The Impossible, Chapter 2

[inthemadhouse.livejournal.com]

Title: The Impossible
Author: inthemadhouse
Rating: R (not for this chapter, but for the story in general)
Pairing: VM/OB
Summery: Years after the big breakup, Orlando finds himself needing Viggo again.  Too bad he hates the man.  Only not really.
Authors Note:  Chapters will alternate between Viggo and Orlando's POV.  This one is Orlando's.

Shit. What the Hell had he just agreed to? Orlando spun restlessly, almost tripping over the dog, and dropping his cell phone. Had he really sunk so low that he had to call Viggo to get him out of this mess? Or did some part of him secretly want Viggo above all others?

He sank to the floor, reaching out to pet Sidi. The dog stood and came over to lay in his lap, used to his owner’s mercurial moods and need for affection. “This is all for you, buddy. If you weren’t around, I wouldn’t have to worry about Viggo, or anything else. It would just be me and my problems.”

The big dog rolled over in his arms, asking for a belly rub. Orlando complied, studying the growing grey around his muzzle and ears. “You’ll like Viggo a lot, Sid. He’s really good with animals, and he does fun stuff. He’s crazy, but in a good way, so I don’t want you to be surprised if he decides to dance with you one day, or make you walk through paint so you can help him with his artist stuff. He’ll take good care of you.”

But would he take good care of Orlando? Probably, he was good with pitiful, needy things. He had bonded to all of the hobbits (and one elf) very quickly, gently guiding them in the strange independent world they had found themselves in. He was always patient and loving, even when they were caught up in situations that would have tested any of their parents. He was also completely cracked, but that only added to his allure.

Sidi stood, and walked over to his food dish, giving it a light nudge. Orlando gathered up the bag of kibble, wincing a little as he lifted less than 40lbs. This was the main reason he had agreed to go ahead with the surgery. It was miserable to have to make plans, or take parts based solely on what his back would tolerate. He was only 31, yet he was spending more time lying down in pain than his father was. He couldn’t do any of the fun things he used to; at this stage he could barely take care of himself and the dog.

“Come on, Sid, I guess we have to clean out your room.” Viggo might not come until the morning of the surgery, or he might be there tomorrow, there was just no telling with that man. Still, he was doing Orlando a huge favor, and cleaning up would give him something to worry about besides himself.

The room was actually pretty good sized, almost as large as Orlando’s bedroom. Unfortunately, it had also become the repository for all the junk he had accumulated and didn’t know what to do with. The bed was stripped; the sheets and comforter put away somewhere. Sidi’s dog bed and toys were in one corner, the one the dog immediately went to, laying down and staring worriedly. He knew something was up, he just didn’t know what.

“It’s alright, buddy. You’re still going to be sleeping with me. We’re just going to have company for a few weeks. You know who’s coming? That asshole that dumped daddy because he decided that daddy had no idea what he wanted or needed. The one who ran off without looking back and made daddy sad.”

The dog was instantly back at his side, nuzzling his face. “I know your Uncle Viggo is kind of a jerk. But he’s going to come and help us out now, so maybe things will go better this time around. Plus, if he hadn’t dumped daddy, I wouldn’t have taken the part in Kingdom of Heaven and I wouldn’t have found you. So Uncle Viggo is still a jerk, but we have to be nice to him, Ok?”

He wasn’t really worried about Sidi’s behavior. The dog could be wild sometimes, especially when meeting someone new, but he was a good dog at heart. He wouldn’t give Viggo many problems as far as aggression or completely out of control behavior. “Go back to your bed; I don’t want to trip over you.” That would be all he needed, a broken arm on top of a busted up back.

Most of the stuff here could go into storage for a little while. There were seasonal decorations, although he was seldom home for the holidays. Everything else was just junk that he never got around to throwing away. In other words, this could turn into an all day affair.

He huffed irritably, heading to the kitchen to get a trash bag and something to eat. He wasn’t really hungry, seldom was these days, but he knew if he didn’t he’d be feeling sick by that evening. Sidi followed, hopeful for a treat, and was rewarded with the other half of his turkey sandwich.

After an hour or so of concentrated effort, his enthusiasm for the task was over. He has disintegrated from moving things into meaningful piles and trashing what was appropriate to just kicking things around. He didn’t want to clean. He didn’t want Viggo to come and stir up emotions he had been pretty successful at repressing. Most of all he didn’t want to have this operation. He was getting tired of paying for one stupid decision made more than a decade ago. He wanted to cry, or have some sort of breakdown, but he couldn’t. The best he could do was leave the mostly clean room and curl up on the bed.

After a quick debate, he pulled up a Tivo’d episode of Lost and laid down to watch. To be honest, he was proud of his newly acquired skill with the remote because, for the most part, he didn’t get along too well with technology of any type. He watched Dommie cavorting across the beaches with a curious sense of detachment. The man looked happy. According to the Hollywood gossip line, he was dating that other girl from the show, that one with the fancy name. Or had his character gotten killed? Orlando knew there was a way to determine the original air date of an episode, but damn if he could figure it out.

Maybe he should have called Dom. Or Sean (either one of them) or even Ian. Anyone but the man he had gotten into bed with. Hell, Johnny would have taken the dog for a little while. Actually, something about the way the man looked at Orlando when they were changing costumes told him that Johnny would probably take care of a lot more than the dog. Which would be great. Orlando could fuck every guy he wanted a favor from. After all, most people thought he was fucking directors to get parts, so he might as well get the sex out of it.

Speaking of sex, when was the last time he had any? Not for a while, that was sure. Mentally, he was extremely interested. Physically…not so much. According to the doctors, lack of sex drive was probably the result of too much Vicodon. Which, considering who was coming to stay with him for a few days was a good thing. It probably wouldn’t help them form any sort of friendship if they were busy fucking on every flat surface. And a few of the vertical ones. After all, who would have though that Viggo could get his leg over…bad boy! He was not about to start thinking of all the interesting things Viggo could do with some very interesting parts of his anatomy.

Sidi shot him a rather reproachful look. It was creepy because, after all, Sid was only as dog. How could he know what his owner was thinking? Orlando heaved a heavy sigh, stroking the dogs back. The lab shifted to lay his head across Orlando’s chest. “Yeah, I know. Daddy is a pathetic horn dog who is still lusting over the man who got rid of him forever ago. But no one has to know that but us, ok?” If it had been possible, the dog would have probably rolled his eyes. Yeah dad, whatever you say.

The room still wasn’t clean, but it was better than it had been that morning. Sounded like a good time to call it a night. “Come on Sidi, last call for tonight.”

The big mutt didn’t need to be told twice. He jumped up and ran to the closet, eager for a walk. For a moment, Orlando debated walking him versus just putting him out in the yard for a little while. On the one hand, he looked like crap and knew it, but there wasn’t much sense in taking a shower and getting dressed up to walk the dog and get right into bed. It was still light out, he was sure at least one photographer had the house staked out. On the other hand, it wasn’t fair to the dog to be cooped up on the yard all the time. There were so many times, especially lately, that he just wasn’t capable physically of taking the dog for a long walk, it seemed cruel to deny him because of a bad hair day. Sidi was certainly used to the constant buzz and flash of the cameras. Hell, he was probably better at ignoring them then his owner was. “Ok, let’s get your leash.”

The dog barked loudly dancing around with an eagerness he hadn’t shown a few minutes ago. It was a wiggly butt full body dance that never failed to make Orlando laugh. He ran to the closet, pawing at it until he swung the door open and retrieved his leash, bringing it back to his owner. The trick had been really cute when Orlando taught it to him a year ago, but it lost its shine when the Sidi figured out how to do it in less time than it took Orlando to tie his shoes. It was next to impossible to concentrate on what he was doing when there was a slobbery leash being shoved in your face.

“Sidi, stop. Go sit.” The dog didn’t really listen, but he did back off enough that Orlando could finish and stand up. “Ok, let’s go.” Maybe the exercise would clear his head a little and give him a chance to sort out what he was going to do with Viggo.

He stepped outside, taking a minute to wave to the waiting photographers. He had found out pretty quickly, that if he acknowledged them, and didn’t act “natural” they scattered a lot quicker. One of them, Dan, waved back cheerfully. Orlando secretly liked the man, he was always polite, just doing his job. Plus, he loved Sidi and frequently had a treat for him.

They walked around the down the street, Sidi surging ahead and barking cheerfully at all the squirrels and neighborhood dogs, all things he had missed since they went out last. A flurry of barks told him that the Sidi’s friend Missy was also out being walked. The tan pit bull charged them, eagerly licking Orlando’s face before performing the classic trick where she managed to tangle her leash with Sidi’s, almost tripping both owners.

Missy’s owner, Katie, laughed as she tried to untangle them. “How have you been, Lan? I haven’t seen you for a while.”

Her concern was totally genuine, and for a minute Orlando wanted to cry. Katie reminded him so much of his sister and he found himself wanting to spill his guts to her. After all, Katie had been married for twice, the second time for15 years, so she must know a little something about relationships, right? She could tell him to get over the first guy, so he could move on and find the second. “I’ve been sick.” It wasn’t a total lie, just ¾ of one. He was sick of his problems.

She gave him a critical once-over. “What’s really wrong? Are you in trouble?”

“No.” That was true, he wasn’t in trouble yet. He just needed a little help to keep himself from getting into trouble. “I just…” He stopped there because she really didn’t know where he was going. “I don’t know.”

She nodded, apparently picking up on what he didn’t say. “Walk with me. We’ll take the dogs around, and you can come back to my place. Let’s figure this out.”

It was one of the things he loved about Katie. She was levelheaded and smart and had her own life in order. “Ok.”

Her apartment was less than a mile away, an easy walk for two fit people. The dogs disappeared, barreling through the house in search of toys and mayhem. Orlando fidgeted nervously. Now that he was actually here, confessing seemed like a particularly stupid thing to do. He trusted Katie not to tell anyone, but still…he liked her and didn’t want her to think badly of him. He stared down at his scruffy sneakers.

“Is it a girl?” The older woman’s voice was gently probing. He shook his head. “A guy?”

What! He had in no way ever indicated that he was interested in men. If it was that obvious to Katie, it must be obvious to everyone else. She raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t mean that seriously, but I think that might be it. Tell me about it.”

Where did he start? “Well, there’s this guy. He and I had this…relationship a few years ago. It ended really badly, you know, the screaming and crying and claiming to hate each other forever kind of stuff. Now I’m going back into the hospital and the only person I could call about Sidi was him. Somehow it all got turned around and now he’s coming to stay with me and I’m not sure what to do.”

“What do you want to do?”

It was a good question. Did he want to pursue something with Viggo? A friendship, a relationship, something in between? “I don’t know. It was such a fuck up last time that I’m scared to try again. I wish I hadn’t called him.”

She leaned back against the couch. “Do you? There were plenty of people you could have tried. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep the dog, but you could have kenneled if you were that desperate. Or hired a sitter. It’s alright to want to see him again. He obviously means a lot to you, or you wouldn’t have called him. And you must mean a lot to him, or he wouldn’t have agreed to watch Sidi at all, much less come take care of you. Maybe you can try again, not necessarily a sexual relationship, but just being friends. It was a few years before I could even stomach being in the same room as my ex, now I couldn’t live without our friendship. Now that it’s a few years out and the hurt has faded a little, things may look different.”

Orlando didn’t have the heart to tell her that the pain hadn’t really faded at all, although most of his anger had fled, leaving a hollow hurt in its place. “Maybe.” Silently he added “If I don’t kill the bastard first, but hey, no one probably knows he’s coming, so I could dump the body somewhere and not get caught.”

Katie smiled. “See, you’re already smiling.”

Only because I’m contemplating homicide, my dear. “It will be fine, I guess I just needed a little bit to get used to the idea.” It wouldn’t do any good to get upset about things now, he had already agreed and Viggo was coming. He did his best to snowblow her with a winning smile.

Her expression said she wasn’t quite buying it, but she chose not to say anything else. He stood, whistling for the dog. “I need to get back home. I’ll call you in a few days. Thanks, Katie”

“Alright, Honey, you be careful. I’ll see you and Sidi at the park.” She reached out to hold him, and he hugged her back, grateful that he could share his problems with someone.

The dogs appeared, both panting and exhausted from a hard play session. Good, Sidi would be tired enough to go straight to bed and not play the “I need to go out 47 times so I can run around and sniff and not actually potty” game.

It was almost dark by the time he made it back to his flat. Dan was still sitting there, eating dinner. Orlando let him take a few picture of him and the dog. He wasn’t really sure what made him nicer to Dan then everyone else, but it was just what they did. Once he had the shots, the man offered Sidi a chicken finger, something the dog cheerfully accepted. “Good night, man.”

“Night, Dan.”

As he had suspected, the dog loped off into the bedroom to try and take over both pillows. Orlando was considering joining him for a movie (God, how pathetic had he become?) when the phone rang. A quick check to caller ID confirmed it was Viggo. Fuck. For a minute, he considered letting the answering machine get it, but that would be the coward’s way out, and he was nothing if not willing to meet a challenge head on. He took at slow breath and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s me.” It was interesting that Viggo didn’t actually identify himself; he just assumed that Orlando would recognize his voice, like some sort of dog. “If I can get a flight for Tuesday, can you pick me up? I don’t need to stay with you for now if you don’t want me around, but I thought I’d go to a museum or two because there’s this exhibit on the mating habits of Brazilian tree frogs and I’ve always wondered what made them blue and you know what else is blue-“

If someone didn’t cut him of right then, he could go on for hours. “That’s fine, Viggo. Just let me know.” He could hear his own lack of enthusiasm and hated himself for it. He tried to put a little more excitement into his voice. “You can stay with me, though. I cleaned the guest room out today, so you’ll have plenty of space for sleeping and your artist…stuff.”

There was a pause. “Are you sure? I know you weren’t really expecting me this soon.”

Seemed the Orlando wasn’t the only one who had changed in the past few years. Viggo would have never considered that in the past. It wasn’t arrogance, it would just have never occurred to him that other people were running on their own schedules and might not have time to go running through the bushes naked or whatever the fuck he wanted to do at that moment.

“It’s fine.” Better they start getting used to each other now, rather than when he was all drugged up and in pain. “I’ll see you then.”

Yeah. Five days until he was forced to make nice with the man who had broken his heart back in New Zealand. He couldn’t fucking wait.