Smack the Dog

Chapter 40 Act II: Home Truths
Author: Foofy
Rating: NC17
Disclaimer: Still lying. All of it. I’m such a naughty person.
Summary: Discussions in lavatories.
Beta: Sindahise

*

“ Let me guess,” came the rough drawl a minute later. “ Viggo’s gone weird,”

Sean sighed through gritted teeth and attempted to concentrate on finishing the job in hand. Re-zipping his clothing, he glanced towards Karl who was lounging against the toilet wall, watching him intently. A little too intently for just mates down the pub, but thankfully the toilets were remarkably empty at this time. If they were women, of course, there would have been a queue half way down the block by now.

The blonde considered trying to push past him, but this was dismissed almost as quickly. He’d probably get pushed back, and, let’s face it, Karl would probably win. Yorkie bars had nothing on Karl for their chunkiness.

“ Thought you couldn’t talk,” Sean replied idly.

“ Thought you weren’t allowed to fuck,” Karl raised an eyebrow. Unable to keep the annoyance off his face Sean growled and walked towards the basin, having a serious rethink about pushing past him. Karl had a nasty habit of being blunt and crude, and bloody hell did he not require that at the moment. Sean was quite happy to call a spade a garden implement at this stage.

” That’s none of your business,” the blonde snapped, giving his hands a hurried soak before switching off the stream of water. There was a laugh from Karl which again sounded as though it had been brushed with sandpaper. Obviously the sore throat wasn’t an aspect of anyone’s imagination.

“ It’s my business. Anything to do with you is my business, cause it’s then Dave’s business, and just in case you missed the headlines, he’s mine now.” Karl’s eyes watched him steadily as though Sean was about to contradict him. After a few moments of Sean looked decidedly bored with the conversation, Karl moved on to other news, his voice turning less aggressive by the minute. “ Anyway, I need to make sure Orlando’s still okay. I miss the little sod. Full of energy, you know?” There was an amused noise. “ Look who I’m saying that to! Of course you know. He’s probably jumped you half a million times on the same day, right?”

“ He’s made the attempt,” Sean was slightly more placated by this change of topic, although the topic of Dave and Karl’s relationship sat there like Pandora’s box. Not that the Greeks had boxes in those days, but he supposed it sounded better than Pandora’s jar. Well, whatever the damn thing was, it was still sitting there looking tempting.

Definitely tempting.

Damn.

Trying to look as casual as possible, Sean glanced back at Karl idly. “ You and Dave okay then?”

“ Why, shouldn’t we be?” There was a dangerous twinkle in Karl’s eyes, before the man laughed again and glanced towards the mirrors idly. Sean managed to let his sigh of relief hiss undetected through his teeth, almost positive that he had sparked off yet another Karl rage. The Hulk had nothing on Karl for outbursts, although at least Karl had the common decency to remain non-green although ironically his clothing got ripped off a lot more than the Hulk ever had.

* And Davey was such a good boy he probably would eat his greens* whispered his mind who had no taste whatsoever. Sean shook off such thoughts and refocused on Karl just in time to hear his answer.

“ Yeah, we’re good.,” Karl continued as though he hadn’t noticed Sean’s brief phase out. “ Never thought Dave would be so enthusiastic. Hell, never realised he was .. well, you know. Interested. He keeps things like that close to his chest,”

“ He told me he was straight,” offered Sean. Karl gave a wry smile at this.

“ Yeah, he said something similar to me. Said he had just come out of some long term relationship. Girl just wanted some time alone or something like that. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. Trouble is, I just can’t tell if he’s lying.” Karl sighed. “ It’s a pain in the ass,”

Sean eyed him cautiously and a little incredulously. This was more information than he though he would ever get. In fact, this was probably the longest period they had had without some sort of curse being exchanged, in mind if not verbally. Wonders, apparently, never ceased.

On the other hand if Karl wasn’t entirely sure whether Dave was ever telling the truth then his assurance that platonic relationships were present might also have been reassessed. Karl noticed the wary look and snorted amusement.

“ You can take that look off your face. I know you and him aren’t doing anything,” Karl raised an eyebrow. “ Dave might be brilliant at keeping his word hidden but you’re an absolutely appalling liar, Sean. You’d have turned half a dozen colours by this point if you had even shaken his hand behind my back. Fucking stupid, isn’t it? You might be better off learning a script when you lie. At least then you can do it convincingly.”

“ Don’t know how you can put up with not knowing,” confessed Sean after a while. Karl raised the eyebrow further, which was seeing a lot of exercise recently.

“ Really? You mean you know exactly what Viggo’s thinking all the time?” there was more than an element of doubt in Karl’s voice, an element of amusement creeping in.

“ Viggo’s never lied to me.” Sean felt his voice harden, his scowl suddenly decide to take an interest in the proceedings. There was a snort of laughter that more than spoke of Karl’s disbelief in that little statement.

” Really? So you *are* a whore then?” Karl shrugged idly. “ Interesting,”

Sean ground his teeth silently. “ That’s not what I meant,”

Karl shook his head and adjusted his position on the wall, lounging in a manner that was almost Dave-like in its posture. His eyes drifted back to Sean as though he had momentarily forgotten he was there. Sean simply stared steadily back at him, his anger already woken enough to ensure that relaxing moments happened elsewhere. He discovered his hands had already formed into fists and therefore tried to relax them against his thigh. This failed miserably.

“ Dave says you were going to fuck Viggo,” Karl said finally, possibly realising that the silence was going to last until he actually broke it with something else. Sean raised his head, his stare challenging.

” Did he. And you believed him?” There was a hardness in Sean’s voice that wasn’t there before, anger now turned towards Mr Wenham. The little bastard! Discussing personal things with Karl on the same day as Sean discussed it. The blonde vowed to keep his mouth shut for the next month at least, even if Dave did have a good ability to put world events in words that Sean could understand. Hell, Dave put them in *words* full stop. God had given Sean many skills but clairvoyancy hadn’t been one of them.

Karl shrugged, seemingly unconcerned by the progression of Sean’s voice into a piece of granite.

“ Is there any reason for me not to?” he crossed his legs, balanced a little more on the wall and looked back at Sean expectantly. “ Well?”

Sean managed to ungrit his teeth long enough to speak. “ Well what?” he growled. “ I’m not telling you what happened, Karl. It’s my problem.”

” I think we’ve covered this part before. Your problem is my problem. Sure, it’s a roundabout route, but it is and therefore I’m interested to find out the truth before I have to start using my imagination.” Karl shrugged again. “ And equally, I’d like to help if I can. There’s a hell of a lot of this problem that seems to have been sparked by my-“

“ –interference?” spat Sean.

” – concern.” Karl stared back at him sternly, as though Sean was being deliberately annoying to all his helpful words. “ And besides which, you and me are more alike than you want to admit.”

Sean looked back at him for a long, long while. Alike. Was there anyone on this bloody planet for whom he *wasn’t* similar in some form or other? And besides which, if he was similar to such an annoying, stubborn, blunt and emotional stunted man he could suddenly understand Viggo’s willingness to wallop him on a regular basis.

Finally a smile drifted to the corner of his mouth.

” Okay,” he said carefully. “ I’ll tell you what happened last night on the condition that you tell me what happened between you and Dave. The … uh… juicier bits,”

“ Pervert,” commented Karl, who apart from a pause and a frown otherwise seemed unconcerned about this particular request. “ Why d’you want to know?”

“ I don’t. I just want to make sure there’s a little honesty and embarrassment on both sides.” Sean looked back at him steadily. There was a brief flash of amusement on Karl’s face at this, before he shrugged.

“ I should warn you I’m not much of a poet. It’ll be blunt and to the point. Sure you won’t get jealous?” Hazel eyes watched him curiously, obviously uncertain of what the reaction was likely to be. Sean opened his mouth to comment when another patron of the pub wandered in to use the facilities. A minute or so of silent fidgeting later, they were free to talk once again.

“ You know, Dave’s going to be wondering where we are,” Sean’s eyes moved back from the closing door to eye Karl thoughtfully.

“ Let him,” Karl seemed also unconcerned about this factor. “ He knows we’re both in here. In fact, his last comment to me was to be nice to you. Or at least, don’t punch you. So I think he’ll be happy with his pint and the newspaper until we work something out.”

Sean raised his eyebrow. “ There’s something to work out?” he queried.

“ You fucked my lover in front of me. Yeah, I think there is,” Karl’s eyes were steady on him, the amusement suddenly disappearing from his voice to be replaced by what were almost serious tones. Sean laughed quietly to himself, then looked back. Okay, so it might have been a little untactful, but there were mitigating circumstances god damn it. *Mitigating circumstances*.

“ It was an orgy,” he said as patiently as he could, although he had a sneaking suspicion that it was coming out more pointed. “ These things happen. Besides which, you’re hardly innocent yourself are you? You fucked me in front of him,” Sean folded his arms and raised his head, a gung ho expression in his eyes. “ *And* under blackmail. I don’t think I have anything to apologise for,”

By the dark look that crossed Karl’s face at this, obviously this was not something he wanted to hear. Oh what it must be like to have an assumption that everything should fall the way you want it to, that the universe works in exactly the manner you want.

*you and me are more alike than you want to admit* Karl’s voice repeated in his mind.

Sean growled inwardly at himself and straightened his back even further, almost aggressively. The dark expression had settled on Karl’s features, although at least the younger man had been able to keep some element of control. Annoyed by not furious eyes stared back at him steadily.

“ No?” Karl frowned a little harder. “ You knew Davey had a thing for you but decided to fuck him anyway to make some sort of point to Viggo. If I didn’t know you better, I’d be calling you a bastard right about now.” There was a deliberate pause before Karl’s voice started again, a little slower. “ On second thoughts, I do know you enough to realise that it might well apply,”

Darts were less pointed than that little comment. Sean felt his own scowl make a reappearance, not least because this was the last thing he needed to start thinking about. One damaged sod at a time, please.

“ Dave agreed!” Sean snapped. Karl snorted his disgust over this statement.

” Of course he would. If the love of your life offered himself to you, would you turn him down?” there was a menacingly dark look in the hazel eyes that suggested that vengeance might be only round the corner. This was becoming dangerous, not to mention disturbing. Sean shook his head slowly.

” I’m not the love of his life, Karl,” he said patiently. “And besides which, I’d already offered myself to him before. When I was … uh…,” Sean searched for an appropriate word which didn’t suggest that he was a complete tosser.

“ Drunk,” supplied Karl helpfully. “ Yes, I know. And I know he turned you down because he didn’t want to take advantage. And when you found out that he had a vulnerability to you, did you consider what was good for Dave? No! You just took it anyway, despite what he might or might not have felt.”

Sean stared at him unmoving. He’d thought about Dave. He knew he had. Okay, so possibly Dave’s situation might have been less considered than Viggo’s but hell, Sean had considered it. Hadn’t he?

“ If you honestly believe that,” he said slowly. “ Why aren’t you attempting to smash my face in right about now? Is Dave okay? I thought-“

” You thought. You didn’t *ask*. You happily assumed because it was at the point of your little romantic adventure not to pay attention. After all, he’s just a supporting role as far as your little story’s concerned, isn’t he? Just because he was in tears for the next night meant nothing!” snapped Karl.

Sean felt the blood drain from his face, his head spin as though he had been slapped hard round the face.

“ He spent the next night in tears?” he repeated numbly. There was a noticeable hesitation from the younger man in front of him, whose eyes narrowed in thought. Finally there were an annoyed sigh.

” Okay, he didn’t,” Karl said grudgingly. “ But how the hell would you have known that? Did you check? Or did you just continue with unscrewing Prince Charming’s head? Selfish bastard,”

Sean didn’t know what to say. The script had been rewritten so much it was like trying to compare Snow White with Alien. He hadn’t been prepared in the slightest for any suggestion that Dave hadn’t been okay with their arrangement, hadn’t been prepared for the possibility that suddenly there was more than one major problem to deal with. If he could call Dave a problem. Seemed more than a little ungrateful.

Green eyes searched the tiling of the restroom as though expecting to see the answer engraved in the polish, before moving back onto Karl who was watching him with a stubborn expression. On the other hand there was a distinct air of satisfaction surrounding him, a man who had realised that his words had hit a sensitive mark.

“ I thought you and him were fine. That he wouldn’t appreciate any interruptions-“ even as he was speaking Sean knew it sounded weak, *was* weak, knowing that he was merely scrabbling for justification.

Some fucking mate he was.

“ Did it actually cross your mind or are you just seeking an excuse?” Karl’s voice was hard, his words still happily seeking blood. Sean sighed quietly to himself before raising his eyes to meet Karl’s head on. He didn’t say a word. Karl watched him a few more moments as though to make sure, then made a faintly satisfied noise. “ Thought not,”

“ I’ll apologise to him,” Sean began finally when Karl shook his head with more determination than a puppy in a sausage factory.

“ Oh no you won’t. He hasn’t mentioned it and as far as I’m concerned I want the whole of the subject of your cock up his ass to be left on the sidelines. This is for my benefit. Because I’m quite happy to admit that I’m a selfish jealous bastard even if you won’t admit it for yourself,” Karl shook his head and smiled grimly to himself. “ I told you. Me and you are similar in many ways. Mostly the obnoxious ones,”

Suddenly the conversation got complicated again. Sean wasn’t entirely sure who to apologise to any more, and certainly not what about. He frowned in annoyance.

“ Fine. I’ll apologise to you and leave him alone, okay?” Sean was beginning to get a little irritated of the whole conversation. Karl eyed him for a moment, then nodded in satisfaction. A little more of the stiffness moved from his posture now that liability had been vaguely admitted.

“ Moving back to your original request,” Karl continued. “ Dave and I have been fucking like bunnies,” There was a raise of the eyebrow. “ Now you.”

“ What?” Sean struggled again to keep up with the change in conversation, only half remembering the bargain. Karl seemed to get this impression as he snorted laughter to himself and rested himself a little more comfortably against the wall.

“ You, Viggo and Orli. Spill it.” Karl folded his arms. “ I did my half,”

” The statement that you’ve been fucking like bunnies does not cover it!” Sean was incredulous. “ Tit for tat, Karl. And I’m not showing you my tit until your tat is suitable!” He reviewed that last sentence in his mind and shook his head. “ Well, you know what I mean,”

“ Did you fuck Viggo?” pressed Karl, his voice low. Sean growled. Fuck it.

“ Yes,” Sean answered, straightening his back and looking back at Karl steadily. “ Are you planning to stay with Dave?”

“ Of course I am,” snorted Karl. “ I leave the one night stands to you. So what did Orli do that changed the situation? I know Dave already knows, but he’s been remarkably quiet recently.”

Sean hesitated, a frown already forming. Karl watched him in interest and sighed.

” I can guess if you prefer,” he commented. “ Just say when it’s right. Although it might get a little strange on occasion seeming I know what you lot get up to in the depths of Viggo’s place. Did you beat him, by the way?”

“ Who, Orli?” Sean was surprised by the question. There was another sigh, this one speaking of how Sean had almost crawled out of the idiot pool before slipping back in.

“ Viggo,” replied Karl with exaggerated patience. Sean hesitated, remembering exactly what he had managed to get up to. The split lip still hurt now, especially after being poked and prodded and powdered by makeup. Or as much as they could do under the beard, anyway.

“ Slightly,” he confessed. Karl grinned in contentment.

” Good,” he said wolfishly. “ I owe him back for doing that … thing to me. Hope you made him squeal,”

“ He didn’t squeal as much as you did when he spanked you,” Sean stared at him with a steady expression, which turned a little embarrassed as someone else entered the toilets in the middle of the sentence. The man looked as though he hadn’t heard, which was just as well. However, this didn’t stop Karl immediately flushing and playing around with the taps in discomfort until said man had left again. A furious dark hazel stare looked back at him once the coast was clear, embarrassment managing to fuel the rage.

“ You shut up about that,” there was more than a little menace in Karl’s voice, the snarl of a pit-bull.

Sean chuckled to himself, enjoying the reaction.

“ You do realise where that suggestion came from originally, don’t you?” he asked in a cheerful tone. “ Who suggested to Viggo that bare arse spanking would be a good way to control those of a stronger willed nature. It was supposed to be for me.”

The pit-bull paused as brain cells engaged. Karl groaned to himself. “ Dave?”

Sean winked, a sly grin on his face. “ Perhaps your days of being shoved over someone’s lap aren’t completely over-“

He had to stop there, mostly because his t-shirt was suddenly clenched in Karl’s fists and his eyes were millimetres away from Karl’s. A fierce glare aimed itself at him, volcanoes firing in the depths, reminding Sean that the man in front of him wasn’t a weakling by any stretch of the imagination. Obviously spanking was still a sore point in more than just the rear.

“ Which part of shut up didn’t you understand?” Karl growled softly. Sean stared back at him, startled by the extent of the reaction. Mind you, it hadn’t been too long ago that he was in the same position, the embarrassment and fear of his own reaction managing to cause untold anger whilst his mind struggled to seek some dignity in the situation. When the whips were put away and the daylight hit the room, suddenly it was only too easy to focus on what other people’s reactions would be outside of the dungeon, not to mention the depths of your own mind.

However, just because Sean could appreciate what Karl was probably going through didn’t necessarily mean he had to go nice on the bastard, especially considering if his t-shirt was caught in Karl’s fist any tighter his windpipe was going to start protesting. Choking really wasn’t a turn on anymore, especially if it wasn’t done by Viggo.

“ Didn’t enjoy it, huh?” he asked softly. “ Or are you too scared to admit you actually liked it-“

It was just as well Dave entered the toilet block at that time. Karl hadn’t looked simply cross. He hadn’t looked angry. He looked like he was furious, rage sparking in his eyes, Sean’s top cutting into the blonde’s skin as the fists clenched even further. A low growl had started in the back of Karl’s throat, a noise that would be expected from a seriously pissed off wolverine rather than the young man in front of him and definitely a noise which suggested that Karl wouldn’t give a rat’s arse to the fact that Sean’s breathing was becoming more than a little hampered.

Dave paused with his hand still on the door and looked at them. Karl, whose back was to the door, didn’t notice. Sean, however, was able to glance at him briefly, then back again to the furious sod in front of him in case the situation changed whilst his focus was examining priorities. Dave didn’t look that happy but then again he wasn’t the one who was messing around with Sean’s oxygen supplies at that present moment, neither was he the one who looked as though his main aim in life was to take Sean’s testicles and ram them down the blonde’s throat.

There was a polite cough.

Karl glared over his shoulder. Sean could feel the exact moment when Karl registered exactly who it was standing at the door, whose mild blue eyes were surveying him in fixed interest, as the fists that had been tightening ever further on the t-shirt suddenly stopped as though there had been a power failure.

There was a small but significant pause.

T-shirt was suddenly released. Sean almost stumbled backwards, his eyes nevertheless fixed on Karl, his concern moving rapidly into amusement. Obviously someone else had obtained a Master in the meantime, although how Dave managed to get his control over his partner Sean could only guess. However, now was not the time to focus on Dave. Now was the time to focus on Karl whilst his mind was in two places and steal a little oxygen of his own.

” You said we’re similar, Karl,” drawled Sean. “ Perhaps you’re too afraid to see that what attracts me attracts you-“

Sean had to dodge backwards as Karl’s fist suddenly lashed out at him, the blonde feeling the breeze against his skin from the narrow miss. The blonde smiled to himself and moved into a more defensive position, his eyes fixed on Karl. This was actually what he needed. Something to concentrate on, something that wasn’t complicated and attracted headaches. Just a good, honest scrap.

Obviously Karl was in a similar mood as he straightened, his eyes flashing a warning.

” Karl,” snapped Dave. Karl hesitated. Sean smirked.

“ Good doggy,” he murmured, and dodged back again as Karl reanimated and took a step closer to him, his fists clenched.

” Sean!” And there was anger in Dave’s voice, which was unusual. The Australian crossed from his position by the door, moving between Karl and his target and giving Karl a little shove away. There was a sulky defiance on Karl’s face at this and a distinct lack of retaliation. Sean was impressed.

“ You always take his side,” Karl began when Dave cut him off mid sentence with a voice of steel.

” Oh, trust me, this time you’re both tossers! If I see you try and punch him again, I’m going to be extremely angry with you. And as for you,” Dave rounded on Sean, who was still smirking in the background. “ don’t you dare start trying to wind him up otherwise I’ll be having a word with Viggo about your obedience training. I might even ask to do it myself to make sure he doesn’t go soft on you!”

Smirk faltered slightly. Obedience and training were two words he was hoping not to have to hear put together again, mostly on the basis that a lesson was supposed to be learned rather than the casual what-fun-thing-shall-we-do-today. Green eyes watched him warily, trying to gage Dave’s ability to go through with his threat. However, Dave wasn’t looking at him anymore; just as quickly as it appeared, Dave’s anger seemed to dissipate, his hand caressing Karl’s chest briefly before dropping away.

“ What the hell is the matter with you two anyway? Can’t you go for five minutes without wanting to kill each other?” Dave sighed wearily, and glared back at Sean. “ Just because he’s close enough does *not* give you a reason,”

“ He’s screwed over his relationship and therefore wants to screw over ours!” snapped Karl, giving Sean one of the most evil looks he possessed. Feeling hurt at the accusation, Sean snorted angry laughter.

” Nah, I think your denial’ll sort that one out, lad!” he spat back.

“ Exactly *how* is he threatening to screw over our relationship, Karl? You really that uncertain of us that a few words will make a difference? Or has he decided to start offering you his arse on a plate?” Dave looked back at Karl with a stern expression on his face. There was a brief pause before the Kiwi muttered something under his breath and looked away. Dave slid his eyes over to Sean. “ Sean? You want to answer that question?” Polite iciness was aimed at him.

“ I’m not offering anything. Just making a statement on what he might or might not like,” Sean stared back defiantly, having learnt from the master about being able to withstand cold looks. However, where as Viggo had brute strength to back up his words, Dave had something entirely different but just as devastating; cold logic. Sometimes the verbal pen was mightier than the sword.

” Just because you’re a fucking pervert doesn’t mean everyone else is,” spat back Karl, who was clearly still unhappy. Despite Dave’s watchful eye, Sean still felt the tuggings of irritation.

“ No? But we’re *so alike* aren’t we,” Sean raised an eyebrow and returned the hostile stare with a variation of his own. Dave shut his eyes slowly as though suffering from a headache, and turned slowly to walk towards the door. This had more of an affect than if he had started shouting or screaming; Karl immediately looked uncertain, worried eyes seeking Dave, his anger and Sean entirely forgotten.

“ Dave?” it was the voice of a lost little boy. Dave didn’t bother to reply and continued, a set look on his face as though he hadn’t even heard. And now there were flashes of fear in Karl’s expression, as though desperately worried he had overstepped the mark and unable to reach out to the Australian to stop him. Watching him, Sean felt wretched. How many times had he been in that position?

“ Dave, please. We’ll stop.” Sean added his voice to the plea. By this time Dave had reached the door, his hand paused on the door plate. Finally the Australian looked back at them with a neutral expression that could rival Viggo’s in its unreadability.

” You’d better. For your own sakes,” he replied, before disappearing through the doorway. Karl stared after him helplessly, before moving his gaze back onto Sean with a growing anger. Sean simply looked back at him silently, before sighing and shaking his head.

” Sorry,” he said softly and honestly. “ I didn’t mean for you two to…,” he waved a hand in the direction that Dave had left, regret clearly showing on his features. Karl’s frown cleared slightly, although an element of the anger still remained buried deep in the conscious.

“ Yeah, well,” Karl growled finally.

There was a brief silence between them that was almost companionable. Finally Karl sighed and glanced back at the door as though desperate to go find his lover. Sean smiled sadly to himself. At least Karl had worked out that bit early on.

” You want to go after him, just go,” the blonde said softly. “ I’m not going to be offended.”

“ I can’t,” said Karl, and his voice was almost as wretched as Sean had felt a few moments ago.

Sean paused, uncertain of the problem. His eyes slid to the door checking for traps or other things of that nature and then back again. “ Why not?” he was honestly baffled.

“ We’re supposed to be sorting out our problems. I go after him immediately, he’s going to be angry with me. And I don’t like him angry with me,” Karl shook his head. “ He doesn’t normally even shout, just looks at me in that quiet little way that says he’s disappointed with me and I feel like I’m about the size of a mouse. You’re fucking lucky with your two, Sean. At least you can tell when they’re upset with you,”

“ That depends,” Sean said cautiously, slightly stunned by the admission. This was almost turning into a friendly conference, which was a novel experience in itself. “ Normally I know they’re upset but not what it’s about.”

“ Still,” Karl sighed. “ There’s something for the up front punishment system anyway. You know where you are, even if that *is* across Viggo’s….,” there was a significant pause. “ well, anyway.”

Sean decided to bypass the topic of Viggo’s ‘well anyway’, and gazed towards the door again as though expecting to see the question of life, the universe and everything within its glossy off-white depths. Dave wanted peace between them. Right. How difficult could that be, anyway? Karl had finished sending psychopaths after them, and he seemed almost normal. All he had to do was burn that sofa and explain how to unsummon the demon that was the duck in the bathroom and they were doing well. For Sean knew better than to underestimate a duck in a bathroom, after all.

Green eyes slid back to Karl in speculation.

” Well, how about if we go out together?” he suggested after a moment’s pause. Karl didn’t seem to hold much hope in this suggestion by the look on his face.

” And we prove the fight’s over how exactly?” he sighed.

“ I dunno, smiles, slap on the back,” Sean raised his eyebrow and smiled briefly. “ Hell, I’d even kiss you passionately if you thought it would do any good. But I’m not sure that would go down quite as well.” He paused, then looked up, wondering how much of this was a band-aid over a broken bone rather than something actually designed to assist.

“ *Is* it over?” he asked quietly, intensely.

Karl looked back at him with a steady gaze. There was a long pause as decisions were made, brain cells fired, grudges explored.

” I still think you’re a twat when it comes to Dave,” he said grudgingly, as though desperate to ensure he still held something in the pissed off stakes.

“ Duly noted.” Sean sighed. “ Sorry,”

It was a weak apology but at least it was there. Karl studied him further, then finally relaxed his posture. Sean hadn’t entirely appreciated how much of the younger man’s body was rigid with emotion until the man relaxed and lost at least five centimetres of height, like a cat cooling down after a fight and unfluffing its tail.

“ But I don’t think you’re going to do anything stupid with him further,” Karl concluded after another significant pause. He shrugged. “ Let’s just leave our other discussion on the sidelines, eh?”

“ Okay,” agreed Sean, happy with the arrangement. There were only so many running battles he could cope with before he went entirely insane. There was a slight smile at the corner of his mouth as he stared back at the younger man. “ But if you do find you want to borrow some toys a little further down the line..,”

“ Sean,”

” Hmmm?”

“ Don’t push it,”

“ Okay,”

*

By the time they came out the toilets, Dave had found some further company. This seemed to be a habit of his, or at least other people seemed to be attracted to him like iron fillings to a magnet. Billy Boyd was obviously in the middle of a joke by his tone, being watched indulgently by Dom who was lounging in another chair. Orlando was frowning at a newspaper article whilst also nodding intermittently to Elijah’s whispered conversation in his ear.

The table paused to view the two men who walked towards them. Billy raised an eyebrow.

“ You two been in there all that time?” he queried cheerfully. “ Must be spectacular wallpaper! Ow!”

The ow had been inserted due to Dom’s elbow suddenly nudging into his ribs. Billy looked back at him a little sulkily, then turned to watch them perch in their chairs. Sean rescued his half drunk coke from in front of Lij and glumly realised that it was all but flat; the occasional bubble managed to work its way to the surface where it died in a sad little fizzy glory.

He was aware of Dave’s blue eyes staring at him thoughtfully and tried to avoid looking at him. In his determination to focus on what he was looking at, Sean entirely missed the hand on his thigh until it squeezed. His knee slammed against the table top as he jumped in shock, almost smashing Orli’s hand into wood whilst he was at it. He was such a romantic.

The rest of the table’s occupants stared at him, apart from Dom who was sadly viewing the split remains of his pint which had been unfortunate enough to have been still on the table at Sean’s impromptu table levitation trick.

“ Now that’s almost criminal,” he commented sorrowfully. Sean ignored the throbbing in his knee and smiled slightly in sheer embarrassment. He doubted whether he could have attracted more attention than if he was wearing baby pink and a diaper.

“ Sorry. I’ll get you another one,” he offered awkwardly. Dom waved away the offer without a moment’s hesitation, although his eyes still suggested that the young man was considering whether licking beer off the table was going to look too desperate.

” Nah, I’m not supposed to be drinking at this point anyway. You’re probably doing me a favour,” his voice was still reluctant but with the grim determination of one who knew he was doing it for Healthy Reasons. Sean shrugged, and glanced towards Orlando who was still staring at him in surprise.

” Sorry, I didn’t realise you were so jumpy,” his eyes slid to Karl then back again with an obvious query. Sean forced a chuckle from his throat.

“ I’m okay. Just wasn’t expecting it. Thought it was Lij getting frisky,” he managed to grin casually. Elijah raised his eyebrows.

“ Do I *look* suicidal?” he protested, then gave a nervous glance behind him. “ Where is Viggo anyway?”

Sean shot a look at Orlando in question. It was a damn good point. Last time Sean looked Orli was tagging behind Viggo’s heels like a sheepdog behind its master. The absence of guard dog was a little disturbing to say the least.

On the plus side, Orli didn’t look too unhappy.

On the down side, he wasn’t answering the question either. A lazy smile aimed itself at Lij then eyes refocused on his newspaper article. Elijah took the hint and moved the conversation onto which beach they were going to surf on the next day. The other two hobbits were more than eager to speculate, discussing merits and flaws of each beach, although there seemed to be a lot of discussion about the nearest ice-cream seller to each one.

Sean could only take so much of the frantic activity. After another five minutes he made his excuses – poor as they were – and stood up from the table, feeling his knee scream in agony over the mistreatment. Orlando raised his eyes after him thoughtfully, before returning them to the paper once again. Well, that answered that little question about whether Orli was going to be coming back with him. Obviously Sean wasn’t flavour of the month at the moment, and Sean was a little alarmed about how much that made him feel uncomfortable.

He knew Orlando was blaming him for Viggo’s quietness. Just *knew* it.

Sean made it to the door without any further interruptions, aware that Karl was watching him with an unreadable expression as he did so. Typical. Feel uncomfortable and it had to be the one man you were having a fight with to show any sort of concern whatsoever. Sean felt ready to broach out into the subject of self pity.

The blonde was half expecting to crash into Viggo on the way out, but the path was remarkably Master free. Obviously bad luck was on its metaphorical cigarette break and was happy to let him go without any painful conversation or, indeed, pain full stop. The knee had died down to a low throb once exercise had given it a nod but it was still threatening stiffness for the next few days. On the other hand, it wasn’t stopping him from actually walking which was just as well considering that Viggo had driven them to the set in another moment of generosity.

He could walk. It was good for him. Great for fitness. Great for his heart. Great for the environment. And so and so forth. It was also great for not needing to find any money or getting into any sort of conversations, which was a major bonus at this point.

Five minutes later into the walk and Sean was regretting his healthy decision. It wasn’t so much the knee, which had settled down remarkably quickly. It was simply the fact that Sean couldn’t get away without thinking, and this was proving another uncomfortable aspect. Thinking was for those people who had uncomplicated lives or morals of a monk. It did not go well with him. In fact, he was almost on the verge of being upset, and he hadn’t admitted to that in some time, normally choosing a bottle instead whenever he felt the urge come upon him.

Viggo was obviously not ‘fixed’. That was clear. Sure, he didn’t seem to be any worse, but then again he didn’t seem particularly closer either. When they had curled up in bed that night after quick showers Sean had thought it was going well; Viggo might have been a little quieter than normal, but he snuggled up to them as usual, his arm pulling Orlando close to him and his other hand resting possessively on Sean’s thigh, occasionally petting it like a cat. Sean had fallen asleep with his head next to Viggo’s shoulder, the older man’s light goodnight kiss on his forehead.

And then, of course, came the quietest breakfast in the known world. Even Orli was subdued, and that didn’t normally come about unless a gag was used or the young man had lost his voice. Viggo had been deep in a newspaper article, reminding Sean of some of the cartoons he used to watch where the father of the household was so engrossed in the daily newspaper that he normally missed whatever interesting thing was happening to the rest of the family, unless someone had cut out a picture slap bang in the middle of the paper.

Sean had just eaten his toast and got himself ready for the set, even going so far as to have another shower. By the look Orlando had given him he had a sneaking suspicion that that had been misinterpreted as Sean feeling more dirty than normal, but then again Sean really didn’t want to admit to the fact that he was just doing it for something to do. On the plus side, he had then had a whole day of playing Boromir whilst also smelling faintly of ‘zesty mint’, a new shower gel that had been bought and promptly abandoned by Orlando. It was supposed to awaken your mind and your senses. What it actually did was leave the user smelling like a polo mint, and this was bloody dangerous when there was more than one horse on set.

And then… what? Sean couldn’t pin down the exact moment when his heart made it to his boots, but knew for certain by lunch that it was sinking fast. Viggo was pleasant and cheerful, and more than once gave Sean a warm smile. But his eyes were elsewhere, the grin almost acting on automatic pilot. It was as though he didn’t really see Sean at all, and this was the thing that hurt the most. God, he would even welcome a punch to the stomach if it meant that Viggo’s full focus was back on him and not whatever was playing in the deep dark places of his mind.

He’d screwed it up. He knew he had. It was obviously some weird moment of confidence which had caused Sean to even attempt such a thing. Hell, he couldn’t even sort his own head out. What the hell made him think that he could sort someone else’s, especially a person who had gone through what Viggo had? He was an idiot, plain and simple, and his legacy was probably going to live on for the rest of their days.

Sean sighed to himself miserably, kicking a stone which had had the unfortunate coincidence of being near Sean’s foot at the time of thinking. At least he hadn’t screwed him up too badly; Viggo wasn’t by any means huddled in a corner, reliving his past over and over in his mind. However, it almost looked as though whatever had brought Viggo to this relationship had been destroyed, his desire for control abated, and that was bloody scary. Sean had never realised it properly but he wanted Viggo the kinky sod, not Viggo the housemate-but-with-casual-sex. This carried on as it was and the most violent argument they were likely to have was going to be who didn’t empty the dishwasher yesterday, which really didn’t do it for Sean’s sex drive.

No wonder Orlando was annoyed with him. Sean doubted whether the younger man could even cope with the idea of a sex session without their little props, without someone stern at the helm. From that, a simple fuck was going to feel so very boring, regardless of what position you did it in. After a while, all you would think about were the knives.

Sean sighed again and turned into their street. It was bloody typical. After finally wanting to be controlled, suddenly Viggo found his interests were elsewhere. And Sean knew for certain that he couldn’t take Viggo’s place, just couldn’t provide what Orli needed in a master. The toys still felt uncomfortable in his hand, the orders got stuck on his tongue even if he could think of something to say. He just felt awkward and a bastard, and he had enough of that when he was married.

His footsteps echoed hollowly on the road as he walked, Sean hardly noticing the ache in his legs from being forced into playing Boromir plus extra mileage on top. Heaven alone knew what tonight was going to bring. Probably some appalling game show on television, or a new DVD that Orlando had discovered at the rental store. They’d probably just sit in front of it and suddenly they were on the level of popcorn and early nights for sleeping sake.

Dull. Boring. *Safe*.

Safe was becoming increasingly problematic. You never saw the memorable historical lovers playing it safe. On the other hand, you never tended to find them dying quietly in their beds at an old age either, but that was neither here nor there.

Sean still had no idea what he was supposed to do when he got to the house. Did he smile and act as though nothing had happened still? Did he try and talk about it and probably get his front teeth smashed out for his trouble? Or did he turn around and head to the nearest pub and the nearest bottle of alcohol?

Whatever it was going to be, Sean knew he had to do it soon. The door was approaching with the steady deceptively slow pace of a steam-train and the likelihood that Sean was going to have any time for thinking whilst he was there was probably minimal at best. He never thought in that house. He just did. It worked for him, although it obviously didn’t work for others.

And back to misery again. Ah, he missed it when it wasn’t there. Stupid selfish bastard that he was. There was poor Viggo suffering from stress and post-traumatic syndrome – somewhere in there anyway – and there was him worrying about what *he* was going to do. Bastard. Definite bastard.

However, repeating bastard at himself over and over again wasn’t getting him any solutions either. Life just wasn’t fair on occasion.

It only took another minute before he was through the front door, the door clicking quietly behind him as it settled on the latch. Sean gave a glance towards the closed door of the bedrooms like a burglar staking out a joint, before cautious green eyes turned back to the living room. The door was ajar. No noise came from the room but then again Viggo was normally buried in a book and he was hardly a noisy reader.

The horrible realisation that he was scared of seeing his own lover jolted Sean into action. He made this mess. He was going to lie in it, even if it might be broken glass. Or were you supposed to walk on that instead?

He padded towards the living room, his hand gently pushing open the door which opened silently. His words hesitated briefly before Sean forced them out.

” Hi, Vig,” he tried to make it sound as casual as he could, but knew damn well Viggo knew something was up by the second syllable. Blue grey eyes lifted in surprise from his book, and Sean couldn’t bear the fact that concern, actual concern, was being aimed at him instead of the real victim in this. Bastard, bastard, bastard-

” Sean, are you alright?” Viggo’s neutrality had apparently disappeared completely for a moment. The book was closed, the older man’s full attention centred on the blonde in front of him. Sean tried to speak but found it blocked instead, his eyes blinking away the discomfort they suddenly found themselves in…

.. oh, you had to be kidding him. Dignity, for fuck’s sake!

” Sorry,” Sean managed to mumble it before shooting back through the door and escaping towards the kitchen before skidding to a halt. Not the kitchen. The kitchen had alcohol. The kitchen had knives. Hell, the kitchen had been cleaned that morning and he was buggered if he was going to do it again should he mess it up in the next half hour.

Having very few options left, the bathroom was seized upon with relief. Door shut behind him, Sean suddenly found he could breathe a little better, a traitorous tear trickling down his cheek to be roughly wiped away with the back of his hand. Men didn’t cry.

Men also didn’t have little rubber ducks that haunted them throughout their days, but apparently that’s what he had. Karl’s military duckie stared balefully at him from across the other side of the bathroom. Sean vaguely remembered Orlando’s delight in seeing it and his subsequent kidnap of said duck, but it wasn’t until now that he actually properly focused on it. G.I.Fowl seemed unconcerned about the problems it was causing, which was just typical of the thing.

The knock on the other side of the door almost caused Sean to jump out of his skin, duck forgotten.

“ Sean?”

Oh Christ, what the hell was he going to say? Panic welled up in Sean’s chest before being stamped down with determination, the familiar trickle of sweat disappearing down that familiar route down his back. He could feel his breathing quicken, shorten, until each new breath was a fight for air. He felt light headed, as though having drunk two bottles of vodka before he got there.

The door knocked again, a little harder.

“ Sean!”

Well, he couldn’t just leave him there. Viggo was probably okay to knock down the door, although knowing the practical mind of the man he would probably just unscrew the door hinges instead which was a cheaper if less dramatic version of the same thing. Sean took a deeper breath of air and put his hand on the door handle.

The door wasn’t opening.

It took a moment before Sean remembered to turn his hand as well.

“ Yeah?” Sean managed to look Viggo in the eyes, but he knew damn well it wasn’t natural, that the stiffness in his body transmitted only too well through his gaze. Grey-blue eyes narrowed in thought, Viggo not trying to get any closer as though recognising it was only likely to spook him. And spook him Sean knew it would do. In fact, short of turning transparent and twisting his head right round, there was probably little else Viggo could have done which would have made it more probable.

Blue-grey eyes studied him thoughtfully.

“ I’m not going to ask if you’re okay, because you’re clearly not. If I asked you what the matter was, would you tell me?” Viggo’s voice was softer than Sean ever remembered it to be. His lip threatened to tremble. It was bitten hard for its insubordination.

This, of course, managed to reopen old wounds far too literally.

“ Shit!” Sean wiped away the blood which had started to trickle down his chin. Viggo carefully opened the bathroom door further, scooped Sean’s arm with his own and carefully lead him to the sink where he started running the tap. Drops of blood started to mingle within the waters, Sean watching them dissipate in the water as somewhere to look which wasn’t either lover or duck.

A cool and wet piece of material was put against Sean’s face. Sean’s eyes flickered towards Viggo who was watching him impassively, his hand holding the cloth to Sean’s lip.

” There are less extreme ways of saying no, by the way,” he offered.

“ Sorry,” muttered Sean through the material.

“ Do you want me to leave?” Viggo watched him. Sean stared up at him in alarm. There was a shocked expression at the sudden movement, then a look of understanding suddenly drifted into Viggo’s gaze. He smiled slightly. “ As in this room.”

“ Oh,” Sean felt his heart begin to slow down again. “ Uh. Up to you. Your house,”

This apparently was the wrong thing to say. Eyes narrowed in thought, before Viggo sighed and moved to sit down on the toilet lid, watching him solemnly. And it was this position that Orlando found them as he came back.

Chocolate brown eyes moved from Viggo to Sean then back again in quiet contemplation. Sean busied himself with trying to stop his lip from bleeding, which was proving a mammoth task. As it was his attention was split between medical care and listening to the silence build behind him.

“ So what happened?” Orlando asked slowly.

Only silence answered him, which was probably frustrating for the young man. Silence was always there for you but it was never a great conversationalist. Sean knew that only too well.

Viggo glanced towards him idly, then back at Sean. Sean was suddenly aware that Orlando had pin-pointed the source of the problem and was looking at him as well. Cells under a microscope were subjected to less scrutiny. Sean attempted to ignore them but this was proving impossible, and it really really needed to be possible before his eyes started to water in an emotional way again. Men did *not* cry. Especially when there weren’t broken limbs involved.

“ Sean?” prompted Orli. Sean growled, mostly at himself.

” Orlando, you’ve just got through the door. Give me a fucking moment, will you?” Sean rested his hands on the sink rim, his head lowered, looking like he was about to be sick. Which, in all fairness, he was feeling anyway. His stomach, unaccustomed to all of this churning, was feeling decidedly queasy. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Orli staring at him uncertainly.

“ Well… I….,” Orlando glanced helplessly towards Viggo, who Sean could just about see reflected in the bathroom mirror above the sink. Viggo had an expression on his face that suggested he wasn’t leaving Sean anywhere with razor blades. He also had an expression that suggested that he really didn’t appreciate the swearing.

Sean’s eyes slid towards the duck. Private Duck looked back at him almost scornfully, which was impressive for a piece of plastic. He sighed heavily and dropped his hands away from the sink.

“ I had a fight with Karl. That’s all,” he said, and felt a little guilty for saying it. Mind you, Karl did owe him something for all the chaos he had caused. Or at least Sean vowed to make it up to him anyway, as soon as he managed to escape the bathroom. “ It’s over,” he added. “ Just upset me,”

And please let them believe him on this. He really couldn’t cope with a huge confrontation, and even if he was there were places to do it, not stuck in Viggo’s bathroom with a duck and a razor blade on standby. Orlando’s expression was still doubtful, as though Sean had suggested he had spent the day with Elvis Presley. Viggo’s hadn’t changed much, but then again that wasn’t unusual.

” Hmmmmph,” Viggo said finally. That was it. As a motivational speech it really lacked punctuation. Sean shook his head.

” That was it,” he said a little stronger, and now his mind had some excuse to fall back on he was happier. He didn’t have to focus on Viggo. He could just focus on Karl, blunt, crude Karl, whose idea of a chat up line was to ask what you wanted for breakfast in the morning. Karl was a much safer topic of conversation. The irony didn’t escape Sean in the slightest.

“ When you were in the toilets this afternoon?” Orli was obviously attempting to verge fantasy with reality, which was never going to work. “ Thought you two were friends at the end of it. That’s what he told Dave, anyway. Was he lying again?”

Sean froze, suddenly faced with the ability to ruin someone else’s relationship for at least a day. Should Dave ever believe that Karl was lying about his agreement with Sean, things were going to get complicated all over again. Karl didn’t need that. Hell, *Dave* didn’t need that. And Sean still owed Dave so much the interest payments were soon going to include free cars.

” Orli, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s over,” he repeated, a little harder than he had intended. A hurt look crossed Orlando’s face, before he moved slightly out of the bathroom.

“ Sorry,” he mumbled. “ Just trying to help,”

Sean sighed and bent his head a little further. “ I know. I’m sorry. I’m just not in a good mood right now, and to have to talk about it as well…,” he let his voice trail off, hoping that they would take pity and just leave him alone before he had to get rude. Orlando seemed to find this a much better solution than Sean had hoped possible.

” Okay. I’ll leave you to it then,”

Sean resisted the urge to sigh in relief. One down, one to go. After another glance at them, Orlando disappeared off, feet pattering down the hallway. The other, however, was looking like he was still going nowhere. Grey blue eyes surveyed him in almost a cool and detached way.

“ Just for the record,” Viggo said slowly. “ I don’t believe you. You need to talk at some point, Sean,”

“ So do you,” Sean couldn’t look at him, didn’t want to look at him. The sink was inspected again, every mark, scuff or hair counted. There was a long pause behind him.

“ I don’t need to talk about anything,” Viggo’s voice was cautious.

“ In that case, me neither,”

There was another pause.

“ I see,” replied Viggo neutrally. “ It’s like that, is it?”

And without another word he had slid off his perch and padded into the hallway himself, leaving Sean alone with his sink, his marks and his duck.

TBC