have done so, Sean simply freed Karl from the hold of the toy. Well, simply was the intended route anyway. Given the tension in the man’s body, coupled with his own inexperience and not forgetting that toy seemed to be stuck in place – and Sean could only hope that *had* been a tube of lubrication not superglue – it actually took more than a quick pull to get the damn thing out again, one hand on the small of Karl’s back, the other working it. There was a brief groan from Karl and the thing was out.

Sean didn’t bother to give the younger man time to get used to his freedom, lining himself up and pushing his way inside with a groan of effort. There was an echo from Karl, who growled something through his teeth and simply kept himself still as Sean pushed into him steadily. Karl kept his head down, his eyes obviously away from the mirrors where it was clear that Viggo was watching them with a particularly unusual expression on his face. It wasn’t distaste and it wasn’t annoyance. It was almost curiosity, as though expecting fireworks and explosions where currently peace reigned.

Well, peace was attempting to reign anyway. Although certainly arguments had been forgotten and fist fights put to one side, it was certainly not tranquil and sunny. Karl was possibly one of the worst submissives Sean had ever met, and that included Viggo. After the initial stages where Karl was just trying to relax, the man had swiftly moved to being unable to resist trying to take control, through his movements, through his speech. Sean got to the point where he wanted to demand the gag back.

Sean had wanted to attempt to go slowly, officially to allow Karl to adjust to his presence although Sean was well aware that unofficially it was simply to try and stop Sean himself coming immediately. There had been definite flashes of bright lights behind his eyes at the feel of Karl’s muscles fighting him, the pressure unbelievable. However, this slowness apparently was not Karl-approved, the younger man trying his hardest to speed things along.

” Would you bloody well stop that?!” hissed Sean finally at him after yet another push backwards from Karl. Karl gave a shaky laugh, and pressed back even harder, squeezing hard with his internal muscles. The lights behind Sean’s eyes decided to do little back flips.

“ What, you chicken or something?” Karl panted back. Sean deliberately slowed and slammed back into him as a point. Karl, traditionally, decided to ignore it, despite the fact that this was obviously causing some discomfort.

The other point to consider was Viggo himself. He had stilled Orli’s movements with a hand and was simply caressing the younger man as he watched them, Orlando squirming under his touch and occasionally glancing back at them either to find out what was going on or to judge when Sean was likely to finish and therefore Viggo to start. It was more than disconcerting to have that pale blue-grey gaze on him as Sean essentially fucked the Current Enemy. It was almost like having an affair where you knew damn well you were going to be caught, like doing it in front of a CCTV camera linked to your partner’s house.

Disconcerting managed to buy Sean a little more time with keeping his groin under control. He was on the borderline as it was, his full focus trying to keep himself calm and steady, although his fingers had to be digging into Karl’s skin at the moment by the intensity of the grip. Sean felt that he could probably bend steel at this point in time.

Karl, scarily enough, was enjoying himself. This didn’t mean that the younger man had stopped with his movements and vocal challenges. Far from it. On occasion Sean wasn’t entirely sure who was actually thrusting harder, and Karl seemed determined to find that ever elusive spot inside himself with a dedication that early settlers had to finding a clean source of water.

One scream later and Sean believed they found it. Either that or he had managed to skewer one of Karl’s kidneys, which was always a possibility. However, with the thrust came great responsibilities, mostly the ability to resist the overwhelming urge to achieve the orgasm that was so desperate to come. Sean groaned to himself, his eyes screwed up, feeling Karl tense even further around him as though willing Sean to pop through frustration alone. Karl was growling underneath his breath, obviously having the same types of problem. Hands clenched into fists. Knuckles were bruised on the floor. Sean’s fingers dug ever further into soft skin as though attempting to rip Karl into pieces where he knelt.

Sean didn’t look towards Viggo or Orlando, didn’t dare, not with his completion so close. The fear that he would suddenly get the order to stop drove him onwards and finally allowed him to abandon his attempts to last longer than a few thrusts and actively seek new pastures of climax.

His hand managed to let go of Karl’s hip and drift between his legs, meaning to help Karl along. However;

“ Sean, let him be,” That was Viggo, sharp, decisive, and obviously attempting to be evil. Sean moved his hand back to Karl’s hip just as he himself reached orgasm, which was probably both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that at least he was stable when his muscles started obeying someone else’s orders. A curse in that marks were seriously not going to escape poor Karl’s skin. Eomer was almost certainly going to be riding around with some quite impressive bruises under his costume, although thankfully no one was going to have to see them. Thank god for Tolkien and his no-sex scene world.

After a cry, Sean all but collapsed against the younger man, drained of energy but conscious enough to be able to withdraw slowly, sinking to a kneeling position himself with his breath fast and ragged, sweat pouring from him. His vision slowly coming back into focus, Sean found himself patting Karl on the hip and moving his eyes to Viggo who was still watching them. Orlando had managed to turn himself round, Viggo’s arm round his chest, Orli’s eyes wide and interested, a mischievous grin on his face. Viggo’s look, unsurprisingly, was perfectly blank.

Karl too was having difficulties staying upright, his head kept bowed. It was clear that Karl had decided against arguing with Viggo’s decisions, no matter how annoying and frustrating they might be. And frustrating they certainly were; Sean could see the trembling in Karl’s limbs, the sheen of sweat on his back, his helplessly irregular breathing. Karl finally slid down to sit on the floor, simply waiting, his breathing slowly improving, growing steadier with each passing moment.

Orli moaned lightly as Viggo’s fingers played with his nipple, Viggo’s gaze still on the pair on the floor with quiet perseverance. The youngest member of the mini-orgy squirmed against Viggo, and by the look that crossed Viggo’s face at this obviously managed to rub directly against the man’s groin. It was the first time Viggo actually managed to look flustered throughout the activities, and it was a damn good expression.

With a quick shuffle, Sean moved to rest his back against the nearby wall, recovering. He grabbed hold of Karl’s ankle as he moved, giving him a quick tug in the right direction. Karl glanced behind him, and worked out what was going on with incredible speed for someone whose mind had to be centred in his groin at this point in time.

“ Don’t touch him,” warned Viggo towards Sean as Karl settled himself by the wall with a little bit of a hiss as still bruised and now battered flesh met solid floor. Karl managed to keep his dirty look to himself although Sean could hear the soft growl in his throat. Sean patted his thigh in what he hoped was an encouraging way, despite the fact that he suspected Viggo might enjoy keeping Karl on the edge for a very long time.

Obviously with their mini performance over, Viggo could turn his mind back to the more pleasurable pursuits that Orli and his multi-talented if slightly injured body had to offer. Within a few moments, Orlando was on his back on the bed, his legs spread and all but scrunched up to his body, a pillow managing to be inserted under his hips to raise them slightly.

“ He’s going to hurt him,” murmured Karl in both anger and agitation, his eyes fixed on the pair on the bed. Sean inserted his elbow in Karl’s ribs to shut him up, not that Viggo seemed to be paying them any attention whatsoever. His attention was fixed on the young man in front of him, Orli eagerly trying to move into ever more convenient positions, his body seemingly made of rubber. Only his arm remained clasped to his chest as though it was shy of the situation. It was blatantly clear that if he was being hurt, he really didn’t give a toss. Given the decreasing grumbles from Karl, obviously this had also made itself clear although he still had one of the most impressive frowns known to man gracing his features.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sean noticed Karl’s hand creeping towards his groin as Viggo entered Orlando in front of them, and the elbow was reinserted. Karl shot him a furious look, but stilled it with an expression that suggested that teeth were being ground. Sean looked back at the scene in front of him, feeling his own tired body trying to respond. Thankfully he appeared to have run out of juice, which was not something you could possibly say about Orli.

Viggo might have been keeping an eye on the arm and making sure his weight wasn’t pressed anywhere near it, but he was certainly not making gentle to the logical conclusion. The man had given one or two experimental thrusts, as though to seek out how the land lay, before beginning in earnest. Orli had arched his back, a moan signifying exactly how pleased he was with this development. Sean felt his mouth go dry, his heart rate pick up a notch. Sexy as fuck. Sexy and perverted as fuck too, but at least there was no question on what he found attractive anymore.

One look at Karl and apparently the younger man had the same type of beliefs. Karl groaned something to himself, a soft plea under his breath, before moving his hand towards his groin again.

“ Karl,” warned Sean softly. There was almost pain in the look of desperation that was aimed back at him.

Sean tried to ignore him, and looked back at the pair on the bed in growing fascination and not a small amount of lust, which was presumably the reason why Viggo had no huge issues about watching him and Orlando. Orli was moaning even louder, his mind obviously solely focused on the sensations in his body. Sean had no idea on how Viggo could stand it, how he could hold back in such a situation. The man must have a mental cold shower switched on full blast.

Orlando howled again, this time with such force that Karl straightened, an anguished look on his face. Sean shook his head, hand resting on Karl’s arm.

” He’s fine,” he murmured towards him. Karl’s eyes flickered to him in angry doubtfulness, but the man settled down again, his body tense, almost jumping at each new squeak that Viggo’s thrusts managed to milk from the younger man that was under him. Viggo thrust in with such power that even Sean was beginning to doubt whether Orli was going to be completely bruise free in the morning, but god was it beautiful.

At a cry that was almost a scream, Karl shut his eyes and struggled to breathe properly, his head bowed towards the floor, his body trembling with effort.

“ Sean, please,” Hazel eyes were opened again and looking at him with such beseeching that Sean almost couldn’t follow Viggo’s instructions in the face of such helplessness. The blonde shook his head slowly.

” I can’t,” he whispered. Karl stared at him miserably.

“*Please*,”

Sean broke away from the naked longing and stared back at the pair on the bed. Viggo was gently caressing Orli with his hand, his breathing hard and uneven. From this angle Sean could see the adoration on Orlando’s face, the gentle look that was on Viggo’s. You could completely forget you were in a room that spoke of whips and chains.

Unless you glanced at Karl, that was. If that happened, you were faced with a damn good idea of what misery by pleasure was all about.

Viggo glanced back at them idly, his gaze falling on Karl in interest. Karl stared back mutely, waiting.

There was a long pause, broken only by Orli shifting position on the bed, rolling over onto his stomach and shifting himself to face them.

“ Well?” Viggo asked finally, his tone almost bored.

“ What do you want me to say?” Karl’s voice was as dull as he could make it. His body spoke of begging. But his eyes never lost the defiance.

“ Surprise me,” Viggo smiled lightly, then his eyes slid to Sean. Sean suddenly realised his own mouth was about to betray him, and shut it firmly. Viggo’s smile grew slightly more.

“ I’m not going to win this, am I? If I don’t say anything, you deliberately won’t do anything. If I beg, you won’t do anything either. If I fight, you’ll strike back. And then won’t do anything.” Karl shook his head. “ Viggo, I…,” he broke off.

“ Yes?”

Karl growled in his throat and glanced away. “ Nothing,” he said sullenly.

“ Oh for God’s sake!” Sean exploded beside him. Karl punched him on the arm, hard. Apart from that, he didn’t move a muscle. The blonde growled something and rubbed his arm pointedly. However, apparently extra bruises on Sean was something that Viggo could live with as there wasn’t a murmur about that factor.

“ You wanted to say something, Karl?”

Karl finally dragged his eyes back to look at him. There was a pause as the internal monologue commenced loudly behind Karl’s eyes. Finally there was a sigh that was almost impatient, and Karl moved. Sean watched, slightly wide eyed, as the younger man knelt by Viggo.

“ If you’re going to do anything, please, just do it,” Karl hadn’t quite managed to force himself to look adoringly upwards like a dog, but at least it was a start. Sean’s eyes slid to Viggo who was watching this little display. A smile flickered onto Viggo’s face.

There was a long pause. The room held its breath.

Finally Viggo inclined his head a few centimetres.

“ I think we might come to some sort of arrangement,” he said softly. “ Orli,”

Orlando was faster than the Road Runner on occasion. Sean could almost hear his “beep beep” in the background. He waited by Viggo’s arms for instructions, like a sheep dog expecting a command. However, Viggo was obviously going to milk this for all he was worth. Blue eyes watched Karl in amusement, before finally, *finally*, turning to Orlando.

” Make him a little more comfortable,” he murmured. Orli nodded and gracefully moved to kneel where Karl was. Sean watched as Karl glanced to him as though in question, his obvious disbelief that Viggo would allow him to climax overtaking any relief that might have shown. However, this was soon to change. Orli gently kissed him once, and at that point Sean could see that Karl had accepted that this might finally be the point where relief was obtained. The mental dam keeping back Karl’s frustrations was breached, the longing unable to be denied any further.

Karl’s groan as Orlando touched him could probably be heard in Mexico. A hand stopped Orli from bending to take him into his mouth, surprised brown eyes meeting hazel ones. Sean could see a flicker of caution across Viggo’s face as Karl kissed the young man again, desperately, Orli’s hand beginning to work on Karl’s erection as they kissed.

Karl lasted a lot longer than Sean had expected, he had to admit. His money had been on a few seconds of Orlando touching him, but no, apparently this was far too quick regardless of how wound up the said individual was. However, it certainly was over in less than a minute; Orlando’s hand was skilful and merciful, working even as the younger man sucked and licked and kissed and purred in Karl’s mouth. As Karl finally reached his climax, the man almost slumped to the floor, his cry muffled.

Leaving his prey on the floor, Orli moved back, a grin formed from ear to ear. Desperate, dry panting filled the air as Karl desperately tried to reclaim his share of oxygen.

Finally hazel eyes rose to meet Viggo’s cool gaze. Viggo smiled slowly.

“ Good boy,” he said quietly, although not without a large amount of relish.

Stage one of the Karl correctional programme apparently had been completed.

*

Karl had disappeared soon after they had emerged from the gym. He hadn’t needed to, they had made this perfectly clear. However, the younger man hadn’t felt comfortable under the ‘Roof Of Viggo’ and had vanished back to his own pad, probably to curse himself and try to forget the fact he was going to have to look at Viggo for the next few months at least. Sean was willing to put money on the fact that Karl would start suggesting all the out of the way places for filming Eomer’s scenes shortly.

Sean had been in two minds whether to go too. He doubted Dave would mind if he suddenly turned up on the doorstep, which of course was assisted by the fact it was Sean’s doorstep in the first place. Viggo kept giving him funny looks, each of which managed to cause shivers to run down his spine. They weren’t evil, as such. They weren’t even disapproving. Just …

Well, he couldn’t pin it down what they were, and there was no opportune moment to grab Orli and strangle the information out of him. Anyway, Orlando had a hospital appointment tomorrow. They might take exception to strangulation marks. Touchy these hospital staff.

There was no doubt in his mind to what Orli wanted from life. The younger man had been busy trying to keep an eye on the pair of them, and this was not an easy task when neither of them could sit still. Sean had no idea what Viggo was up to, but the pacing that the older man was doing spoke of mental discomforts. Sean was on his feet as well, but this was mostly to do with comfort than anything in particular. His backside still throbbed. As an aid to sex this was not a problem. As an aid to every day life, it didn’t help.

He had been surprised to end up in the familiar bedroom, having already assumed he would have been booted out at the first available opportunity. Orli had all but dragged him onto the bed, his eyes immediately flickering to Viggo who had been standing by the door, one of the most disapproving expressions on his face. Sean cringed automatically.

“ Don’t,” Viggo said shortly as the blonde made to move off the bed. Sean paused, eyes on Viggo, position stilled exactly as it had been at the point where the word had been said. Orlando glanced from Sean to Viggo, gently stroking Sean’s arm.

Sean felt his throat dry up as the older man crossed the room towards them, a fixed expression on his face. Orli’s hand stroked faster. Sean saw Viggo’s eyes slide in amusement to Orli, then they were back and fixed upon him.

” Sorry,” Sean mumbled, uncertain of what it was he was apologising for but knowing it was probably going to be best to get it out in the open before anything happened. Viggo ignored him and simply sat down on the bed, yawning.

Sean waited for a few moments, feeling the sweat form on his back.

” I can go if you would prefer,” he offered awkwardly, then jumped slightly as Orli slapped his arm with a look of annoyance crossing the younger man’s face. Okay then. It seemed he was destined to annoy someone today.

“ It’s late. You might as well stay,” Viggo didn’t sound particularly desperate about the suggestion, but then again Sean couldn’t pin down anything that suggested that he was particularly concerned about it either. And he was really *really* searching for that.

” Okay,” Sean had been about to ask whether Viggo had been sure about this, but managed to bite his tongue before it started getting him in trouble. Sean had a sneaking suspicion that there was a whole list of naughtinesses that were against him, and by the side glance Viggo gave him, apparently this list was not a private affair. Affairs… Sean glanced at Orlando, who by this point had curled up like a kitten, his hand still on Sean’s arm whilst his body was pressed up against Viggo. It was obvious the young man was fighting against the ravages of sleep. He looked so incredibly innocent, despite the fact he formed the other half of the temporary affair. Orli looked as though a bad thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.

After another pause, Sean followed Viggo’s lead in lying back on the bed, feeling extremely stiff and awkward. Orlando made a sleepy noise and nuzzled him, making him feel at least a little better. Sean’s own position had been dictated by the various pains in his body, not least his backside, but even he managed to feel the persuasive wash of sleep over him.

Sleep now. Panic later.

He could cope with that.

*

They say a day can make all the difference. Sean found that the night itself was quite spectacular in this effect as well. Viggo, being Viggo, had already vanished to the set in order to discuss some new location shot that they wanted to take. Battered, bruised and general abused-but-not-in-*that*-way Orlando was at still at the home by the time Sean left, although he was buried under a mound of blankets, the faint sound of his breathing filling the air. Sean had already set the alarm to go off in order to give Sleeping Beauty time to get himself in gear before his hospital appointment and hopefully the all clear, although Sean was already praying to himself that no trace of the activities that Orlando had been undertaking the previous night was going to show.

It was a shock to be back at the set and in a working capacity. Suddenly the script was Sean best and closest friend, although he was happy to note that very little had actually managed to escape his memory. It was as though his mind had grasped hold of the lines and kept repeating them, as though to cling onto the one last thing that actually made reasonable sense in this world. And when that thing contained a hell of a lot of orcs and magic, that was disturbing on many levels indeed.

Viggo was actually weirdly, in the sense that he wasn’t acting weirdly in the slightest. Sean wasn’t entirely sure how to handle this. If it had been him, he would have been useless in resisting raging against life in general, or at least having a spectacular frown on his face. But not Viggo. Viggo was pleasant and charming to the cast and crew, knew his lines, made suggestions casually, and looked as though the most taxing thing that was going through his mind was which cake to chose at the local bakery.

There had been one minor slip, a flicker behind the eyes as Viggo gazed on Sean, but that was so minor and short that no-one was likely to have spotted it unless they had him filmed and replayed it on extra slow. And even if they had, it wouldn’t have made any sense. Not unless you happened to be the person who had caused the damn thing, anyway. If you were unlucky enough to be that person, working out what to say which wasn’t likely to make things worse was suddenly up on the things to do list.

“ D’you want a drink?” Sean decided to stick to the easy stuff. Drinks were normally inoffensive, unless you happened to be talking about the more alcoholic beverages to a recovering alcoholic. Viggo, who was lounging in his chair, looked up at him, eyes narrowing due to the sun behind the blonde. Sean tried to look as casual as he was supposed to be.

“ No, thanks. I’ve already had about five cups,” Viggo’s soft answer spoke of lazy summer days lounging in meadows under a warm sun with butterflies flittering all over the place. Sean dropped to a crouch beside Viggo’s chair, feeling his leather trousers complain briefly about the shift as they moved to accommodate the new position. Sean’s hand found its way to Viggo’s leg briefly before he had to pull it back in case people were being more observant than normal.

Viggo smiled at him, but it was the unfocused smile of someone who was thinking of something else much more important. Sean wanted nothing more to shake him and get him out of this particularly odd mood, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Okay, it looked like Viggo was swimming far out in the Sea of Denial, but that was no reason to shove him under and watch him drown.

“ Viggo,” Sean began but Viggo beat him to it.

“ You’re coming back over tonight, aren’t you?” Viggo wasn’t even bothering to look at him anymore, his eyes on a not particularly quiet argument that was happening in the corner between Ian and one of the producers.

“ Well, yes, if you want me to,”

“ Why wouldn’t I want you to?” It was as though Viggo’s memory had been wiped clean. Sean managed to remove the look of incredulousness on his face and struggled to express himself.

“ I didn’t know whether you wanted to have some time alone with Orlando. Especially after what I did,” Sean felt wretched.

” You’ve done a lot of things, Sean. Which particular thing were you talking about?” Viggo’s eyes slid to him briefly before moving back onto Ian again.

“ I forced you to-“

“ You have never forced me to do anything, Sean. Apart from the occasional chastisement.” And now there was an edge to the voice, finally an aspect to suggest that all was not quite right in the Viggo household. Sean could have wept in relief.

“ Okay, I didn’t tell you exactly what went on, then.”

“ And continued to investigate something that put yourself at risk,” added Viggo idly. Sean began to say something, then remembered the bar. Oh yes. That bit.

“ And that,” amended Sean.

“So my memory isn’t that bad, Sean. And yes, I do still want you there tonight. Unless you have something else you’d rather be doing?”

There was a definite shake of the head at this little comment, as though on automatic pilot. Viggo stretched in the chair, looking for all the world like a satisfied cat, his eyes still on Ian with a thoughtful expression.

“ I suppose I should be seeing what that’s about,” he said idly. However, Sean really wasn’t in the mood to start getting into the politics of the film set. He laid his hand on Viggo’s knee again, not caring if anyone saw them. Hell, worse came to worst, he could invent some sort of Steward dedication to the new and Scruffy King of Gondor. A hand on the knee didn’t automatically mean a sexual situation was occurring, after all.

The look that Viggo gave him in return certainly suggested it, however. By the hungry look in Viggo eyes if this had been a steward dedication Boromir would be getting shagged in the throne room twice a day.

“ Are we okay, Vig?” he asked softly. “ I really didn’t mean to upset you. Honestly,”

The hungry look transferred into cautiously tempted instead. Viggo’s eyes narrowed slightly as though trying to see through to Sean’s inner thoughts, before turning away again. It was just as well. Sean’s inner thoughts were currently X rated and only suitable after 10pm.

“ Orlando seems to think we need to talk,” Viggo remarked idly.

” Does he?” Sean was a little taken aback. Orli normally requested the more physical aspects of Lets-Make-It-Up, with knobs on. Literally.

“ He seems to think I haven’t been too .. forthcoming with explanations,” continued Viggo, either missing or ignoring the look of bafflement on Sean’s face. Not forthcoming. Well, that was clearly obvious. Then again, if this was about the subject Sean thought it was, he wasn’t sure how forthcoming he wanted Viggo to be. If the tale he had been told already about Viggo’s history was simply the edited version, heaven alone knew how bad the director’s cut was going to be. How damaging. Bloody hell, was he even going to be able to touch Viggo again without fearing he was doing some sort of psychological trauma to him?

“ If you think it will help,” Sean said finally and not a little awkwardly. “ I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to,”

Viggo found this amusing enough to chuckle about. “ Thanks,” he said. “ I appreciate the thought,”

Sean found his own eyes drawn to the argument which was still occurring in the corner. It was mildly addictive.

“ So he wants it tonight?” Sean asked carefully.

“ He always wants it tonight .. oh, you mean the talking specifically. Yes, I believe he does. A time to go into explanations, I think. Life, the universe, and exactly what happened at this bar,” Viggo didn’t turn his head as he spoke. Sean felt the colour drain from his face. Viggo smiled to himself and began to get up. “ Come along, Boromir. I think we might be needed,”

Hoorah for that.

*

There was a bandage free Orlando waiting for them when they did finally get home, with tales of how the hospital had poked and prodded, manipulated and assessed, and grudgingly accepted that he could go back to work. He even had a written statement to prove it, which had already been trotted over to Peter and the others for their assessment.

” And they said I could film some basic stuff tomorrow if I feel up to it,” concluded Orli triumphantly. “ So I’m back!”

Orlando’s happiness was infectious. The younger man had bounced around them as soon as they had entered the house as though a retriever greeting its master after a long period alone. Orli’s metaphorical tail was busy wagging, his eyes gleaming. It didn’t take long for Sean to work out exactly what the gleam was about, either.

“ You are kidding me, right?” he said slowly. “ After last night?”

The younger man pouted slightly. “ Well, you were focused a little more on Karl yesterday, weren’t you,” he retorted. “ We haven’t had a session with just the three of us for ages,”

Wide, appealing eyes turned themselves to Viggo who was happily ignoring the pair of them and had sat down in his chair, his hand already seeking out the new book that sat on the nearby table, the ragged edge of the temporary envelope bookmark sticking out from the side as though it was some type of paper sandwich. Viggo’s eyes slid up to meet Orli’s, then back to his book.

“ Thought you wanted us to talk, not fuck,” he said idly. “ And neither will be done on an empty stomach, either,”

“ But-“ Orlando slammed on the verbal brakes as Viggo gave him another meaningful look. Orli smiled back at him winningly. “ Certainly, master,”

The meaningful look briefly took on an incredulous tint, before eyes turned back to the page. Orli grinned at him, and took Sean’s arm in his hands, giving him a tug towards the kitchen.

” Come on, you can help,” he said cheerfully. Sean looked at him a little baffled and a little suspiciously. There was no way he was going to start making culinary love, probably only with cooking oil as a lubricant.

“ Help?” he echoed. Orli sighed as though the man was as dense as a Scottish mist.

“ Cooking? Food?” he supplied. A look of comprehension drifted to Sean’s face, and a thumb jerked towards the phone.

” There’s the phone. There’s the pizza place leaflet. And no washing up,” the blonde tried his own winning smile. Orli sighed.

” You know I’m trying to be healthy this month,” he complained. “ Freshly cooked food is better for you than that junk,”

“ That junk is quick, easy and offers a swifter option to get us naked and in your bed than messing around with a few pans,” Sean grinned again. Orlando hesitated, as he knew he would. Healthy living was all very well, but there was always a time where Orli had a need for speed.

They were aware of a long and all suffering sigh from the chair.

“ Will the pair of you just go in the kitchen and make omelettes or something,” Viggo turned the page in his book irritably. “ And Sean, stop making promises you don’t know whether you can keep. Or at least, allowed to keep,”

“ I merely suggested-“

“ I merely suggest that omelettes might be a much healthier option for you to take,” Viggo’s eyes flickered to him, but Sean could see the humour in them. “ In *so* many ways,”

Sean looked briefly innocent before dragging Orli off to the kitchen. Eggs it was. Or whatever was left in their kitchen, anyway. After all, this house didn’t have the bonus of a Dave and all the wonders of the cupboards after he had made his Shopping Fairy visit.

Orli was proving to be a fair Baby Shopping Fairy, however. There were plenty of vegetables, plenty of eggs which declared themselves to be both free range and organic, bread, milk, random things in tins, and at least five different types of cheeses. One even had apple in it, as though it had to be special in some way.

The eggs were obtained from the fridge, Sean’s eyes falling on the kitchen counter as though still seeing Viggo standing with his hands on it, pain in his very posture. Sean hesitated. Orlando, who had opened his mouth to say something, paused instead.

“ You okay?” he asked softly. “ You look like you’ve seen a ghost,”

He smiled slightly to indicate that this was supposed to be a joke, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. Sean attempted to pull himself together in a way that wasn’t going to risk the eggs, and began to get everything ready for cooking. Orli gave him another look that spoke of the younger man’s suspicion, before assisting in companionable silence.

Companionable silence lasted for all of two minutes.

“ What’s wrong?” Orlando asked softly.

” What did you say to Viggo yesterday?” Sean asked finally, his eyes deliberately away from the younger man who was stood brandishing a red pepper. The pepper drooped slightly, Orli seemingly forgetting its existence in his hurry to look baffled.

“ What did I say? There’s a lot of things I said yesterday, Sean. What bit did you mean?”

“ When you two were in here. After I left to let Karl out. Before Viggo came into the room sounding as though he’d been drugged with some sort of super fast anti-depressant,” Sean finally looked at him. “
*That* bit,”

“ Oh,” Orli’s voice was the size of a shrew, and about as squeaky. The pepper was waved about a bit as Orlando struggled to find something to add. “ I think we’re going to be discussing it later, Sean,” he tried.

“ We’re always going to be discussing it later, and you know what you’re like with Viggo about. You won’t add anything. He starts off on one of his edited versions, and I’m not going to know what’s truth from fiction, am I?” Sean stopped beating the eggs in the bowl and stared at him steadily. “ I want your part of it, Orlando. Not the Viggo approved version. Please,”

The pepper was now as still as Nelson’s Column. Orli took a deeper breath that was only one step away from being a shaky gasp, and finally put the pepper down on the chopping board. He picked up the knife and looked at it thoughtfully.

“ You take over with the eggs. I’ll do the chopping,” Sean shook his head and held his hand out for the knife. There were many things he could do with at the moment, but a bleeding Orlando was not one of them. Orli looked at his hand, then the knife, back at Sean’s hand, then up at him.

“ Beg pardon?” his tone was disbelieving.

“ Knife, Orli,”

“ How fucking bad d’you think I am, Sean?” The anger was clear in Orlando’s voice. “ I seem to remember I was the only bloody person not to go nuts last night, and yet *I’m* the one who can’t be trusted not to slit his wrists?”

“ I never said that you would-“ Sean attempted to keep his voice level. He should have saved his effort.

“ No, but that’s what you think, isn’t it? I’m not some child you have to watch out for!” Orli was managing not to shout, which was presumably to ensure that Viggo wouldn’t have to come in to find out what the fuss was about. However, the sheer level of anger in his voice almost shouted it for him. Sean sighed and held his hands up in mock surrender.

” Fine. Keep the knife. And keep your secrets, if you’re that bothered about talking about it,” Sean turned back to the eggs, trying to hide how irritated he felt.

“ I don’t have any secrets to hide, Sean. You want to know what happened last night? Okay, I’ll tell you. Sure, Viggo freaked. You’d freak too, if you’d gone through what he’s been through,” By the chopping noises it was clear that Orlando was taking his massacre to the peppers, his voice clipped and tight. “ His last lover used to get him to do everything he wanted to, then make him feel like he should be apologising at the end of it.”

“ And Viggo doesn’t do that to us *now*?” spat back Sean, his annoyance taking control of his vocal chords.

“ No, he fucking well doesn’t, Sean,” Orli turned to him, his eyes blazing, the knife hilt clenched in his hand. “ He walked into that annihilation they set up for him because he was made so guilty that he felt he couldn’t back out. And they used him. They kept going for days on end, and they used everything he had and still demanded more when he broke down and begged them to stop, and if you even dare suggest that Viggo does that to you then perhaps you were right about worrying about the damn knife!”

Suddenly aware of the level of his voice, Orli growled to himself and turned back to the pepper. It was definitely looking sorry for itself. Sean looked back at him silently, the eggs forgotten.

“ He said that he didn’t know the others,”

Orlando sighed. “ He didn’t, not really. They were his lover’s friends. And he trusted his lover when he walked into that room, and despite all the other times as well. You think I get injured a lot? Viggo had to go round lots of different hospitals after a while so they didn’t cotton on. Save him a bed every Friday, so to speak.” The pepper was chopped again, but it was more something to do with his hands. “ And every time he wanted to leave, and every time this guy managed to persuade him round, persuade him that it was *his* fault that his ribs were broken or his vision was fuzzy for two weeks. That he had in some way let him down for being weak.”

The silence continued. The chopping continued. Orlando had to move onto an onion to stop the pepper turning into fine dust rather than simply chunks. Sean struggled to know what to say, how to ask in such a way that it wouldn’t annoy Orlando, or get back to Viggo, or the hundred and one other different ways that it could damage them by its simple presence.

“ If I were Viggo,” said Sean slowly. “ I couldn’t be in this sort of relationship. Not after that.”

“ This is an entirely different matter. Viggo’s in control, and I don’t force him to do what he doesn’t want to do. He never feels guilty with me,” Orli kept chopping, his eyes fixed on the onion despite the fact that the damn thing must have been stinging his eyes. Sean stared at him.

” And you’re saying he feels guilty about me?” he asked in a choked voice.

“ And you feel guilty about him. You were a risk. I won’t deny that. You were a bloody risk in many ways, but Viggo said he could handle you,” Orlando smiled mistily to himself at the obvious memory that had just slipped into his mind. “ I had to remind him of that yesterday, among other things.”

Sean shifted himself to lean his back against the kitchen counter, the eggs sitting harmlessly in their bowl, his eyes on Orlando. He ran a tongue over his bottom lip before speaking.

“ Handle me?” he echoed after a while.

Orlando shrugged a one sided shrug, dumping the peelings into the nearby bin and picking up a green pepper.

“ I told you before. You and Viggo are physically similar. You get angry, he has to fight back all the way. Me, well, he can just pin me against a wall with one hand and continue reading his book,” Orlando grinned towards the pepper, who failed to appreciate the humour in Orlando’s voice as the knife began to bear down on it. “ Viggo has to feel in command otherwise he just .. well, he just loses it, you know?”

Sean let this sink in. He desperately tried not to think of the night when Viggo really wasn’t in command. The same night that Karl was keeping up his side of the bargain and doing what Sean wanted. But he’d seemed fine, he’d seemed relaxed with the situation. And, obviously, Viggo wasn’t one of the best people alive to keep their emotional state under control…

Fuck.

It had only taken Orli one glance at him before a hand was resting on Sean’s arm, wide brown eyes blinking at him, knife still in the other hand dripping pepper juices. Sean had a damn good feeling he knew how he looked. His stomach felt as though someone had used it to mix cement in.

“ I don’t know what you and Viggo got up to,” Orli said hurriedly. “ But he wasn’t panicking, Sean. He wasn’t. It was only when he thought you had tricked him he panicked.”

” Panicked? He was almost about to…,” Sean had to break off, not being able to describe exactly what Viggo looked like he was about to do to Karl. Orlando nodded slowly.

“ Yeah, I know. But you stopped him, and that’s the main thing,”

“ The main thing? Orli, I *caused* that! Me!” Sean ran his hand through his hair. Unfortunately, egg white was still on it from when the eggs had been broken. A shower would definitely be needed.

“ You might have helped, Sean, but you didn’t start it. For fuck’s sake, he’s been getting better since you’ve been around. The problem was already there,” Orlando was beginning to sound a little exasperated. “ He feels safe around you. You grumble, you curse, you sulk and you complain but you still do what he says and without aggression. Well, that much aggression, anyway,”

Sean stared at him sullenly as Orli turned back to the chopping board. The pepper was subjected to further slash attacks, Orlando performing these neatly and efficiently.

“ Yeah? So why did he always get angry if I so much as raised my voice to you? Didn’t feel safe then, did he,” Sean folded his arms. The knife stilled.

” Sean,” Orli didn’t turn to face him. “ Just think for a minute. Viggo’s not stupid. He’s not someone who believes everything anyone told him. And yet he failed to spot that someone seriously wished harm on him on a number of occasions,” the younger man’s voice was soft. “ Now just imagine if you thought that someone you loved was threatened by something you might not have spotted or wanted to believe. He was being defensive, Sean. Nothing more,”

“ So he thought I was going to hurt you?” Sean stared at him. “ That’s possibly the most paranoid-“

The sound of the phone going cut them off. Orlando glanced guiltily towards the door, and started to chop the pepper a little quicker. Sean turned back to the pan, switching on the heat and reacquainting himself with the bowl that held the eggs. The phone had been picked up on the third ring.

They could both hear the living room door open.

“ Sean,” Viggo appeared at the doorway, brandishing phones. “ It’s for you.”

Sean glanced at him, and realised he wasn’t quite ready to look Viggo in the eyes. He looked him in the phone instead, which felt much safer. Leaving Orli with the pan, Sean quickly seized the phone.

“ Yes?”

“ Sean?” Dominic’s voice floated to him. “ There you are. Sorry about calling you at Viggo’s, but I thought you might be able to help,”

“ It’s okay. If it’s about the playstation-“

“ It’s not.” Dom waited a few moments, before speaking again, more hesitantly. “ I know it’s been complicated your end, and I don’t want to upset anyone or get anyone into trouble.”

” But?” Sean prompted, trying to ignore the fact that Orli was obviously listening in and Viggo had already found himself a place to lean in the doorway, watching him. There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

“ But Lij came over half an hour ago and said that David Wenham didn’t turn up for filming today, so they had to film some more of the hobbit scenes. That wasn’t a problem. However, they’ve been trying his number all day and he hasn’t been answering. No one seems to know where he is. I didn’t want to say anything to them cause I know how … uh.. sensitive these things can be, but wasn’t he supposed to be staying around your place recently?”

Dom’s voice seemed to fade into the background. Sean felt his stomach churn, as though now trying to digest the concrete that was already present.

“ Sean?” Dom said worriedly from the phone.

“ Sean?” Viggo stepped forward, a look of concern already on his face. Sean heard neither of them, nor did he feel Viggo’s hand on his arm. It was just as well the phone was taken off him as it slowly slipped through his fingers, no doubt towards a messy doom had not Viggo become involved.

Sean swallowed through a windpipe that was the size of a mouse’s.

“ Oh fuck,” he said quietly.

TBC