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Jan. 6th, 2004 11:53 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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rugbytackleTitle: Payback
Series: 1] Sleeping Beauty 1-6. 2] Sleeping Beauty-Consummation. 3] Sleeping Beauty-Payback
Chapter: 2/3
Rated: R- adult themes
Pairing: VM/SB, VM/OB
Disclaimer: RPS; Real Person Slash. Real names, fake people. Read it, don’t read it. Make an adult decision.
Warning: None
Feedback: Nice, but not required.
Archive: No.
Overall Summary: “He owed that faithless sprat a good going over. Trouble was he didn’t know whether he wanted to hug him, or kick his arse from here to Christmas.”
Orlando gets what’s coming to him.
Chapter Summary: Orlando tries, Sean finds a solution. Viggo refuses.
Author: Arden Elear
Email: thedarkvoice@hotmail.com
Live Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/arden_elear/
Sean knew that Orlando had tried. He’d stopped bolting from the room every time Viggo entered, but he would still have to leave. He’d bear it for as long as he could and then he’d make some excuse and go.
If he and Vig were standing close to one another at the end of a scene, he did not immediately move away as he had been doing, he’d even manage to hold still for brief conversations, but his eyes always slipped or bounced off, never making contact.
He was an actor, sure, and a damned good one, but no one could be expected to keep on acting indefinitely, not when the emotions were his own and not those of some character.
Worse still, despite his and Orlando’s best efforts, Viggo was taking it badly. Very badly. Things were rapidly getting much, much worse and Sean didn’t have the first clue what to do.
Sean had the afternoon off and took advantage of it, heading home as soon as Peter had released him. He performed his few domestic chores in record time and when the last load of washing was tumbling around in the machine and the last of the dishes were done, he poured himself a beer and went to sit on the back porch to think.
Trouble was, he’d gone over this in his mind so many times already that he was beginning to feel a bit like a rat in a maze. It was hard to think clearly, to gain any sort of perspective when he was so close to those involved.
Stretching out his long legs and leaning back against the railing post, he took another sip of his beer, idly picking a bit of lint from the seam of his jeans.
It was a pleasant, lazy afternoon, warm sunshine, bees buzzing in the rose bush beside the stairs, the distant sound of kids yelling to one another on their way home from school. All very calm and peaceful, shame he wasn’t able to fully enjoy it.
In his mind, he replayed once again the evening he’d spent talking to Orlando, the subsequent conversations he’d had with Viggo, each time having to deal with more and more frustration and hurt on his lover’s part.
It wasn’t that Vig didn’t understand; he did. But being rejected over and over tended to make even the most thoughtful and understanding person react with raw emotion instead of reason. And Orli had tried . . .
Ah, shit! Viggo wasn’t the only one suffering from frustration! He was no closer to finding an answer than he’d been in the beginning! Might as well give it up, go flush his head down the bloody loo and be done with it! He swatted angrily at a fly hovering too close to his face and downed the rest of his beer. Be a whole lot stuffin’ easier if the two of them could just fuck and get it over with, he thought savagely!
The errant thought pulled him up, his aggravation draining away. What bought that on? Then he remembered. Thinking about that woman . . . what was her name? Stella? Stacey? Didn’t matter. He shook his head to rid himself of the irrelevancy. That’s right, he’d been thinking about her the night he was talking with Orlando.
But she’d been single, unattached.
Viggo was attached. Firmly bloody attached. To him!
But when he and she had gotten together, he’d felt . . . better. Over it.
Ahh Sean, you idiot! What good thinking ‘bout that, eh? You and Vig are together and no way are you gonna be that bloody self-sacrificing. Not even for Orli.
And for Viggo
Yeah, but . . .
How far? How far was he, Sean, prepared to go for his friends? How far could he back off? Could he even do it?
Another beer was in order here . . .
**
“Are you serious?” Viggo’s voice was quiet, but still incredulous. At least he wasn’t yelling. But then, Viggo rarely yelled. The power of his personality radiated from within, he didn’t need to yell.
“Yeah mate, I am.”
Sean had laid it all out. Told Viggo the truth about Orlando’s ‘crush’, explained why he’d lied for Orlando’s sake, about his search for a solution, all of it.
Viggo had understood, which was no more than he’d expected.
But then he’d told him what he’d come up with and Viggo’s comprehension was being sorely tried, hence the question, the disbelieving tone.
“Take him to bed?” Viggo was sitting on his couch, elbows on knees, raking his fingers through his hair distractedly. “Have you thought this through?”
Sean had chosen the chair beside him. Close enough to touch, but maybe also far enough away to duck any blows, he thought with wry humor
He had done nothing but think for the last five or six hours, but it was typical of Viggo to ask. To think of the other guy first. He’d already explained his thought processes, his reasoning, and his feelings, to Viggo. But if he needed reassuring, then Sean would.
“Yes. I told you . . .”
“I know what you told me. But Sean . . .” He stopped. “Jesus!” Viggo sighed.
“Look,” Sean tried again. “I know this is coming out of left field. I know it’s a lot to take in, to think about. But I do want you to think about it. Seriously. It’s an answer, Vig. The only one I could come up with. If you can do better . . .” He let the thought go as being beside the point right now.
“I’m trying to tell you how I feel about it so that you can form your own judgment. I’m not telling you what to do, I’m trying to tell you what I think and how I feel, but the decision stays with you.”
Viggo was watching him now, resting his face in his hands, eyes thoughtful. If it had been the other way round, with Viggo suggesting that Sean sleep with Orlando, he knew what his reaction would have been. Hurt. Angry. Betrayed.
Thank Christ for brilliant minds, Sean thought. For unconventional men who live outside the square.
“So,” Viggo said carefully. “You’d be okay with it?” He was asking for clarification, not declaring for the affirmative.
“I went over it and over it in my mind.” Sean told him. “Even tried picturing it. And, like I said, the only thing, the only part of it that . . . bothers me, is the idea of it happening somewhere outside of my control.”
Viggo nodded. “If I decided to do it you’d want to be there.”
Sean had come to the realization that he could handle the idea of Viggo and Orli, surprising himself. He’d always been the jealous type and wasn’t quite sure what made the difference now.
Because he loved them both, maybe? In different ways. Because he had absolute faith and trust in Viggo, in his integrity?
Whatever it may be, the idea of giving Orlando his night, his dream, made Sean feel good, not uncomfortable, not jealous. It wasn’t like he wanted to watch. And while Orlando was a nice guy he wasn’t Sean’s type at all.
But he did want the bedroom door left open, figuratively-speaking.
Being, no, feeling left out, was the worst thing he could imagine. It would destroy him, destroy them, he knew it.
Now it was up to them to decide. First Viggo, then, if he agreed, Orlando. Sean could do no more.
Viggo was nodding, agreeing to the restriction.
Viggo rose to his feet. ‘I’ll think about it.’ was all he said.
*
Sean didn’t know whether to be gratified or disappointed by Viggo’s softly-spoken, ‘I decided. The answer is no.’
“Well it can’t be because you don’t find Orli attractive.” He joked lightly. “You’d have to be dead from the neck down and I know that’s not the case.”
Viggo snuggled down further and rested his head in the crook of Sean’s arm. The television was playing softly in the background, but neither of them were paying it any attention. It was Sunday, two days since Sean had laid his proposal in Viggo’s lap and their first day off together for three weeks. A nice lay-in this morning, with a bit of nice, erotic sex thrown in for good measure and a leisurely lunch after. Perfect recipe for a perfect lazy day. Sean was feeling very mellow and reluctant to raise the stress levels any higher than they already were. He did want to understand Viggo’s reasoning, though, so he kept his tone even when he asked,
“Care to explain?”
“Nothing to explain.” Viggo said. “I’m not willing to take the risk.”
‘To us’, he meant.
“Even though I told you how I felt?”
Viggo wiggled, despite Sean’s best efforts.
“In theory. But what if it’s different in hindsight, Sean? What if everything changes and you take it badly?” Sean felt the other man’s sigh as a soft pressure against his ribs. “I’m not prepared to take that risk.”
“Okay.” He almost left it there but, for Orlando’s sake, for Viggo’s ultimate peace of mind, he felt like he had to give it one more try. Carefully, though. “But what if I’m right? What if it worked and I didn’t go off the deep end, eh? Or are you prepared to keep putting up with the situation as it is?”
“Have to.” Viggo sighed. “I’d like nothing better than to fix it. You know I would. But fifty-fifty are not good enough odds for me. I’m not the daredevil everyone seems to think I am, Sean. Not when it comes to this.” Viggo looked up at Sean and smiled, but his eyes were still sad. “I’d do it for Orlando, but not when it puts us at risk. I can’t.”
Sean had to let it go. He didn’t agree, but it wasn’t his decision.
**
The explosion came without warning.
Sean knew things were going from bad to worse but was powerless to stop it.
Orlando wasn’t even trying any more; he simply didn’t have anything left in his emotional storehouse. .
And Viggo was simmering. Quietly.
Still, if Sean had to hazard a guess about who’d blow first, he’d have put his money on Orlando, who seemed to be the more strained of the two.
He’d have lost.
As had become his habit, Sean was spending the weekend at Viggo’s house. It was Friday evening, Vig was working late doing close-ups and wasn’t due home until after ten o’clock.
Orlando called and came over around six. He needed to run though his lines for tomorrow afternoon’s schedule and, as most of those lines involved Aragorn, he was learning them with Sean instead.
They’d been at it for a couple of hours, had broken for dinner, then for coffee and had just settled back down on the couch to run through one more time. Orli was reciting without his script in front of him.
Orlando fluffed the line badly, and they both dissolved into fits of laughter, tears in their eyes. Orlando doubled over and fell sideways onto the couch. Sean laughed even harder.
When he wiped the tears away he saw Viggo standing in the shadows by the door.
Orli was still giggling, oblivious.
“Hey, Vig.” Sean said, delivering a greeting and a warning at the same time. “You’re early.”
Orlando went very still and then slowly sat up, keeping his face averted.
“Hi Viggo.” It was little more than a whisper.
“Gentlemen.” Viggo acknowledged. “Peter cancelled.” He explained, his voice clipped and emotionless. “Camera seized up.”
Moving from where he’d been leaning on the wall, Viggo started to cross the room.
Orlando leapt to his feet. The contrast between the laughing, relaxed Orlando and this distressed, harried young man could not have been more marked.
“Well, I’d best be off . . .” He began.
“No.” Viggo’s voice came like a whip crack, cutting off Orlando’s excuse, freezing Orli in place.
“Finish your business.” Viggo went on, his voice hard and cold. “I’m going upstairs.”
He headed in that direction, tension evident in every step he took, footsteps ringing loud in the silence as his boots tapped the wooden floor. Sean reached out a hand as he passed, whether to stop him or just to offer wordless comfort, he couldn’t have said.
Viggo flinched violently away, pulling his arm back as if bitten and disappeared up the stairs.
Sean let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. So now I’ve become part of the problem, he thought wretchedly, stealing a glance at Orlando who had collapsed back onto the couch, his eyes wet.
“I’m so sorry, Sean.” He said in a low, pained voice.
From upstairs there came the sound of a drawer being banged shut.
“S’okay, Orli.” It wasn’t, but there didn’t seem to be anything else he could say.
His heart was hammering and his chest felt tight.
Another thump, followed by a muffled curse. Viggo was really going to town up there.
Sean couldn’t remember ever seeing Viggo so distraught before, almost out of control.
“I should . . .”
Sean held up a finger, demanding silence. His mind was racing. Someone had to take charge here.
“Orlando. Go up there. Now!” His tone brooked no argument.
Orlando obeyed. He had to know that a confrontation was inevitable. Sean counted to twenty before he rose and followed.
This was ending. Right here, right now.
Series: 1] Sleeping Beauty 1-6. 2] Sleeping Beauty-Consummation. 3] Sleeping Beauty-Payback
Chapter: 2/3
Rated: R- adult themes
Pairing: VM/SB, VM/OB
Disclaimer: RPS; Real Person Slash. Real names, fake people. Read it, don’t read it. Make an adult decision.
Warning: None
Feedback: Nice, but not required.
Archive: No.
Overall Summary: “He owed that faithless sprat a good going over. Trouble was he didn’t know whether he wanted to hug him, or kick his arse from here to Christmas.”
Orlando gets what’s coming to him.
Chapter Summary: Orlando tries, Sean finds a solution. Viggo refuses.
Author: Arden Elear
Email: thedarkvoice@hotmail.com
Live Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/arden_elear/
Sean knew that Orlando had tried. He’d stopped bolting from the room every time Viggo entered, but he would still have to leave. He’d bear it for as long as he could and then he’d make some excuse and go.
If he and Vig were standing close to one another at the end of a scene, he did not immediately move away as he had been doing, he’d even manage to hold still for brief conversations, but his eyes always slipped or bounced off, never making contact.
He was an actor, sure, and a damned good one, but no one could be expected to keep on acting indefinitely, not when the emotions were his own and not those of some character.
Worse still, despite his and Orlando’s best efforts, Viggo was taking it badly. Very badly. Things were rapidly getting much, much worse and Sean didn’t have the first clue what to do.
Sean had the afternoon off and took advantage of it, heading home as soon as Peter had released him. He performed his few domestic chores in record time and when the last load of washing was tumbling around in the machine and the last of the dishes were done, he poured himself a beer and went to sit on the back porch to think.
Trouble was, he’d gone over this in his mind so many times already that he was beginning to feel a bit like a rat in a maze. It was hard to think clearly, to gain any sort of perspective when he was so close to those involved.
Stretching out his long legs and leaning back against the railing post, he took another sip of his beer, idly picking a bit of lint from the seam of his jeans.
It was a pleasant, lazy afternoon, warm sunshine, bees buzzing in the rose bush beside the stairs, the distant sound of kids yelling to one another on their way home from school. All very calm and peaceful, shame he wasn’t able to fully enjoy it.
In his mind, he replayed once again the evening he’d spent talking to Orlando, the subsequent conversations he’d had with Viggo, each time having to deal with more and more frustration and hurt on his lover’s part.
It wasn’t that Vig didn’t understand; he did. But being rejected over and over tended to make even the most thoughtful and understanding person react with raw emotion instead of reason. And Orli had tried . . .
Ah, shit! Viggo wasn’t the only one suffering from frustration! He was no closer to finding an answer than he’d been in the beginning! Might as well give it up, go flush his head down the bloody loo and be done with it! He swatted angrily at a fly hovering too close to his face and downed the rest of his beer. Be a whole lot stuffin’ easier if the two of them could just fuck and get it over with, he thought savagely!
The errant thought pulled him up, his aggravation draining away. What bought that on? Then he remembered. Thinking about that woman . . . what was her name? Stella? Stacey? Didn’t matter. He shook his head to rid himself of the irrelevancy. That’s right, he’d been thinking about her the night he was talking with Orlando.
But she’d been single, unattached.
Viggo was attached. Firmly bloody attached. To him!
But when he and she had gotten together, he’d felt . . . better. Over it.
Ahh Sean, you idiot! What good thinking ‘bout that, eh? You and Vig are together and no way are you gonna be that bloody self-sacrificing. Not even for Orli.
And for Viggo
Yeah, but . . .
How far? How far was he, Sean, prepared to go for his friends? How far could he back off? Could he even do it?
Another beer was in order here . . .
**
“Are you serious?” Viggo’s voice was quiet, but still incredulous. At least he wasn’t yelling. But then, Viggo rarely yelled. The power of his personality radiated from within, he didn’t need to yell.
“Yeah mate, I am.”
Sean had laid it all out. Told Viggo the truth about Orlando’s ‘crush’, explained why he’d lied for Orlando’s sake, about his search for a solution, all of it.
Viggo had understood, which was no more than he’d expected.
But then he’d told him what he’d come up with and Viggo’s comprehension was being sorely tried, hence the question, the disbelieving tone.
“Take him to bed?” Viggo was sitting on his couch, elbows on knees, raking his fingers through his hair distractedly. “Have you thought this through?”
Sean had chosen the chair beside him. Close enough to touch, but maybe also far enough away to duck any blows, he thought with wry humor
He had done nothing but think for the last five or six hours, but it was typical of Viggo to ask. To think of the other guy first. He’d already explained his thought processes, his reasoning, and his feelings, to Viggo. But if he needed reassuring, then Sean would.
“Yes. I told you . . .”
“I know what you told me. But Sean . . .” He stopped. “Jesus!” Viggo sighed.
“Look,” Sean tried again. “I know this is coming out of left field. I know it’s a lot to take in, to think about. But I do want you to think about it. Seriously. It’s an answer, Vig. The only one I could come up with. If you can do better . . .” He let the thought go as being beside the point right now.
“I’m trying to tell you how I feel about it so that you can form your own judgment. I’m not telling you what to do, I’m trying to tell you what I think and how I feel, but the decision stays with you.”
Viggo was watching him now, resting his face in his hands, eyes thoughtful. If it had been the other way round, with Viggo suggesting that Sean sleep with Orlando, he knew what his reaction would have been. Hurt. Angry. Betrayed.
Thank Christ for brilliant minds, Sean thought. For unconventional men who live outside the square.
“So,” Viggo said carefully. “You’d be okay with it?” He was asking for clarification, not declaring for the affirmative.
“I went over it and over it in my mind.” Sean told him. “Even tried picturing it. And, like I said, the only thing, the only part of it that . . . bothers me, is the idea of it happening somewhere outside of my control.”
Viggo nodded. “If I decided to do it you’d want to be there.”
Sean had come to the realization that he could handle the idea of Viggo and Orli, surprising himself. He’d always been the jealous type and wasn’t quite sure what made the difference now.
Because he loved them both, maybe? In different ways. Because he had absolute faith and trust in Viggo, in his integrity?
Whatever it may be, the idea of giving Orlando his night, his dream, made Sean feel good, not uncomfortable, not jealous. It wasn’t like he wanted to watch. And while Orlando was a nice guy he wasn’t Sean’s type at all.
But he did want the bedroom door left open, figuratively-speaking.
Being, no, feeling left out, was the worst thing he could imagine. It would destroy him, destroy them, he knew it.
Now it was up to them to decide. First Viggo, then, if he agreed, Orlando. Sean could do no more.
Viggo was nodding, agreeing to the restriction.
Viggo rose to his feet. ‘I’ll think about it.’ was all he said.
*
Sean didn’t know whether to be gratified or disappointed by Viggo’s softly-spoken, ‘I decided. The answer is no.’
“Well it can’t be because you don’t find Orli attractive.” He joked lightly. “You’d have to be dead from the neck down and I know that’s not the case.”
Viggo snuggled down further and rested his head in the crook of Sean’s arm. The television was playing softly in the background, but neither of them were paying it any attention. It was Sunday, two days since Sean had laid his proposal in Viggo’s lap and their first day off together for three weeks. A nice lay-in this morning, with a bit of nice, erotic sex thrown in for good measure and a leisurely lunch after. Perfect recipe for a perfect lazy day. Sean was feeling very mellow and reluctant to raise the stress levels any higher than they already were. He did want to understand Viggo’s reasoning, though, so he kept his tone even when he asked,
“Care to explain?”
“Nothing to explain.” Viggo said. “I’m not willing to take the risk.”
‘To us’, he meant.
“Even though I told you how I felt?”
Viggo wiggled, despite Sean’s best efforts.
“In theory. But what if it’s different in hindsight, Sean? What if everything changes and you take it badly?” Sean felt the other man’s sigh as a soft pressure against his ribs. “I’m not prepared to take that risk.”
“Okay.” He almost left it there but, for Orlando’s sake, for Viggo’s ultimate peace of mind, he felt like he had to give it one more try. Carefully, though. “But what if I’m right? What if it worked and I didn’t go off the deep end, eh? Or are you prepared to keep putting up with the situation as it is?”
“Have to.” Viggo sighed. “I’d like nothing better than to fix it. You know I would. But fifty-fifty are not good enough odds for me. I’m not the daredevil everyone seems to think I am, Sean. Not when it comes to this.” Viggo looked up at Sean and smiled, but his eyes were still sad. “I’d do it for Orlando, but not when it puts us at risk. I can’t.”
Sean had to let it go. He didn’t agree, but it wasn’t his decision.
**
The explosion came without warning.
Sean knew things were going from bad to worse but was powerless to stop it.
Orlando wasn’t even trying any more; he simply didn’t have anything left in his emotional storehouse. .
And Viggo was simmering. Quietly.
Still, if Sean had to hazard a guess about who’d blow first, he’d have put his money on Orlando, who seemed to be the more strained of the two.
He’d have lost.
As had become his habit, Sean was spending the weekend at Viggo’s house. It was Friday evening, Vig was working late doing close-ups and wasn’t due home until after ten o’clock.
Orlando called and came over around six. He needed to run though his lines for tomorrow afternoon’s schedule and, as most of those lines involved Aragorn, he was learning them with Sean instead.
They’d been at it for a couple of hours, had broken for dinner, then for coffee and had just settled back down on the couch to run through one more time. Orli was reciting without his script in front of him.
Orlando fluffed the line badly, and they both dissolved into fits of laughter, tears in their eyes. Orlando doubled over and fell sideways onto the couch. Sean laughed even harder.
When he wiped the tears away he saw Viggo standing in the shadows by the door.
Orli was still giggling, oblivious.
“Hey, Vig.” Sean said, delivering a greeting and a warning at the same time. “You’re early.”
Orlando went very still and then slowly sat up, keeping his face averted.
“Hi Viggo.” It was little more than a whisper.
“Gentlemen.” Viggo acknowledged. “Peter cancelled.” He explained, his voice clipped and emotionless. “Camera seized up.”
Moving from where he’d been leaning on the wall, Viggo started to cross the room.
Orlando leapt to his feet. The contrast between the laughing, relaxed Orlando and this distressed, harried young man could not have been more marked.
“Well, I’d best be off . . .” He began.
“No.” Viggo’s voice came like a whip crack, cutting off Orlando’s excuse, freezing Orli in place.
“Finish your business.” Viggo went on, his voice hard and cold. “I’m going upstairs.”
He headed in that direction, tension evident in every step he took, footsteps ringing loud in the silence as his boots tapped the wooden floor. Sean reached out a hand as he passed, whether to stop him or just to offer wordless comfort, he couldn’t have said.
Viggo flinched violently away, pulling his arm back as if bitten and disappeared up the stairs.
Sean let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. So now I’ve become part of the problem, he thought wretchedly, stealing a glance at Orlando who had collapsed back onto the couch, his eyes wet.
“I’m so sorry, Sean.” He said in a low, pained voice.
From upstairs there came the sound of a drawer being banged shut.
“S’okay, Orli.” It wasn’t, but there didn’t seem to be anything else he could say.
His heart was hammering and his chest felt tight.
Another thump, followed by a muffled curse. Viggo was really going to town up there.
Sean couldn’t remember ever seeing Viggo so distraught before, almost out of control.
“I should . . .”
Sean held up a finger, demanding silence. His mind was racing. Someone had to take charge here.
“Orlando. Go up there. Now!” His tone brooked no argument.
Orlando obeyed. He had to know that a confrontation was inevitable. Sean counted to twenty before he rose and followed.
This was ending. Right here, right now.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Hey!
Date: 2004-01-06 01:13 pm (UTC)I'd call you a tease, but you've been churning 'em out so fast, seems kinda mean...
:)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 04:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 09:21 pm (UTC)But ... ya left it there???? *crosses fingers for next part to be posted soon*
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-07 04:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-07 11:49 am (UTC)