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fellowshippers2004-11-24 02:11 am
andrealyn) wrote in fellowshippers2004-11-24 02:11 am
(no subject)
Title: The Signs of the Zodiac 10/12
Pairing: Bean/Orlando, Dom/Billy, Orlando/Craig
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not mine, never happened.
Summary: Orlando's life goes through quite a bit in the course of twelve months.
Notes: So, thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
captnobvious and beizy for hand-holding in the early days and to shaenie who completely ripped the first draft of this apart. Many thanks. Couldn't have done it without you. Previous parts can be found here.
SCORPIO
November 12th
If the truth was to be told, Orlando missed New Zealand with a keen ache -- the time when his memories were all happy and there were new relationships that remained fresh and trouble-free. When Craig visited – bringing the accent of the country and the memories with him – Orlando missed it even more.
It didn’t really have anything to do with Craig. It really had to do with Orlando, and the fact that Orlando had been happy in New Zealand, and was not – by any stretch of the imagination – happy now. It wasn’t Craig’s fault.
Orlando was grateful to have him stay instead. Elijah’s visits had begun to wane and even after so much time Orlando didn’t feel up to being left on his own, subject to his memories and nightmares. When Craig came bursting through his door with suitcases in hand, Orlando had truthfully been glad.
“You don’t mind?” Craig had asked repeatedly.
“I would be offended if you left,” Orlando replied honestly, and then he coughed a little. “At least, until your birthday arrives.”
“That’ll be a night.” Craig grinned in anticipation.
When the big night did arrive, Orlando had a fully stocked bar – excessively so, if you asked people without alcoholic tendencies – with many helpful suggestions from Dom, Billy, and Elijah based on their extensive pub experience. Orlando had started drinking earlier than the majority of the guests.
By the time he greeted Elijah, he was close to being buzzed. While he had made excellent progress away from ultimate depression, he still had a ways to go to achieve actual healthiness in body and mind.
When Dom came over, Orlando had achieved buzzed. Dom gave him a disapproving look before taking him by the elbow and leading him over to Orlando’s couch. Orlando stumbled along willingly. Dom turned a little, and Orlando wondered where Billy was, because the two were inseparable. Craig appeared to be missing, also.
“How much have you had?” Dom asked quietly. His face twisted into general sympathy as Orlando let out a hiccup that trailed on the heels of a surprised burp.
“Lots,” Orlando reported cheerily. “And I can’t feel my fingers.” His eyes went wide as he held them up and wiggled them. Dom captured the moving digits and looked Orlando in the eye. “What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to talk to you,” Dom replied innocently. “Can’t I do that?”
“Why now?” Orlando asked suspiciously, narrowing one eye.
“You seemed, uh…” Dom coughed a little, “that is to say…easily approachable!”
“M’not drunk yet,” Orlando contradicted.
“No,” Dom admitted with an amused smile. “Anyway, Orlando, I’m sorry about yelling at you and all. At the time, it really did seem like the thing to do, but now…yeah, I’m sorry if I added to any of your trouble or whatever. Orlando, mate, you know you’re my best friend, and you are…you really are.” Dom paused. “Right?” he added finally, sounding uncertain.
“Dom, you idiot.” Orlando gave a loud laugh. “Of course you’re still my best friend!”
Dom nodded, the smile on his face morphing from slight to a full-fledged beaming grin. He laughed a little and clapped Orlando on the back, bringing him into a hug, and holding him for long moments.
“You’re the best,” Dom announced. “And I’ll be back soon! Craig and Billy are waiting for me!”
He sprang off the couch and made a near-dash into the bedroom. Orlando frowned. It didn’t seem right that everyone but him got to use his bedroom for something fun; sleeping certainly didn’t count. Besides, he doubted very much that they’d gone in there to take a bloody nap. It simply wasn’t fair. He sighed, resigned to loafing on the couch and watching everyone else have fun for the rest of the night.
Elijah sifting through the crowd to reach him rated about a six on the fun level. Orlando frowned as Elijah blocked his view of the door. “Hey!” Elijah greeted him, and grinned.
“You’re blocking my view,” Orlando mumbled. Elijah laughed – sounding nervous –
and didn’t even turn to look at the door. He merely stood there, completely obscuring Orlando’s view and nodded rapidly. “Elijah, what are you doing?” Orlando demanded, drawing the words out into a long, vowel-ridden whine. “What?” he laughed. “Is there someone you don’t want me to see? Ooooh, secret!”
“Yeah,” Elijah coughed a little, and bit his lip. “Secrets! Good one!”
Someone came up to Elijah and whispered something into his ear. When the stranger vanished back into the crowd, Elijah sat in the spot that Dom had vacated, relaxing his posture quite visibly. Orlando swayed a little, glancing warily at Elijah every now and again. Eventually, the alcohol still buzzing in his brain pushed the matter out of his mind entirely.
“Guess what,” Elijah said. “I met someone today, and you two would be perfect together. I think he said that he was a Pisces.” Elijah sounded desperate to make the words appealing, but Orlando just frowned.
“Elijah?” Orlando gave a little sniff. “I don’t want anyone. I didn’t before and…yeah…don’t now. I just wanted Sean, and he left me.” Orlando sighed heavily and noticed that his bedroom door was opening a little.
“The party is in here!” Craig leaned out and announced, laughing rather obnoxiously as he pointed back to the bedroom. A hand dragged him back in and shut the door. A great slam accompanied the motion, and Orlando rolled his eyes.
“Silly people,” Orlando muttered under his breath.
Elijah leaned on his shoulder a little, and the warmth and the weight felt good on Orlando’s shoulder, so he leaned in a little himself. Orlando watched Elijah gaze out at the party, and they both looked at all the happy people – laughing, dancing, mingling. Then, Elijah cast his eyes downward.
“They’re all really happy,” he told Orlando.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Orlando replied dully.
“Orlando…” Elijah said, but let his voice trail off into the noise that the party was providing. Eventually he sat up from Orlando’s shoulder to better look him in the eye. “I looked so hard,” Elijah told him, his voice quiet.
“For what?” Orlando was deeply confused.
“Someone,” Elijah grunted. “Anyone,” he sighed.
Orlando didn’t know how to react to Elijah’s words and opted for sitting in silence. In the span of their silence, the door opened and Craig walked out – looking pleased as punch – and immediately headed to the deck out back. Orlando suspected that sitting there with Elijah had the potential to become even more uncomfortable. He shifted a little and cleared his throat.
“Elijah?” Orlando murmured. He blinked a little and tried to find sense in his spinning universe. “If I hadn’t met Sean first…I’d have you in a second.”
“Yeah?” Elijah turned to him, and his eyes twinkled hopefully.
“Yeah,” Orlando nodded. “After all, you’re an Aquarius.”
Elijah grinned, and dragged Orlando in a hug. Orlando wondered how many other people he would end up hugging tonight, slightly taken aback. He laughed a little before gently pushing Elijah away.
“I’m going to check on Craig,” Orlando said, nodding slowly – the alcohol working its way to his brain as he stood up and began to distort his vision. Elijah nodded.
“Hey,” Elijah murmured, grabbing at Orlando’s hand. “Thanks.”
“No, Lij…no. Not after everything you did for me. You don’t need to thank me.” He paused. “Thank you.” He sniffed and gave a grateful smile while squeezing Elijah’s hand gently. “Thank you for what you did for me Lij.” He made his way through the crowd – stumbling and hitting his knee on furniture only once – and out onto the back deck.
Craig was leaning against the railing with a pleased grin on his face. Orlando ambled over to his side – almost hoping to get some of the happiness by osmosis – and Craig smiled when he saw that he had company.
“The party’s got a lot of the happening stuff,” Orlando mumbled.
“How much have you had to drink?” Craig asked and raised his glass in Orlando’s direction. A little bit of his drink sloshed out and his words were already slurred. Orlando smirked in bemusement – and quite a bit of smirking was, in fact, due to sublime intoxication. Orlando licked his lips, and ran a hand through Craig’s perfectly styled hair. “Hey! That took forever,” the birthday boy protested.
Orlando regarded the spikes of hair he had just mussed up and tucked himself under Craig’s arm. With one smooth movement, Orlando stole Craig’s drink and finished the rest of it.
“Was it hard?” Orlando stammered through the haze, trying to bring some sense into his foggy, drunken brain. “Did everyone hate you when you came out?”
Craig paused, and Orlando felt more innocent than he had in weeks with his Craig-blanket surrounding him. Orlando knew that sadness was always lurking just beneath his surface as though ready to spring forward. Craig shifted his weight, and Orlando fell into his lap in the process.
“My parents did,” Craig admitted after a moment, “for a little while. My father never really accepted it.” He smiled sadly. Orlando commiserated and found he was falling prey to envying Craig’s strength. After all, he had done things that Orlando had yet to do – telling the world that he loved men was on the list.
“I wish I could do that,” Orlando told Craig softly.
“One day.” Craig nodded encouragingly. Orlando nestled his head within the crook of Craig’s neck, and he didn’t feel like moving. Craig smiled a little, and Orlando gave a smile back. He smelled the alcohol wafting off of his breath – as well as Craig’s. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“What are we doing?” Orlando stared up at Craig’s face.
“It’s up to you,” Craig avoided an answer. Orlando licked his lips and furrowed his brow in deep thought. “It’s your choice,” Craig reiterated, to which Orlando shook his head and gave a broken laugh.
“I didn’t make the choices that put me here,” he said in a hushed tone. “So I just live with things.”
“Okay,” Craig responded with a nod. “Okay,” he repeated in a lower octave.
He leaned in the rest of the distance and kissed Orlando gently. Orlando knew there were at least three different varieties of alcohol on his lips, but the Craig didn’t seem to care. He kept pushing forward for more. As the seconds passed, the kiss grew in its intensity and Orlando whimpered involuntarily – simply missing the touch, the taste, and the feel of a kiss after so many months. The tongue inside Craig’s mouth grew more insistent and kept roving around, trying to get a better feel for him.
Orlando closed his eyes and felt himself getting lost in all the senses involved.
The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped him out of it.
Orlando’s eyes opened when Craig’s mouth parted from his. He saw Sean standing above him, looking ever so disappointed and just about as crushed as Orlando felt.
“Oh shit,” Orlando whispered, wiping his mouth sloppily with one hand. “Sean…?”
“My mistake,” Sean said hoarsely, gaze focused somewhere over Orlando’s shoulder. He turned without another word, and walked away. His face was completely blank and devoid of any kind of emotion after the initial distress.
Orlando was frozen and watched Craig grasp the railing tightly. Orlando’s shoulders slumped as he stood there. Orlando shook his head in disbelief and scoffed a little.
“He was invited,” he said softly. “No one told me.”
Orlando smiled apologetically as he turned away and stumble inside, managing to get into his bedroom without looking directly at or speaking to anyone. He locked the door, and was glad not to know what was happening outside. He was too tired. They could let him be miserable, for all he cared. He would even go out with the next prospect that Elijah set him up with, because it was just too hard to care. The look on Sean’s face was insistent in his mind; when he collapsed on top of the covers, he was almost grateful to note that he was already losing cohesive thought. He passed out without resistance, the taste of Craig’s kiss still on his lips.
tbc
Pairing: Bean/Orlando, Dom/Billy, Orlando/Craig
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Not mine, never happened.
Summary: Orlando's life goes through quite a bit in the course of twelve months.
Notes: So, thanks to
captnobvious and beizy for hand-holding in the early days and to shaenie who completely ripped the first draft of this apart. Many thanks. Couldn't have done it without you. Previous parts can be found here.November 12th
If the truth was to be told, Orlando missed New Zealand with a keen ache -- the time when his memories were all happy and there were new relationships that remained fresh and trouble-free. When Craig visited – bringing the accent of the country and the memories with him – Orlando missed it even more.
It didn’t really have anything to do with Craig. It really had to do with Orlando, and the fact that Orlando had been happy in New Zealand, and was not – by any stretch of the imagination – happy now. It wasn’t Craig’s fault.
Orlando was grateful to have him stay instead. Elijah’s visits had begun to wane and even after so much time Orlando didn’t feel up to being left on his own, subject to his memories and nightmares. When Craig came bursting through his door with suitcases in hand, Orlando had truthfully been glad.
“You don’t mind?” Craig had asked repeatedly.
“I would be offended if you left,” Orlando replied honestly, and then he coughed a little. “At least, until your birthday arrives.”
“That’ll be a night.” Craig grinned in anticipation.
When the big night did arrive, Orlando had a fully stocked bar – excessively so, if you asked people without alcoholic tendencies – with many helpful suggestions from Dom, Billy, and Elijah based on their extensive pub experience. Orlando had started drinking earlier than the majority of the guests.
By the time he greeted Elijah, he was close to being buzzed. While he had made excellent progress away from ultimate depression, he still had a ways to go to achieve actual healthiness in body and mind.
When Dom came over, Orlando had achieved buzzed. Dom gave him a disapproving look before taking him by the elbow and leading him over to Orlando’s couch. Orlando stumbled along willingly. Dom turned a little, and Orlando wondered where Billy was, because the two were inseparable. Craig appeared to be missing, also.
“How much have you had?” Dom asked quietly. His face twisted into general sympathy as Orlando let out a hiccup that trailed on the heels of a surprised burp.
“Lots,” Orlando reported cheerily. “And I can’t feel my fingers.” His eyes went wide as he held them up and wiggled them. Dom captured the moving digits and looked Orlando in the eye. “What’s going on?”
“I just wanted to talk to you,” Dom replied innocently. “Can’t I do that?”
“Why now?” Orlando asked suspiciously, narrowing one eye.
“You seemed, uh…” Dom coughed a little, “that is to say…easily approachable!”
“M’not drunk yet,” Orlando contradicted.
“No,” Dom admitted with an amused smile. “Anyway, Orlando, I’m sorry about yelling at you and all. At the time, it really did seem like the thing to do, but now…yeah, I’m sorry if I added to any of your trouble or whatever. Orlando, mate, you know you’re my best friend, and you are…you really are.” Dom paused. “Right?” he added finally, sounding uncertain.
“Dom, you idiot.” Orlando gave a loud laugh. “Of course you’re still my best friend!”
Dom nodded, the smile on his face morphing from slight to a full-fledged beaming grin. He laughed a little and clapped Orlando on the back, bringing him into a hug, and holding him for long moments.
“You’re the best,” Dom announced. “And I’ll be back soon! Craig and Billy are waiting for me!”
He sprang off the couch and made a near-dash into the bedroom. Orlando frowned. It didn’t seem right that everyone but him got to use his bedroom for something fun; sleeping certainly didn’t count. Besides, he doubted very much that they’d gone in there to take a bloody nap. It simply wasn’t fair. He sighed, resigned to loafing on the couch and watching everyone else have fun for the rest of the night.
Elijah sifting through the crowd to reach him rated about a six on the fun level. Orlando frowned as Elijah blocked his view of the door. “Hey!” Elijah greeted him, and grinned.
“You’re blocking my view,” Orlando mumbled. Elijah laughed – sounding nervous –
and didn’t even turn to look at the door. He merely stood there, completely obscuring Orlando’s view and nodded rapidly. “Elijah, what are you doing?” Orlando demanded, drawing the words out into a long, vowel-ridden whine. “What?” he laughed. “Is there someone you don’t want me to see? Ooooh, secret!”
“Yeah,” Elijah coughed a little, and bit his lip. “Secrets! Good one!”
Someone came up to Elijah and whispered something into his ear. When the stranger vanished back into the crowd, Elijah sat in the spot that Dom had vacated, relaxing his posture quite visibly. Orlando swayed a little, glancing warily at Elijah every now and again. Eventually, the alcohol still buzzing in his brain pushed the matter out of his mind entirely.
“Guess what,” Elijah said. “I met someone today, and you two would be perfect together. I think he said that he was a Pisces.” Elijah sounded desperate to make the words appealing, but Orlando just frowned.
“Elijah?” Orlando gave a little sniff. “I don’t want anyone. I didn’t before and…yeah…don’t now. I just wanted Sean, and he left me.” Orlando sighed heavily and noticed that his bedroom door was opening a little.
“The party is in here!” Craig leaned out and announced, laughing rather obnoxiously as he pointed back to the bedroom. A hand dragged him back in and shut the door. A great slam accompanied the motion, and Orlando rolled his eyes.
“Silly people,” Orlando muttered under his breath.
Elijah leaned on his shoulder a little, and the warmth and the weight felt good on Orlando’s shoulder, so he leaned in a little himself. Orlando watched Elijah gaze out at the party, and they both looked at all the happy people – laughing, dancing, mingling. Then, Elijah cast his eyes downward.
“They’re all really happy,” he told Orlando.
“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Orlando replied dully.
“Orlando…” Elijah said, but let his voice trail off into the noise that the party was providing. Eventually he sat up from Orlando’s shoulder to better look him in the eye. “I looked so hard,” Elijah told him, his voice quiet.
“For what?” Orlando was deeply confused.
“Someone,” Elijah grunted. “Anyone,” he sighed.
Orlando didn’t know how to react to Elijah’s words and opted for sitting in silence. In the span of their silence, the door opened and Craig walked out – looking pleased as punch – and immediately headed to the deck out back. Orlando suspected that sitting there with Elijah had the potential to become even more uncomfortable. He shifted a little and cleared his throat.
“Elijah?” Orlando murmured. He blinked a little and tried to find sense in his spinning universe. “If I hadn’t met Sean first…I’d have you in a second.”
“Yeah?” Elijah turned to him, and his eyes twinkled hopefully.
“Yeah,” Orlando nodded. “After all, you’re an Aquarius.”
Elijah grinned, and dragged Orlando in a hug. Orlando wondered how many other people he would end up hugging tonight, slightly taken aback. He laughed a little before gently pushing Elijah away.
“I’m going to check on Craig,” Orlando said, nodding slowly – the alcohol working its way to his brain as he stood up and began to distort his vision. Elijah nodded.
“Hey,” Elijah murmured, grabbing at Orlando’s hand. “Thanks.”
“No, Lij…no. Not after everything you did for me. You don’t need to thank me.” He paused. “Thank you.” He sniffed and gave a grateful smile while squeezing Elijah’s hand gently. “Thank you for what you did for me Lij.” He made his way through the crowd – stumbling and hitting his knee on furniture only once – and out onto the back deck.
Craig was leaning against the railing with a pleased grin on his face. Orlando ambled over to his side – almost hoping to get some of the happiness by osmosis – and Craig smiled when he saw that he had company.
“The party’s got a lot of the happening stuff,” Orlando mumbled.
“How much have you had to drink?” Craig asked and raised his glass in Orlando’s direction. A little bit of his drink sloshed out and his words were already slurred. Orlando smirked in bemusement – and quite a bit of smirking was, in fact, due to sublime intoxication. Orlando licked his lips, and ran a hand through Craig’s perfectly styled hair. “Hey! That took forever,” the birthday boy protested.
Orlando regarded the spikes of hair he had just mussed up and tucked himself under Craig’s arm. With one smooth movement, Orlando stole Craig’s drink and finished the rest of it.
“Was it hard?” Orlando stammered through the haze, trying to bring some sense into his foggy, drunken brain. “Did everyone hate you when you came out?”
Craig paused, and Orlando felt more innocent than he had in weeks with his Craig-blanket surrounding him. Orlando knew that sadness was always lurking just beneath his surface as though ready to spring forward. Craig shifted his weight, and Orlando fell into his lap in the process.
“My parents did,” Craig admitted after a moment, “for a little while. My father never really accepted it.” He smiled sadly. Orlando commiserated and found he was falling prey to envying Craig’s strength. After all, he had done things that Orlando had yet to do – telling the world that he loved men was on the list.
“I wish I could do that,” Orlando told Craig softly.
“One day.” Craig nodded encouragingly. Orlando nestled his head within the crook of Craig’s neck, and he didn’t feel like moving. Craig smiled a little, and Orlando gave a smile back. He smelled the alcohol wafting off of his breath – as well as Craig’s. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“What are we doing?” Orlando stared up at Craig’s face.
“It’s up to you,” Craig avoided an answer. Orlando licked his lips and furrowed his brow in deep thought. “It’s your choice,” Craig reiterated, to which Orlando shook his head and gave a broken laugh.
“I didn’t make the choices that put me here,” he said in a hushed tone. “So I just live with things.”
“Okay,” Craig responded with a nod. “Okay,” he repeated in a lower octave.
He leaned in the rest of the distance and kissed Orlando gently. Orlando knew there were at least three different varieties of alcohol on his lips, but the Craig didn’t seem to care. He kept pushing forward for more. As the seconds passed, the kiss grew in its intensity and Orlando whimpered involuntarily – simply missing the touch, the taste, and the feel of a kiss after so many months. The tongue inside Craig’s mouth grew more insistent and kept roving around, trying to get a better feel for him.
Orlando closed his eyes and felt himself getting lost in all the senses involved.
The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped him out of it.
Orlando’s eyes opened when Craig’s mouth parted from his. He saw Sean standing above him, looking ever so disappointed and just about as crushed as Orlando felt.
“Oh shit,” Orlando whispered, wiping his mouth sloppily with one hand. “Sean…?”
“My mistake,” Sean said hoarsely, gaze focused somewhere over Orlando’s shoulder. He turned without another word, and walked away. His face was completely blank and devoid of any kind of emotion after the initial distress.
Orlando was frozen and watched Craig grasp the railing tightly. Orlando’s shoulders slumped as he stood there. Orlando shook his head in disbelief and scoffed a little.
“He was invited,” he said softly. “No one told me.”
Orlando smiled apologetically as he turned away and stumble inside, managing to get into his bedroom without looking directly at or speaking to anyone. He locked the door, and was glad not to know what was happening outside. He was too tired. They could let him be miserable, for all he cared. He would even go out with the next prospect that Elijah set him up with, because it was just too hard to care. The look on Sean’s face was insistent in his mind; when he collapsed on top of the covers, he was almost grateful to note that he was already losing cohesive thought. He passed out without resistance, the taste of Craig’s kiss still on his lips.
tbc
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Thanks for reading.