Bed of Wild Roses

Sean could not help smiling wistfully as he watched Evie and Karl through the window of the shop. It was hard to tell which one of the two was more excited as they oohed and aahed over small fairy figurines and pastel-coloured books. Sighing he shook his head. He should have known that they would head for the toy store as soon as possible and care about the rest later. Which was the reason why they had only managed to buy exactly one pair of jeans and a shirt for Karl before Evie had dragged her new friend to the toy store.

He only hoped that his plan would work. Guilting them into cutting their toy store expedition short by waiting outside was his only chance of getting out of the mall anytime soon. Or at least before closing time. Andy just when had he forgotten that malls were hell on Friday afternoons?

He grinned as the wind from the ventilation carried bits and pieces of Karl's and Evie's discussion to him. Of course the two of them just had to discuss all the ways in which the poor sob who had designed the figurines had erred. There was no telling how long it would take them to finish verbally ripping the guy's talents to shreds.
At least Karl was dressed properly now. Though properly did not necessarily mean any less arousing. Especially considering the way the dark green shirt brought out his brown eyes. And the flip-flops were even worse.

"Damn." Sean whispered, shaking his head. His cock was definitely twitching again. This time Karl's feet were what did him in. He shifted uncomfortably as he watched Evie and Karl go on to the horse-themed section of the shop. For some reason Karl's naked feet wre strangely alluring. He was not too sure why, but they sort of suggested an innocence and vulnerability that appealed to him. He had always loved it when Abigail had been barefoot around the house, too. Great. Barefoot, pregnant and probably in the kitchen, too. Since when did he sound like such a jerk?

"Dad! Dad!"

"Huh?" Sean turned just in time to catch an armful of excited seven-year old girl.

"Dad!" Evie giggled, tugging at her father's hair. "They've got all of your books in there!"

"Really?" Sean grinned broadly. Evie's satisfaction was obvious. She was always proud when people liked his work. Maybe because she loved the stories so much herself.

"Dad?" Evie asked, arms sneaking around Sean. "Isn't it sad that some people never ever get to eat ice cream?"

"Ice cream?" Sean repeated, frowning as Karl finally joined them. "Yes, I suppose it is."
His stomach sunk as Evie smiled brilliantly at him. It seemed that he had jsut agreed to something without even knowing what exactly it was that Evie wanted.

"Great." Evie leaned back, almost falling out of Sean's arms as she grabbed Karl's hand and drew him closer. The two men were now almost shoulder to shoulder. Way too close for Sean's like. Not close enough for what Sean had started calling his 'other brain' though. It seemed that his cock was more than happy to have Karl this close.
"So you're gonna buy Karl an ice cream?"

"Karl?" Sean blinked, tearing his gaze from the object of his erections.

"Yes." Evie nodded, pouting her lips. "He's never ever eaten ice cream."

"Never?" Sean turned back to Karl, who just shrugged and almost imperceptibly shook his head. "That's somewhat hard to believe Evie."

"But Dad! Fairies don't have ice cream!"

"Right." Sean said drily. Of course. The fairies again. "And of course it would be impolite if we let Karl eat ice cream all by himself."

"Exactly." Evie grinned, wiggling out of Sean's arms. "The ice cream parlour's over there! I want chocolate!" She bounced a few times, excitement lighting her eyes. "Come on!"

With a heart-felt sigh Sean watched his daughter weave through the other shoppers heading straight for the ice cream parlour. A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his reverie.

"I'm sorry." Karl offered.

Sean shok his head, unconsciously inching closer to Karl's warmth. "Don't be." He said, leaning into the touch. "You were right. I can't remember the last time I saw her smile like that."

"It's not me Sean," Karl smiled, "She's happy to be here with you."

Sean nodded, barely noticing that Karl had already followed Evie. His slightly dazed gaze followed the other man. Oh damn. Naked feet, a touch and a smile and he was lost. Just when had his life spun out of control? And why had no one told him? With a furtive glance around he adjusted himself before heading after Evie and Karl. It seemed that he had been doomed to live with a semi-permanent erection. Damn. Sean frowned. Had anyone actually ever died of blue balls?


~***~


Fortunately Sean's worst fear, namely that it would take Evie and Karl if not ages then at least an hour to settle on their flavours of choice had not come true. Quite the opposite in fact. By the time sean reached the ice cream parlour everything had been decided. Including the fact that Sean was to order a Banana Split.
Unfortunately that also meant that Sean was now sitting at a small table and desperately trying to ignore Karl. Or rather the way Karl was eating his ice cream. With more than obvious enjoyment.

And of course Karl had not ordered a simple cone either. No, that would have been far too easy on Sean. And probably not at all in accordance with what Sean supected to be Karl's true assignment. Which was driving Sean out of his mind by sheer sexual frustration.

Karl hd ordered the so-called pizza cappriciosa. Which was basically a small plate of vanilla ice cream with a crust of whipped cream that had been luxuriously toppped with a variety of fruits and berries. Which in turn meant that Karl was dipping slices of apple, melon and peach into the whipped cream and after devouring them proceeded to lick the excess cream from his fingers.

Sean had been staring at his banana and nothing else ever since he had caught himself staring at Karl's tongue for the fourth time. Oh god. He groaned silently, driving his spoon into the banana with more force than necessary. The worst thing was that Evie had been the one to catch him staring. He had not even noticed what he had been doing until Evie's continued giggling drew him out of his fascination with Karl's tongue. Luckily Karl had seemed quite bemused when he noticed that everyone's attention was suddenly focused on him.
The only problem left was the banana. Or rather the still somewhat phallic shape of the banana.

"Sean?"

"Yes?" He looked up, reluctant to face Karl again. Damn. He felt heat flooding his cheeks as Karl's brown eyes met his. A smudge of whipped cream clung to the corner of Karl's mouth. If only he could lick it off. He probably would not have been able to resist doing just that if Evie had not been there.

"Sean?"

"Dad?"

"Yes?" He asked again, tearing his gaze from the cream smudge from hell. "I'm sorry, I guess something must have distracted me." He barely managed not to wince. Damn, that sounded more than just lame.

"I just wanted to thank you." Karl smiled, his hand covering Sean's effectively pinning it to the table. "You have been extremely kind so far."

"Um. Yes. Thanks." Sean stuttered, blushing again as he snatched his hand back. He doubted that Karl would still think that if he knew just what Sean had been thinking about him.

"Dad?" Evie tugged at his sleeve."

"Yes honey?"

"Maybe we should go home?"

"Home?" Sean frowned. Home? Why? Evie had always loved their trips to the mall. Talking her into going home again had always been a challenge. "Why?"

"You've got your headache face."

"My... headache face." Sean repeated slowly. What the fuck was a headache face? And why was Karl looking at him as though there was something stuck in his teeth?

"Yes." Evie nodded earnestly. "You always make that face when you've got a headache."

"Oh." Really? "I do?"

Another solemn nod answered him.

"We can't." Sean declared, forcing a smile. "We still have to buy clothes for Karl. And the headache isn't that bad. Really," he added almost as an afterthought.

"Clothes?" Karl repeated spooning up some blueberries and a lot of whipped cream, "But Sean, you already bought me clothes."

"No." Sean shook his head. Buying one pair of jeans and a single shirt did not count as buying clothes. "You need at least one me pair of jeans and a few more shirts. Maybe even a pullover. And you still need, you know," he gestured at Karl's legs, "Underwear."

"Underwear?"

"Yes." Sean smiled helplessly. Karl was just too cute when he had no clue. "Something to wear, you know, under your clothes."

"Underwear." Karl repeated slowly, putting his spoon aside. "But why would I want to wear anything under my clothes?"

Sean glared at his daughter, whose barely-concealed snorts of amusement had just turned into a full-blown giggle fit. "That's not funny, Evie."

"I think it is," Karl interrupted him, "It's really strange to wear even more clothes under your real clothes. Why would anyone want to do that?"

Oh god. Sean inhaled deeply, forcing himself not to think about the implacations of Karl going commando. "Well," he finally managed to say, his voice only a little strangled, "Let's just buy some boxers and talk about the rest at home, okay?"

Sean glared as Evie laughed even harder. "So..." he stood up, almost knocking his chair over in the process, "We still have to buy jeans and shirts for Karl. Let's go."

Still frowning Karl nodded, arms wrapped around himself as he gave Evie a confused glance. Evie giggled again, then grinned broadly , as they went on, her hand firmly tucked into Karl's.


~***~


Sean stood in the middle of the living room, entranced by how peaceful his daughter looked. The trip to the mall had worn her out and to Sean's astonishment she had announced that she was going to take a nap as soon as they were home. She was curled up on the sofa cushions, with only a mop of blond hair and a delicate hand peeking out from under the brightly-coloured afghan. She loked exhausted but happy.
This time Sean even noticed the exact moment when Karl joined him.

"She's a wonderful child." The other man offered, the smile obvious in his voice.

"I know." Sean whispered, once more wondering why Karl's approval sent a warm feeling through him. "Sometimes I can't believe that she's really mine."

"She definitely is."

Sean turned, raising a questioning eyebrow. Karl's chuckle sent another wave of warmth through him.

"There is a lot of you in Evie." Karl explained as their gazes locked again. "I guess that's why she's such a wonderful person."

Sean grinned, once more drawn in by Karl's lips as they curled in an answering smile. Beautiful lips. And they looked so full and inviting in the dimmed light of the room. His gaze flickered up to Karl's expressive brown eyes and the affection he saw there made the butterflies in his stomach do another series of somersaults. So close, so wonderful. He could already feel Karl's breath on his skin as the other man suddenly drew back.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Karl stuttered, wrapping his arms around himself as he took a quick step backwards, "I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I can't kiss you. This is wrong. I'm sorry." Without another word he turned and ran.

Stunned Sean watched Karl disappear into the kitchen. What the fuck had just happened? And where had it gone wrong?

"Ahem?"

Sean froze, slowly turning towards the door. Oh fuck. Viggo.

"So..." Viggo said slowly, looking pointedly at where Karl had been standing only seconds before. "Who was that?"

"That?" Sean frowned. "Um. Karl." What was Viggo doing in his home? "Viggo?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something." The agent said coldly, fiddling with the folder in his hands. "I know you're probabyl anything but happy to see me but I thought it might be better to discuss this in person."

"Of course." Sean looked once more towards the kitchen, sighing deeply. Viggo's timing was more than bad. "Study?" He suggested, relieved to see Viggo nod in agreement. He would have to try and get rid of Viggo as soon as possible. He had to talk with Karl about that almost-kiss. Damn. He really felt like hitting something. His fingernails dug painfully into the palms of his hands as he led Viggo from the room. Just damn.