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fellowshippers2006-04-27 10:08 pm
v-angelique.livejournal.com) wrote in fellowshippers2006-04-27 10:08 pm
Un Cadeau du Roi (8/8)
Title: Un Cadeau du Roi (8/8)
Author: Viktoria Angelique
Email: viktoria_angelique@hotmail.com
Pairings: anything's possible among VM, BB, DM, HS, DW, OB, EW (this part HS/VM, OB/EW, DM/BB)
Rating: series PG-13
Disclaimer: AU and very not true.
Feedback: Please do! It's very much appreciated.
A/N: Um, I do realise that there is no banner. Thing is, I figure with my prolonged absence and the way I left everyone hanging, the story itself is more important and I'm just too tired to bother right now. With any luck, a banner will be added sometime tomorrow, when I post the epilogue. Also, you should know that a long one-part prequel is coming, which I hand-wrote on a number of trains and planes this week, and a sequel (multi-chapter) is also on the way and in the outline stage currently. The moral of the story is, contribute euros to the VA European Travel Fund and more writing will follow. But anyway, it's been one hell of a ride and I thank you all for your support. Kisses to all!
Edit: There is a banner now. Two bonus points if you know who those lips actually belong to!
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven
Plan A, to Viggo’s extreme consternation, was a bust.
Harry was an annoying little fucker, but Viggo couldn’t help but be that more determined to find him and beat some sense into his head. From what he gathered from the caretaker that had suddenly found herself watching over Harry’s home, the two men had left the estate quickly, the owner claiming that it was “too painful” to remain on the property. Viggo almost rolled his eyes, but fell quickly into the thrill of the chase, latching onto a Plan B as soon as he had one.
“Dom, it’s Viggo again. Can you and Billy meet me in Italy in two days?”
“Two days, mate? That’s awfully short notice.”
“Please. Elijah and I need your help.”
“Well, I guess…”
“Just meet us at his apartment. I swear to God, this will work.”
“Okay, mate. Whatever you say. I’ll book a flight, but you’d better pay me back.”
“No problem. As long as you can be here.”
“Yeah, all right. We’ll see you in two days.”
Two days later, Elijah and Viggo were sitting on a couch opposite Dom and Billy, the room dark and four steaming cups of tea on the coffee table between them.
“I hope to God you two have an actual plan,” Dom commented when they were all settled, Billy and Dom’s things thrown into Elijah’s bedroom for safekeeping.
“Yeah, we do,” Viggo replied. “I thought of it on the way over here, actually. You see, the key to getting to Harry is to get to Orlando, right? Harry is basically unreachable, the stupid fucker, but you all have Orlando’s mobile.”
“Yes…” Billy agreed, watching Viggo suspiciously.
“Now if we can get Orlando, we can reel Harry in. And here’s what I’m thinking. Orlando is suspiciously meticulous about protecting Elijah, here. I mean anyone can see that he means more to Orlando than just a kid with a talent for predicting the future, but he himself doesn’t seem to realise that.” Elijah beamed at the insinuation, but remained silent. “Now what I’m thinking is this. What if I pretend to be trying to hurt Elijah? What if you call Orlando, Dom, and warn him? Tell him I’ve gone completely off my rocker and am threatening to kill him or something? He’ll go beserk, come back, and then maybe we can point out to him just how worried he got when Elijah was in ‘danger.’ If we can make him see what he could have, what he does have, then maybe he’ll realise that it’s in his best interest to look under his bloody nose and let me claim what’s mine.”
Dom grinned as Viggo sat back on the sofa, looking satisfied. “Yours, mate?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as Viggo stared at him.
“Oh, fuck off.”
“I don’t know, Vig. I mean, it sounds kind of dangerous…” Billy pointed out with a worried look.
“It’ll be fine. I can take care of myself, and as soon as they’re both here I’ll make sure he knows that I wasn’t actually going to hurt Elijah. I just want Harry and I in the same room, and at the moment that’s pretty much impossible to finangle.”
“Without resorting to dramatic means,” Dom finished for him.
“Exactly.”
“Well, all right,” Billy agreed. “But we’ll be around if you need us.”
“Thanks a lot, man. I owe you one.”
“Oh, you owe me several, Mr. Mortensen. But I’ll put it on your tab,” Billy promised with a wink, and Viggo just laughed. Plan B was definitely in action.
“Orli?”
“Yeah, Dom, look I’m kind of busy right…”
“Orli, now isn’t the time. It’s Elijah; he’s in trouble…”
“The fuck? Dom, what’s wrong?”
“Viggo, he… well he went kind of crazy, I think. All psycho like, saying that if you’re going to end up with Harry, then he’s going to make sure he gets Elijah…” Orlando’s breathing was sharp, pained, and Dom grinned at the others in the room.
“Dom, where is he?”
“At Elijah’s apartment. Viggo’s locked them in there from the inside; he’s saying all sorts of crazy shit about taking Elijah’s innocence, and I don’t know what else, sounds like a bad cult horror movie or something, but I think he’s serious…”
“I’m on my way. I’m going to kill that fucker.” The phone clicked shut audibly, and Dom grinned at his audience.
“Like a fish on a hook, boys. He’s got the bait, now we’ve just got to sit back and wait for him to bite.”
Viggo grinned, and Billy just chewed his lip worriedly. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Vig. I really do…”
“Orli! Orlando. Where are you going?”
“To kill that son of a bitch, Harry, what do you think?”
“Orli, please. Calm down. You don’t need to hurt him…”
“Oh, but I do. And I will.” Harry stepped back a few paces as a truly scary stare was levelled on him, brown eyes flashing with raw hatred.
“Whoa, Orli, hold on. I’m not Viggo, okay. Don’t go killing me.”
“Look, Harry, no offence, but I have no time to give a fuck about you right now. Not while Elijah might be…” Orlando shuddered, and Harry frowned.
“What do you mean, ‘no time to give a fuck about me?’ I thought you loved…”
“Harry, I have to go now.”
“Fine, but I’m coming with you. This doesn’t sit right with me, and I’m not letting you hurt him…”
“Then you’re going to have to try pretty fucking hard, Sinclair. Pretty fucking hard.”
“So they’re definitely coming?”
“Train arrives in half an hour. Look, Vig, you’ve got to be convincing about this,” Dom insisted. “He has to really think you’re going to do something awful; really shake him up.”
“Don’t worry, Dom. I’ve got it. Lock the door from the inside, say convincing things ‘to’ Elijah…”
“I’m good at acting scared,” Elijah added helpfully, smiling too gleefully to really be convincing.
“All right, guys. We’ve got to make ourselves scarce. Good luck!” Dom added, giving Elijah and Viggo each a kiss on the cheek. Billy, ever the more reserved of the couple, shook each of their hands in turn and followed Dom out the door.
“All right, ‘Lijah. Time for Operation: Freak Orlando the Fuck Out,” Viggo announced.
Elijah just giggled.
“Elijah! Elijah, honey, please open the door!” Harry watched, looking quite worried, as his friend pounded with all his might.
“Orli! Oh my God, Orli, please help me!” Orlando gasped at the sound of Elijah’s voice and rattled the knob pointlessly.
“Elijah, get away from the door,” Viggo warned in a low tone, frightening still but audible from the other side of the door. “Just come here, and I won’t hurt you…”
“Fucker!!” Orlando yelled, throwing himself at the door. Harry flattened himself against the wall, not wanting to hurt himself, but was fast behind him when Orlando finally managed to kick the wooden door down, storming in and having Viggo pinned against the wall by his neck in mere seconds without bothering to examine Elijah’s state. “You fucking arsehole!” Orlando screamed as Viggo choked, trying in vain to tug Orlando’s arms from his neck. Harry stepped inside and took a quick look at the situation, his eyes darting from Orlando trying to crush Viggo’s windpipe before asking any questions to Elijah, looking perfectly normal and unhurt and suddenly trying to throw Orlando off. Shit.
“Wait, Orli, wait! It was just a hoax, he didn’t… please!” Elijah screamed, tugging helplessly at Orlando’s t-shirt. Viggo’s arms flailed desperately as his body began to lose its fight, and Harry’s eyes went wide, letting out a growl as he took Orlando down in a flying rugby tackle, pinning the slighter man to the floor as he tried to get away.
“Orli! Would you fucking stop it?! It’s not real; look! Look at Elijah!” Orlando tried to fight the other man for a few more moments, but then suddenly went still as he saw Elijah standing there, looking a bit frightened at the scene but fundamentally undamaged.
“What the…” Harry let off of Orlando when it was clear he wasn’t going to attack Viggo again, and then got up off of the other man, crawling over to where Viggo sat slumped against the wall, gasping in air.
“Oh my God, Vig. Are you all right?” Harry asked, gingerly lifting a hand up to touch Viggo’s neck where bruises were rapidly swelling to the surface.
“Jesus. I’m… fine,” he coughed out. “Didn’t expect him to literally try to fucking kill me, though,” he added when he had enough breath in his lungs.
“Well what did you expect?” Orlando asked, shooting Viggo a glare as he held Elijah protectively in his arms.
“Well…that,” Viggo offered with a weak smile, waving his hand to indicate the hug, and Orlando blushed crimson when he understood the insinuation, jumping away.
“Wait… I don’t… I’m not….”
Viggo just laughed weakly, shaking his head. “Of course you don’t. Jesus, Orlando. He’s fucking in love with you, don’t you see? You were scared as fuck when you thought he might be hurt, and don’t you dare try to tell me it’s just because he’s valuable. You care about him, you dumb fuck, and there’s no reason why you can’t just let him make you happy, and leave Harry and I to figure out our own damned lives…”
“Viggo, wait. You know I can’t…” Viggo groaned aloud, stopping Harry’s attempt at an objection before it began.
“Bull. Shit. God, Harry! Are you really so fucking blind? Look, tell me this. If the prize you’ve gotten is so great that it’s really worth giving up on whatever the fuck we might have, if it’s really worth finding the man you’re supposedly destined to love, falling for him, and then saying goodbye forever, tell me. I’ll walk away. I won’t be happy, but I’ll walk.”
“I… um… well I don’t exactly know what it is yet,” Harry admitted, sheepishly, lowering his eyes.
“Ha!” Viggo bellowed, looking truly pleased with himself. “Of course you don’t. God Harry, are you really so dumb?”
“’Ah think he might be,” Billy commented as he and Dom suddenly slunk back into the apartment from their waiting spot across the street, visually assessing the damage.
Viggo just laughed and reached out to take Harry’s hand. “I want you to think for a moment, Harry. Think good and hard. The prophecy said that you had to find the one you love and then let him go. Did it not?”
Harry nodded, still not comprehending.
“Right, well you did that. Now. Did said prophecy say anything, anything at all, about how said love was forbidden to ever see you again? Forbidden to get you back? Forbidden to fall in love in return?” Harry thought for a moment, and then shook his head, a slow smile coming to his face. “Right. I thought so. God, you stupid fucker,” Viggo repeated, affectionately, sliding forward on the floor to take Harry’s face in his hands. “I think I figured it out, you know. I think I had to let you go so that I could realise what it was I had, or was starting to have with you. I think I needed to fight that fight. I never had a chance to fight for Dave; he was just ripped away from me, but with you I have a chance. I refuse to just let you leave without a chance to see what we might have, Harry. God help me, I think I might have just started to fall in love with you that night, the first baby steps at least, and you are not going to fuck that up for me. Just like Orlando’s not going to fuck up what he has with Elijah because he’s chasing an old dream, and just like Billy’s not going to fuck up what he has with Dominic. Because they love each other, Harry. We all, on some level, love each other. And maybe I’m the only one smart enough to figure that out, but hell. I’m not giving it up.”
Harry grinned fully at that, and reached out to grasp Viggo’s wrists in his hands. “Are you quite finished, then?”
Viggo frowned and nodded slowly. “I haven’t quite forgiven you yet, though.”
“Eh, that’s all right. We can work on that,” Harry replied with a smile, before shoving Viggo somewhat roughly to the ground and climbing atop his hips, leaning down to administer a long and probing kiss that had Dom wolf whistling energetically as Elijah giggled from his reclaimed spot in Orlando’s arms.
“Stupid fucker,” Viggo whispered with a smile as Harry pulled away, and Harry just laughed.
“So, you know…” he commented suddenly, looking around the room dramatically. “…we still haven’t found out about this prize.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Billy asked, slinging an arm around Dom’s waist as he eyed Harry suspiciously.
“Well, you see, there is one more part to the prophecy.” Harry grinned as the rest of the room collectively let out a groan. “No, no! This is a good one. You see, the prize itself can only be revealed by the one I love, or so the prophecy goes.”
“What? But I don’t know anything!” Viggo pointed out, still flat on his back on the floor and apparently fairly content to rest there awhile.
“Ah, but you do. See, the prize is to be found in something that the lover of the one I love said in the past. One of the last things he said, apparently. I figured I would have to find it out from you later, maybe through Billy or somebody, after we had been apart for awhile, but it never occurred to me that I’d have the chance to ask you in person. So now the question is this, Viggo, for you must know. You told me that David told you he loves you before his death, but was there anything else? Any little thing he said that might be a clue?”
The room waited with bated breath as Viggo furrowed his brow, thinking back, and then suddenly burst into laughter.
“Oh my God! That’s it!”
“What? What’s it?” Harry asked eagerly as Viggo slapped a hand over his face.
“Dave… before he died, well right when I came in the room, some insensitive fucker had the heart to point out that if the Kosovo story wasn’t finished, he wouldn’t have a chance at the Pulitzer. Dave always kind of hoped for it, in the back of his mind, and this story was his best shot. Well of course I wanted to kill the guy for pointing it out, but Dave just smiled, as best he could the way his body was mangled. And he said, ‘hey Vig, don’t worry. I’m in love, and you love me. That’s the only prize I need, babe.’” Viggo smiled at the memory, absently stroking Harry’s back with one hand as Harry in turn stroked his hair comfortingly. “And then he said he loved me, and he died. But that’s it! Don’t you see? He was in love with me, and I with him… that’s the prize! For all of us, I mean look! You’re in love with me, and Elijah’s in love with Orli, and all odds are that before the year is out that love will be mutual… if all this hadn’t happened, if the prophecy hadn’t come true, then none of us would have found each other. God, it’s so fucking obvious.” And at that, Harry grinned, and slid his hand around to cup Viggo’s jaw, and went back to snogging him like a teenager.
And, given all the love in the air, Orli decided that it wouldn’t be too presumptuous to lean down and claim Elijah’s smiling lips for the first time as well.
And since all that kissing was going on, and Dom was rarely one to be left out, he dramatically flung his arms around Billy’s neck and became part of the third couple of the impromptu lovefest.
And, somewhere far above the clouds, in a land where love never dies, a king wearing a brilliant purple frock and a crown of jewels took the hand of his lover and found his lips again for the first time in more than 400 years.
And all was right with the world.
THE END
Author: Viktoria Angelique
Email: viktoria_angelique@hotmail.com
Pairings: anything's possible among VM, BB, DM, HS, DW, OB, EW (this part HS/VM, OB/EW, DM/BB)
Rating: series PG-13
Disclaimer: AU and very not true.
Feedback: Please do! It's very much appreciated.
A/N: Um, I do realise that there is no banner. Thing is, I figure with my prolonged absence and the way I left everyone hanging, the story itself is more important and I'm just too tired to bother right now. With any luck, a banner will be added sometime tomorrow, when I post the epilogue. Also, you should know that a long one-part prequel is coming, which I hand-wrote on a number of trains and planes this week, and a sequel (multi-chapter) is also on the way and in the outline stage currently. The moral of the story is, contribute euros to the VA European Travel Fund and more writing will follow. But anyway, it's been one hell of a ride and I thank you all for your support. Kisses to all!
Edit: There is a banner now. Two bonus points if you know who those lips actually belong to!
Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven
Plan A, to Viggo’s extreme consternation, was a bust.
Harry was an annoying little fucker, but Viggo couldn’t help but be that more determined to find him and beat some sense into his head. From what he gathered from the caretaker that had suddenly found herself watching over Harry’s home, the two men had left the estate quickly, the owner claiming that it was “too painful” to remain on the property. Viggo almost rolled his eyes, but fell quickly into the thrill of the chase, latching onto a Plan B as soon as he had one.
“Dom, it’s Viggo again. Can you and Billy meet me in Italy in two days?”
“Two days, mate? That’s awfully short notice.”
“Please. Elijah and I need your help.”
“Well, I guess…”
“Just meet us at his apartment. I swear to God, this will work.”
“Okay, mate. Whatever you say. I’ll book a flight, but you’d better pay me back.”
“No problem. As long as you can be here.”
“Yeah, all right. We’ll see you in two days.”
Two days later, Elijah and Viggo were sitting on a couch opposite Dom and Billy, the room dark and four steaming cups of tea on the coffee table between them.
“I hope to God you two have an actual plan,” Dom commented when they were all settled, Billy and Dom’s things thrown into Elijah’s bedroom for safekeeping.
“Yeah, we do,” Viggo replied. “I thought of it on the way over here, actually. You see, the key to getting to Harry is to get to Orlando, right? Harry is basically unreachable, the stupid fucker, but you all have Orlando’s mobile.”
“Yes…” Billy agreed, watching Viggo suspiciously.
“Now if we can get Orlando, we can reel Harry in. And here’s what I’m thinking. Orlando is suspiciously meticulous about protecting Elijah, here. I mean anyone can see that he means more to Orlando than just a kid with a talent for predicting the future, but he himself doesn’t seem to realise that.” Elijah beamed at the insinuation, but remained silent. “Now what I’m thinking is this. What if I pretend to be trying to hurt Elijah? What if you call Orlando, Dom, and warn him? Tell him I’ve gone completely off my rocker and am threatening to kill him or something? He’ll go beserk, come back, and then maybe we can point out to him just how worried he got when Elijah was in ‘danger.’ If we can make him see what he could have, what he does have, then maybe he’ll realise that it’s in his best interest to look under his bloody nose and let me claim what’s mine.”
Dom grinned as Viggo sat back on the sofa, looking satisfied. “Yours, mate?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as Viggo stared at him.
“Oh, fuck off.”
“I don’t know, Vig. I mean, it sounds kind of dangerous…” Billy pointed out with a worried look.
“It’ll be fine. I can take care of myself, and as soon as they’re both here I’ll make sure he knows that I wasn’t actually going to hurt Elijah. I just want Harry and I in the same room, and at the moment that’s pretty much impossible to finangle.”
“Without resorting to dramatic means,” Dom finished for him.
“Exactly.”
“Well, all right,” Billy agreed. “But we’ll be around if you need us.”
“Thanks a lot, man. I owe you one.”
“Oh, you owe me several, Mr. Mortensen. But I’ll put it on your tab,” Billy promised with a wink, and Viggo just laughed. Plan B was definitely in action.
“Orli?”
“Yeah, Dom, look I’m kind of busy right…”
“Orli, now isn’t the time. It’s Elijah; he’s in trouble…”
“The fuck? Dom, what’s wrong?”
“Viggo, he… well he went kind of crazy, I think. All psycho like, saying that if you’re going to end up with Harry, then he’s going to make sure he gets Elijah…” Orlando’s breathing was sharp, pained, and Dom grinned at the others in the room.
“Dom, where is he?”
“At Elijah’s apartment. Viggo’s locked them in there from the inside; he’s saying all sorts of crazy shit about taking Elijah’s innocence, and I don’t know what else, sounds like a bad cult horror movie or something, but I think he’s serious…”
“I’m on my way. I’m going to kill that fucker.” The phone clicked shut audibly, and Dom grinned at his audience.
“Like a fish on a hook, boys. He’s got the bait, now we’ve just got to sit back and wait for him to bite.”
Viggo grinned, and Billy just chewed his lip worriedly. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Vig. I really do…”
“Orli! Orlando. Where are you going?”
“To kill that son of a bitch, Harry, what do you think?”
“Orli, please. Calm down. You don’t need to hurt him…”
“Oh, but I do. And I will.” Harry stepped back a few paces as a truly scary stare was levelled on him, brown eyes flashing with raw hatred.
“Whoa, Orli, hold on. I’m not Viggo, okay. Don’t go killing me.”
“Look, Harry, no offence, but I have no time to give a fuck about you right now. Not while Elijah might be…” Orlando shuddered, and Harry frowned.
“What do you mean, ‘no time to give a fuck about me?’ I thought you loved…”
“Harry, I have to go now.”
“Fine, but I’m coming with you. This doesn’t sit right with me, and I’m not letting you hurt him…”
“Then you’re going to have to try pretty fucking hard, Sinclair. Pretty fucking hard.”
“So they’re definitely coming?”
“Train arrives in half an hour. Look, Vig, you’ve got to be convincing about this,” Dom insisted. “He has to really think you’re going to do something awful; really shake him up.”
“Don’t worry, Dom. I’ve got it. Lock the door from the inside, say convincing things ‘to’ Elijah…”
“I’m good at acting scared,” Elijah added helpfully, smiling too gleefully to really be convincing.
“All right, guys. We’ve got to make ourselves scarce. Good luck!” Dom added, giving Elijah and Viggo each a kiss on the cheek. Billy, ever the more reserved of the couple, shook each of their hands in turn and followed Dom out the door.
“All right, ‘Lijah. Time for Operation: Freak Orlando the Fuck Out,” Viggo announced.
Elijah just giggled.
“Elijah! Elijah, honey, please open the door!” Harry watched, looking quite worried, as his friend pounded with all his might.
“Orli! Oh my God, Orli, please help me!” Orlando gasped at the sound of Elijah’s voice and rattled the knob pointlessly.
“Elijah, get away from the door,” Viggo warned in a low tone, frightening still but audible from the other side of the door. “Just come here, and I won’t hurt you…”
“Fucker!!” Orlando yelled, throwing himself at the door. Harry flattened himself against the wall, not wanting to hurt himself, but was fast behind him when Orlando finally managed to kick the wooden door down, storming in and having Viggo pinned against the wall by his neck in mere seconds without bothering to examine Elijah’s state. “You fucking arsehole!” Orlando screamed as Viggo choked, trying in vain to tug Orlando’s arms from his neck. Harry stepped inside and took a quick look at the situation, his eyes darting from Orlando trying to crush Viggo’s windpipe before asking any questions to Elijah, looking perfectly normal and unhurt and suddenly trying to throw Orlando off. Shit.
“Wait, Orli, wait! It was just a hoax, he didn’t… please!” Elijah screamed, tugging helplessly at Orlando’s t-shirt. Viggo’s arms flailed desperately as his body began to lose its fight, and Harry’s eyes went wide, letting out a growl as he took Orlando down in a flying rugby tackle, pinning the slighter man to the floor as he tried to get away.
“Orli! Would you fucking stop it?! It’s not real; look! Look at Elijah!” Orlando tried to fight the other man for a few more moments, but then suddenly went still as he saw Elijah standing there, looking a bit frightened at the scene but fundamentally undamaged.
“What the…” Harry let off of Orlando when it was clear he wasn’t going to attack Viggo again, and then got up off of the other man, crawling over to where Viggo sat slumped against the wall, gasping in air.
“Oh my God, Vig. Are you all right?” Harry asked, gingerly lifting a hand up to touch Viggo’s neck where bruises were rapidly swelling to the surface.
“Jesus. I’m… fine,” he coughed out. “Didn’t expect him to literally try to fucking kill me, though,” he added when he had enough breath in his lungs.
“Well what did you expect?” Orlando asked, shooting Viggo a glare as he held Elijah protectively in his arms.
“Well…that,” Viggo offered with a weak smile, waving his hand to indicate the hug, and Orlando blushed crimson when he understood the insinuation, jumping away.
“Wait… I don’t… I’m not….”
Viggo just laughed weakly, shaking his head. “Of course you don’t. Jesus, Orlando. He’s fucking in love with you, don’t you see? You were scared as fuck when you thought he might be hurt, and don’t you dare try to tell me it’s just because he’s valuable. You care about him, you dumb fuck, and there’s no reason why you can’t just let him make you happy, and leave Harry and I to figure out our own damned lives…”
“Viggo, wait. You know I can’t…” Viggo groaned aloud, stopping Harry’s attempt at an objection before it began.
“Bull. Shit. God, Harry! Are you really so fucking blind? Look, tell me this. If the prize you’ve gotten is so great that it’s really worth giving up on whatever the fuck we might have, if it’s really worth finding the man you’re supposedly destined to love, falling for him, and then saying goodbye forever, tell me. I’ll walk away. I won’t be happy, but I’ll walk.”
“I… um… well I don’t exactly know what it is yet,” Harry admitted, sheepishly, lowering his eyes.
“Ha!” Viggo bellowed, looking truly pleased with himself. “Of course you don’t. God Harry, are you really so dumb?”
“’Ah think he might be,” Billy commented as he and Dom suddenly slunk back into the apartment from their waiting spot across the street, visually assessing the damage.
Viggo just laughed and reached out to take Harry’s hand. “I want you to think for a moment, Harry. Think good and hard. The prophecy said that you had to find the one you love and then let him go. Did it not?”
Harry nodded, still not comprehending.
“Right, well you did that. Now. Did said prophecy say anything, anything at all, about how said love was forbidden to ever see you again? Forbidden to get you back? Forbidden to fall in love in return?” Harry thought for a moment, and then shook his head, a slow smile coming to his face. “Right. I thought so. God, you stupid fucker,” Viggo repeated, affectionately, sliding forward on the floor to take Harry’s face in his hands. “I think I figured it out, you know. I think I had to let you go so that I could realise what it was I had, or was starting to have with you. I think I needed to fight that fight. I never had a chance to fight for Dave; he was just ripped away from me, but with you I have a chance. I refuse to just let you leave without a chance to see what we might have, Harry. God help me, I think I might have just started to fall in love with you that night, the first baby steps at least, and you are not going to fuck that up for me. Just like Orlando’s not going to fuck up what he has with Elijah because he’s chasing an old dream, and just like Billy’s not going to fuck up what he has with Dominic. Because they love each other, Harry. We all, on some level, love each other. And maybe I’m the only one smart enough to figure that out, but hell. I’m not giving it up.”
Harry grinned fully at that, and reached out to grasp Viggo’s wrists in his hands. “Are you quite finished, then?”
Viggo frowned and nodded slowly. “I haven’t quite forgiven you yet, though.”
“Eh, that’s all right. We can work on that,” Harry replied with a smile, before shoving Viggo somewhat roughly to the ground and climbing atop his hips, leaning down to administer a long and probing kiss that had Dom wolf whistling energetically as Elijah giggled from his reclaimed spot in Orlando’s arms.
“Stupid fucker,” Viggo whispered with a smile as Harry pulled away, and Harry just laughed.
“So, you know…” he commented suddenly, looking around the room dramatically. “…we still haven’t found out about this prize.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Billy asked, slinging an arm around Dom’s waist as he eyed Harry suspiciously.
“Well, you see, there is one more part to the prophecy.” Harry grinned as the rest of the room collectively let out a groan. “No, no! This is a good one. You see, the prize itself can only be revealed by the one I love, or so the prophecy goes.”
“What? But I don’t know anything!” Viggo pointed out, still flat on his back on the floor and apparently fairly content to rest there awhile.
“Ah, but you do. See, the prize is to be found in something that the lover of the one I love said in the past. One of the last things he said, apparently. I figured I would have to find it out from you later, maybe through Billy or somebody, after we had been apart for awhile, but it never occurred to me that I’d have the chance to ask you in person. So now the question is this, Viggo, for you must know. You told me that David told you he loves you before his death, but was there anything else? Any little thing he said that might be a clue?”
The room waited with bated breath as Viggo furrowed his brow, thinking back, and then suddenly burst into laughter.
“Oh my God! That’s it!”
“What? What’s it?” Harry asked eagerly as Viggo slapped a hand over his face.
“Dave… before he died, well right when I came in the room, some insensitive fucker had the heart to point out that if the Kosovo story wasn’t finished, he wouldn’t have a chance at the Pulitzer. Dave always kind of hoped for it, in the back of his mind, and this story was his best shot. Well of course I wanted to kill the guy for pointing it out, but Dave just smiled, as best he could the way his body was mangled. And he said, ‘hey Vig, don’t worry. I’m in love, and you love me. That’s the only prize I need, babe.’” Viggo smiled at the memory, absently stroking Harry’s back with one hand as Harry in turn stroked his hair comfortingly. “And then he said he loved me, and he died. But that’s it! Don’t you see? He was in love with me, and I with him… that’s the prize! For all of us, I mean look! You’re in love with me, and Elijah’s in love with Orli, and all odds are that before the year is out that love will be mutual… if all this hadn’t happened, if the prophecy hadn’t come true, then none of us would have found each other. God, it’s so fucking obvious.” And at that, Harry grinned, and slid his hand around to cup Viggo’s jaw, and went back to snogging him like a teenager.
And, given all the love in the air, Orli decided that it wouldn’t be too presumptuous to lean down and claim Elijah’s smiling lips for the first time as well.
And since all that kissing was going on, and Dom was rarely one to be left out, he dramatically flung his arms around Billy’s neck and became part of the third couple of the impromptu lovefest.
And, somewhere far above the clouds, in a land where love never dies, a king wearing a brilliant purple frock and a crown of jewels took the hand of his lover and found his lips again for the first time in more than 400 years.
And all was right with the world.
THE END
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kerry =)
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