vigorli

Title: Alegría (3/?)
Author:

obvmluver
Beta::

gypsy33_66 *luvs you to bits*
Pairing: Viggo/Orlando
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Abuse can wreak havoc in our souls. Can Orlando find a way out?
Warnings: (Implied) Abuse, Violence
Disclaimer: Lies, lies, it's all lies.
Feedback: Please, spare a moment to leave feedback. I wish to improve in English and I wish you'd let me know what you thought about the chapter.

Conversation bubbled around a big oval table ranging from Viggo’s excellent roast to their forthcoming projects. Orlando stayed quieter than the rest, taking part in the conversation here and there but never initiating one himself. His back was giving him trouble, the muscles in his back slowly starting to spasm due to the impact and the twist in them. The worst thing was that he realized he had left his painkillers at home in England. He was brought back to reality by Viggo’s mother, Grace, speaking to him.

“Hmm?”

“Do you have any upcoming projects?”

Orlando swallowed the piece of roast he had been absentmindedly chewing for quite a while before he answered.

“Not right now. I felt like... I needed a break.” He spoke quietly, still somewhat embarrassed about what had happened earlier, and wishing no one would bring it up again.

"Orlando's been working non-stop ever since the principal shooting for Lord of the Rings. I believe he has earned this break." Viggo said gently, looking at Orlando even though raw worry was evident on his face. He sensed Orlando’s distress and knew he didn’t want to leave in the middle of a meal but instead tried to fight against the pain.

The dinner seemed to last an eternity, some were still finishing up their desserts when Orlando stood up from the table apologising profusely. He piled his dishes quietly, carried them to the sink in the kitchen and then helped clear the table, gritting his teeth the whole while. Finally the pain in his back got the better of him so he slipped out onto the porch to get fresh air. He leaned against the railing, his breathing laboured from the pain and closed his eyes, wishing if he could concentrate on the pain for a moment, maybe he would be able to lessen it a little.

The sky above was clear and filled with stars, the air was cool. The darkness outside was like a veil and Orlando could hear the horses whinnying in the pasture. He tried to stretch his aching muscles but couldn’t find any help in that. The pain was slowly reaching to the point it hurt to breathe and gritting his teeth yet again he tried to take long, deliberate breaths. Beanie happened to step onto the porch for a smoke; he had just lit his cigarette when his interests suddenly lay somewhere else, in Orlando.

“Blimey, kid! Are you okay?”

Orlando nodded slowly and gripped the railing harder, his knuckles turning white.

“I’ll be okay soon, it’ll take a while.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Thanks for the offer but... nothing works... nothing else but...painkillers, those lovely pills I so conveniently left back in England.”

"I'll ask Viggo if he has any.”

“Would you do that for me?”

“Of course, lad.” With that Sean stubbed out his smoke and hurried inside.

Beanie walked back in and quickly found Viggo, asking for some painkillers.

“Orlando needs ‘em.”

“How bad is he?” Viggo asked walking to his med cabinet in the hall and fishing out a bottle.

“I’ve never seen him like that, ever.”

Viggo closed the med cabinet looking at Beanie and strode to the fridge taking out a carton of the juice Orlando loved so much.

He peeked out to the porch seeing Orlando holding his aching back with one hand, the other gripping the railing, firing colourful strings of obscenities into the air.

“Orli?” Viggo asked stepping out. “I brought the pain pills. Beanie told me.”

Orlando’s response was a nod.

“I hope you’re not allergic to these.” Viggo continued showing the package to Orlando.

“I used to take those before the prescription I’m on right now. Could you...uh... give me two? That used to be the dose.”

Viggo nodded and did as Orlando asked, handing him two pills and a glass full of fruit juice. He couldn’t help but touch his back softly and noticed the muscles were like steel under the clothes.

“Would you like for me to give you a massage?” he offered.

“You have to be kidding me. On your birthday? I’ll be fine, really. It’ll take a moment. As much as I like the idea of it, I don’t want to deprive you of your friends, those you haven’t seen in years.”

“You are one of them.”

“I know but like you said, just one. You have a living room full of people in there. Go, mingle. I’ll join you soon, I promise. Maybe some other time, yeah?”

Viggo silently regretted inviting all the others when Orlando would have been enough. Now that Orlando was at the ranch in the flesh, not as a voice on the phone, Viggo would have wanted to spend more time with him – just the two of them. He shook his head before he turned back towards Orlando.

“I’ll be inside. Just holler if you need anything.” he smiled and Orlando nodded, a hint of a small smile on his lips.

Orlando felt warm inside, Viggo really tried to make him feel better, at least he thought that way. He could still feel Viggo’s warm, open palm pressing against his back. The touch itself had been harmless but it meant a lot to Orlando, just like the warmth Viggo seemed to emanate. A shy smile on his lips, Orlando shook his head and concentrated on channelling the pain elsewhere.

When the pain had lessened down to the level he could stand, Orlando took his empty glass and made his way back inside only to be surrounded by people once again, every one of them wanting to know if he was alright. Everyone, except Viggo. Viggo stood watching him, a warm smile playing on his lips, and Orlando could see him through a small hole between Elijah’s head and Grace’s armpit.

“Okay, folks. That’s enough.” said Ian after a while. “Let’s not squeeze him to death, shall we?”

Orlando sighed in relief as he was able to straighten his clothes.

“I’m okay, I really am. My back just didn’t agree with... the impact. And thanks, Vig, for the painkillers. Thanks, Beanie, for finding Viggo.”

Viggo pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning against was walked to Orlando.

“Are you sure you’re okay now?”

“Yeah.” The answer was barely more than a whisper.

Viggo gently took a hold of the tip of Orlando’s jaw and lifted it up so their eyes met. The same foreign feeling of everything else around them fading hit them both as they kept looking into each others’ eyes. One by one the guests started smiling at the tender display, Ian chuckling warmly how blind his friends were. Their behaviour spoke in volumes and was visible to anybody else, but Viggo, just like Orlando, didn’t seem to recognize what they were doing.

“You just scared me, Orli.”

“Sorry. I... sorry. I didn’t mean it, I... I was surprised quite a bit myself. I just...I shouldn’t have left my pills at home. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. If everything is fine now, it’s enough.”

“The pain is bearable. Thank you.”

~*~

Orlando stayed in Idaho after the others had left because Viggo had asked him not to leave yet. It was something he hadn’t expected. Viggo had about a week left before he was needed back at work and had to fly to the set.

Orlando woke up before 8:00am the next morning feeling relaxed and rested, a lot of it could be explained by the bed he had slept in. The bed reserved for him had been soft enough and yet hard, aligning with his back just perfectly. Staring at the ceiling he replayed yesterday in his mind, knowing he had made a scene but he couldn’t take it back now. Then he flung his legs over the bed and padded to the bathroom.

The smell of fresh coffee and bread invaded Orlando’s nose as he made his way to the kitchen. He knew from experience that Viggo woke up ridiculously early, even before 6:00am, sometimes just to see the sunrise.

“Morning.” Orlando began with a sleepy voice and yawned. He had been so absorbed in what had happened that he hadn’t looked at himself in the mirror, his hair was a mess and he only had black boxers on.

Viggo stood frozen in place, staring. It had been a long time since he had seen Orlando in boxers, and now the new emotions were in the way.

“Good...morning.” Viggo answered clearing his suddenly dry throat.

“I couldn’t help but recognise the smell wafting in the air.”

“I hope I didn’t wake you up with the clattering.”

“What? Of course not.”

“Oh, good. I was afraid I wasn't quiet enough.”

“Nah. It doesn’t matter. Besides, it was time to wake up anyway. Hey, listen... I did some thinking before falling asleep, and after waking up too, but...”

“What about it?”

“When you grabbed my jaw...”

“Orli, I can explain...” Viggo hurried to speak out. He turned around, temporarily forgetting about the breakfast.

“You really have to explain?”

“I...yeah. I don’t know what got into me yesterday. I don’t understand myself at all. All I know is that I had to make sure you were alright. I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.” Viggo turned back to the counter and the breakfast.

“You...you didn’t. That’s the thing. I... kind of...liked it, I guess. I mean, I didn’t think it was uncomfortable.” Orlando blushed and poured himself a mug of coffee.

“Really?” Viggo asked quietly.

“Why would I lie to you?”

“I don’t know,” Viggo sighed. “I just don’t want that to change things between us.”

“It won’t unless we let it.”

“Good.”

Orlando yawned again and ran his hand through his messy hair.

“I don’t think I’ve ever slept as soundly as I did last night. Thanks for letting me stay.”

Viggo nodded, silently adding that he had a reason why he had asked Orlando to stay. He just couldn’t voice it out.
He sat down at the table spreading the morning newspaper in front of him enjoying the comfortable silence between them. Orlando leaned against his elbow sipping his coffee and looked outside the windows at the rising sun and how the yard seemed to be bathed in gold.

“Orli?” Viggo began quietly, breaking the silence.

Orlando turned back to the table and met Viggo’s eyes. “Yeah?”

“Would you, maybe, want to go out riding today?”

“I’d love that. I really miss the time we had together while filming. We used to spend a lot of time together.”

Viggo’s heart jumped to his throat.

~*~

Orlando followed Viggo to the barn where his horses were. Soon he would meet a familiar horse again, the one that had been his loyal friend while shooting back in New Zealand. He walked to his horse and touched its muzzle gently, the same way he had done so many years ago. The horse whinnied and pushed Orlando’s shoulder with the muzzle.

“He remembers you.” Viggo said quietly, standing beside Orlando, where he had witnessed the reunion.

“I think so.”

Orlando kept talking to the horse while Viggo saddled both animals, getting familiar with the horse before they walked them out of the barn. With one graceful move Orlando had mounted his horse and was already moving, out of an old habit, before Viggo followed him.

“I thought we could go to the hills nearby to look at the sights.”

Sounds good. I’ve never been to Idaho before, only seen it in pictures.”

Viggo smiled and they left, making their way through a narrow path in the forest and over an old wooden bridge. The fall made the forest beautiful, painting it in a million shades, the sun sprinkling its light through the leaves and Orlando was in awe.

Squinting his eyes he could distinguish an edge of the forest, where the grassy hills spread out. Far away down the slopes lay a beautiful valley complete with a river outlined by the hills and the mountains. The air smelled fresh and autumnal.

“Wow,” Orlando whispered jumping off his horse and took careful steps as if everything he saw would disappear, or break any minute. Viggo was making his way down the slope walking his horse.

“You coming?” he asked, laughing as Orlando stood still staring at the view, his mouth hanging open.

“Oh... Yeah...” Orlando shook his head and followed Viggo down the slope.

They let their horses free to run in the grass and graze, Viggo had assured Orlando the horses would come back when he whistled. He continued his way downward, Orlando following close by, every now and then stopping to admire the nature. Viggo waited for Orlando one again and turned around. Whatever he had been about to say died on his lips as he looked at the sight in front of him. Orlando had faced the sky, his eyes closed and had spread his arms wide breathing deeply, clearly enjoying his stay.

Finally Orlando continued walking and had almost reached Viggo when he accidentally stepped on his shoelace and stumbled, falling towards Viggo and knocking them both down. A strangled yelp escaped his lips as they started rolling down the slope, unable to stop. Finally they came to a halt against a small ridge Orlando lying on top of Viggo.

“Shit!! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” he cursed, his face buried between Viggo’s neck and shoulder. Viggo’s left arm rested around Orlando where it had flown as they had come to a sudden halt. When their heads stopped spinning Orlando realized where he was and scrambled up, pushing himself away from Viggo.

“I’m sorry. I...” he spluttered, flustered. He sat up and blushed out of sheer embarrassment and shame.

“Orli, it’s okay.” Viggo, who was still lying on his back, said.

“I’m still too clumsy.”

“It doesn’t matter. That could have happened to anyone.”

Viggo sat up as well and looked at Orlando who had dried leaves and straws in his hair and stuck on his clothes. He reached out to take them away and had almost gotten everything out of Orlando’s hair when he froze, staring back into the deep soulful brown eyes that were swimming with unshed tears.

“In times like this I feel like a complete failure.”

Viggo shook his head, pushing himself a little closer and ran his hand through Orlando’s hair, all the way down to his neck.

“I find clumsiness adorable.”

The way Viggo said those words made Orlando gasp. He swallowed audibly wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket.

Once again he was struck still, staring into the stormy eyes. Viggo looked back with the same devotion and amazement pressing their foreheads together. Orlando closed his eyes and the warm hand on the back of his neck moved slightly, sliding down his jaw line until Viggo took a hold of his jaw just like before. He didn’t have the courage to open his eyes; he didn’t know what he would see in the stormy eyes before him. Soon every rational thought was swept away from him as a pair of soft and moist lips pressed onto his. A moustache and a beard tickled his skin and when he fully realized what was happening, he startled and gasped, his mouth opening a little. Soon he felt something touching his teeth as if asking for permission and he opened his lips a little more, granting it. There it was; the one thing he had dreamed about so many times. Viggo tasted like eucalyptus toothpaste and coffee, Orlando decided and sighed, finding it hard to believe he finally was kissing Viggo.

Viggo found it equally hard to believe, he had thought about this more than once, finding himself wondering what it would feel like, if Orlando’s lips were as soft as they looked. He had been right. Orlando was like fire, water, earth and wind all rolled into one, burning inside Viggo, washing away his sorrows, the one thing that kept his tattered soul in place and filling his every cell.

TBC