World of Night

Sharing Shelter

“Good morning,” Sean grinned shyly, raking long, lean fingers over his head.

“Sorry about that,” Viggo whispered sleepily, wincing as his back told him exactly what it thought of sleeping on the ground.

“About what?” Sean frowned.

“Your hair,” Viggo gestured at Sean’s head, “They do that to humiliate the prisoners, to make them feel insecure.”

Sean grinned as the American yawned again. “You seem to know a lot about these… Night-Seekers and their tactics….”

“No,” Viggo shook his head, slowly sitting up up. Pressing a hand against the small of his back, “I haven’t been with them for long, just aout half a year. It took me some time to figure out who I was really working for.”

“And who were you working for?” Sean asked, glad that his saviour semed to be willing to talk.

“I don’t know, I just found out that the company I was working for, was not quite as legal as I thought.”

“Why didn’t you quit?”

“I couldn’t,” Viggo sighed, trying to explain and hoping that Sean would believe him, “They gradually assigned me to more and more confidential tasks, when I noticed what I was truly doing it was too late.”

”You could have gone to the police,” Sean objected.

“Yes,” a curt nod, “And gone to prison for the rest of my life.”

“I see,” Sean said slowly, “If you were too afraid to go to thr police, why did you free me?”

Viggo sighed exasperatedly, “Because I had to do something. At first I only had to conduct a few experiments, to test ceratin chemicals, develop new molecular structures and so on… it was mainly computer work…”

“So what happened?”

“You did.”

“What?” Sean stared, taken aback.

“I did not know that they were prepared to take prisoners, that they were actually planning to…”

“To what?”

“To experiment on the prisoners.”

“Experiment?” Sean’s eyes were wide with incredulous shock.

“Yes,” Viggo nervously interlaced his finger, “That was when I knew that I had to get out.”

”I see,” Sean said thoughtfully, “Were there,” he gulped, “Any other prisoners?”

“No,” Viggo denied, “Not as far as I know.”

Sean nodded slowly, “What will you do now?”

“I don’t know,” Viggo shrugged, “I can’t go back, they’ll be locking for me.”

“Why are you so afraid of them? The police…”

“The police wouldn’t be able to protect me, once the Seekers are on my trail.”

“What now?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Viggo sighed, running his fingers through his hair, “We’ve got to find a save place, a place where they won’t find us.”

“We?” Sean arched his eyebrows, “Very well,” he sighed, getting up and pacing restlessly through the room, “We should leave London at once. It’s the most logical step.”

“And that’s exactly why we should stay in London. They’ll expect us to leave as soon as possible. It’s not as if we had any money for train fare or something anyway.”

“Okay,” Sean sat down on an old sack with flower seeds, “I think I might know a place where we could go.”

Viggo’s eyebrows arched questioningly.

“It’s one of my… people’s places…” Sean hesitated, “We have a sort of… save houses throughout England, where we can hide if things become… uncomfortable…”

“Uncomfortable,” Viggo repeated, “And who exatcly are… your people?”

“People with certain talents, like my rune speaking.”

“I see,” Viggo yawned agin, looking apologetically at Sean, “How far away is this sace house?”

“The next one’s in Greenwich, I think.”

“So basically all we have to do is to get to Greenwich without running into the Seekers.”

“Looks like it,” Sean agreed, “But first…” the Brit got up, slowly crossing the few metres that seperated him from Viggo, kneeling down in front of him, “First I’d like to thank you.”

“Thank me?” Viggo repeated, his voice carching in his throat as he stared at Sean in confusion, unable to move.

“Yes, thank you,” Sean whispered again, leaning forward to catch Viggo’s lips in a soft kiss.

Viggo opened his mouth in protest but suddenly it was filled with Seans’s tongue instead,a tongue that was circling his own, teasing him till he uttered a small moan, clutching Sean close as he gasped for oxygen.

Sean grinned as he pulled back, has face only centimetres away from Viggo’s as he waited for the American to make his choice.
For endless seconds Viggo stared into the Brit’s brilliantly green eyes, deabting what to do. Finally, slowly, he leaned forward, lips slightly parted and eyes closed as his lips shyly brushed Sean’s.
This time the kiss did not stay gentle for long and soon firm lips moved against each other, demanding and giving at the same time.
Viggo groaned again, allowing Sean to deepen the kiss once more.

“Sean…” he breathed as the other man embraced him, moving towards him and gently laying him down.

“Viggo…” Sean mimicked, gently tugging at the older man’s lower lip with his teeth.

The American gasped, his eyes widening as Sean straddled him, pressing his arousal against him.

“Need you..” the Brit whispered, kissing Viggo’s throat and chest as the blond arched against him.

“Sean…” a whimper, “More…”

Sean lapped at Viggo’s nipples, chuckling as they responded instantly. Grinning the Brit kissed a trail down the American’s chest, till finally the jeans stopped him. Slowly Sean looked up, his passion-glazed eyes staring into Viggo’s, his question obvious.
Viggo gulped and then nodded slowly, tracing the faint stubble on Sean’s jaw with his index finger. “It’s just….” He gulped, “I.. I’ve never… I mean…”

Sean grinned in response, sliding up the other man’s chest to kiss him once more while his fingers carefully unzipped Viggo’s jeans. He slid his hand down, caressing the bulge in Viggo’s boxers with his right hand, while the other drew lazy circles on the American’s quivering stomach.

Once more Sean looked up, locking gazes with Viggo. A smile played across the blond’s lips as he finally managed to free the American from the clothes seperating them.

Viggo stared in amazement as Sean straightened himself into a kneeling position, quickly shrugging out of his trousers.

“Beautiful…” Viggo whispered, his hands roaming Sean’s chest as if to commit every muscle, every centimetre of skin to memory by touch alone.
They kissed again, both of them trying to get control as they moved against each other, eager to be united. With another strangled moan Viggo spilled himself against Sean, shivering as he pressed himself against the body above him.

“Viggo…” Sean collapsed on top of the American, still shivering with the aftershocks of his orgasm.

“Sean?” Viggo asked, face heating.

“Yes?” grinning Sean rolled off Viggo and onto his side, drawing him into a tight embrace.

“Um,” Viggo started, blushing even more furiously, “Shouldn’t we… I don’t know, clean ourselves or something?”

A low chuckle was the first response he got. “You mean you actually know a place where we could wash ourselves without meeting some Seekers?”

“Um… yeah. There are some barrels outside which the gardeners use to collect rain.”

“Why should they?”

“Viggo shrugged, resting his head on Sean’s shoulder, “It’s supposed to be better for the plants.”

“Ah..” Sean nodded, tightening his hold on Viggo, “Maybe later…”


~***~


“Where do we go now?” Viggo asked, looking uncertainly at Sean.

“You know London better than I do,” Sean said, using the last pieces of his shirt to renew the dressing on Viggo’s wound. “Can you get us to Greenwich?”

“I think I so,” Viggo nodded, wincing as Sean pushed against his injury, “As long as we make sure that there are always enough people around us we should be reasonably safe.”

Sean’s eyebroes shot up, “Reasonably safe? With both of us wearing dirty trousers and your make-shift dressing on your wound.”

“You’re right.” Viggo sighed.

“Didn’t you say that Kew Gardens is on the other side of that wall?” Sean pointed at the brickstone wall on the other side of the shed.

“Yes, but…”

“Well,” Sean’s grin was positively evil, “The gardeners have to change before they start working. We could raid the locker rooms, I’m sure we’ll find something the right size for us.”

“Sounds like fun,” Viggo grinned, sea-green eyes twinkling with mischief, “Come on, I think I know a way…”


~***~

Sean tried his best not to look around nervously every few seconds as they strolled through the crowded London streets. Their little excursion to the gardeners’ locker room had been successful and they were both properly clothed again. He grinned as he thought of what two gardeners would say in the evening, noticing that their clothing had vanished.

Viggo had forced him to walk through Kew Gardens for hours, insisting that they had to take a subway if they wanted to go to Greenwich and that they had better do that when all the tourists rode back into the city.

For hours they had strolled through the gardens, at first only pretending but later really enjoying the views presented to them. He had not really noticed it but somehow Viggo and he had ended up holding hands though both of them just smiled shyly and looked the other way when they noticed it.

A sigh fled from Sean’s lips. He had always detested places crowded with humans. At least with regular humans. Nevertheless he agreed that it probably was the best way to stay save.

“What?” he glanced irritatedly at Viggo, who had just pulled him into an antique shop.
Frowning he glared at the American who just shook his head and dragged him deeper into the store.

“Can I help you, Sirs?” a voice almost instantly asked them. They turned, looking at an elderly man in simple beige trousers and a blue sweater.

“Erm…no, thanks…we’re just having a look around, Mr…?” Sean trailed off, hoping that the man would introduce himslef and disappear.

“Holm,” the white-haired man supplied, “Ian Holm. At your service.”
Sean stared as the man even bowed slightly.
“What can I do for you?”

“We…ah… were… actually we were looking for…erm… clocks!” Viggo finished triumphantly, his ears a hot pink.

“Clocks…” the rather small man repeated thoughtfully, mustering Viggo and Sean from head to toe before heaving a suffering sigh, “Who is it?”

”Who is what?” Sean found his voice again, more than just taken aback.

“Who is after you?” Ian repeated, “The police?”

“No!” Viggo said hastily, wearily watching as Ian retreated behind his counter, tapping on it with a pencil while looking almost longingly at the telephone.
Sean simply stared as Viggo stepped forward, certain that the old man would call the police and everything was lost.

“You see,” Viggo raised both hands towards Ian in a pleading gesture, “It’s not the police we’re hiding from… it’s his,” he jerked his head at Sean, “Elder brother and his father we’re running away from…”

“His father and his brother?” Ian’s tone made it more than clear that he did not believe a word of it.

“Yes!” Viggo said desperately, thinking what to do next and then grabbed Sean.

Sean was totally unprepared for the kiss, responding automatically as demanding lips crushed his. “Viggo…” he whimpered, helplessly sagging against the blond as his knees gave in.
The kiss ended as abruptly as it had started, leaving both of them panting and shivering.

“Ahem…” Ian loudly cleared his throat.

Slowly Viggo and Sean turned towards the shop keeper, Sean smiling apologetically and Viggo smiling rather sheepishly.
“You see,” Viggo started again, “His family…”

“No more of that, my boys!” Ian interrupted them dryly, “I think I see what might have agitated his family so much.” He gave Sean a sympathetic smile and wrote something on a piece of paper.
“Here,” he gave Sean the paper, “Go to this address. A friend of mine lives there with some… tenants… just tell them that Ian sent you.”

“Some tenants?” Sean repeated dumbly, noticing Ian’s strange accentuation of the word.

The white-haired man smiled indulgently. “It’s my friend Hugo, you see,” he explained, “He has a heart for strays and people in… let’s say difficult situations…”

“Oh…” mumbled Sean, “Thank you. We will go there.”

“Of course you will,” Ian smiled, “Where else could you?”


~***~


They stared nervously at each other as they stood in front of the rather run-down house.

“Well,” Viggo tried to joke, “At least the address Ian gave us was in Greenwich, too.”

“Go on then, ring the bell,” Sean said in resignation.


~***~


“Erm… hullo…” Viggo tried as a tall man with short brown hair and a very high forehead opened the door, staring down at them with his eyebrows dissappearing into his receding hairline. “Ian sent us…”

“Ah, of course!” The man’s face lit up in a smile and he motioned for them to come inside, “What are you running from?”

“Erm…” Sean hesitated a moment, trying to decide to stick woth Viggo’s earlier story, “We’re running from my family…”

“Your family?” Hugo asked, leading them through a somewhat dirty corridor.

“Yeah,” Sean nodded, “They’re not exactly thrilled about our… erm relationship with each other…”

“Oh, it’s like that.” Hugo smiled broadly, “You’ll get along with Lij and Billy then, they’ve exactly the same problem.”

“Do they,” Viggo murmered.

“Come on, meet the rest,” Hugo invited, steping into a small living room. “The one on the couch is Peter, most of the time we call him PJ, and the two in the corner over there are Billy and Elijah.”
Sean and Viggo nodded politely towards the tangle of limbs on the mattress.

“Nice to see you,” Peter said, heaving himself from the sofa and offering Sean a sweaty hand, “Glad to have someone else here. Those two lovebirds aren’t exactly the best of company. How long you’ll be stayin’?”

“Um… we don’t know yet,” Viggo said, grasping Sean’s hand for support, “But it might be quite some time.”
A brilliant smile lit Peter’s round face. “Wonderful! Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the house!”