Pygmalion 16/17

[zebraljb.livejournal.com]

Author: zebraljb
Rating: G to NC17
Disclaimer: Almost done and still not real.



Orlando whistled as he propped the bag of groceries between his hip and the wall, digging in his pocket for his keys. He opened the apartment door and managed to maneuver inside without dropping anything. “Honey, I’m home!” He said cheerfully, noticing the light around the corner.

“Hey,” he heard Elijah say between sniffles. Orlando dropped the groceries in the kitchen and hurried over to Elijah, who was crying on the sofa, holding the telephone in his lap.

“What happened?” Orlando demanded, gently stroking Elijah’s pale cheek. “’Lij? Did someone hurt you? I’ll kill whoever did this to you.”

“No,” Elijah said, shaking his head as he smiled through his tears. “It’s nothing like that.” Orlando waited, wiping away Elijah’s tears. “I talked to my mom today. Twice.”

“What?” Orlando whispered.

“Yeah. I talked about it with Viggo, and he said that I should call her. And I did, you know, I just thought, what the hell, and then I called. And she…”

“Wait a minute.” Orlando shook his head. “Did you say Viggo?”

“Yeah! He talked me into it, and then I called and…”

“When did you see Viggo?” Orlando interrupted.

Elijah blinked a few times. “Uh, I ran into him downtown. He was having coffee with that Sean guy.”

“Oh,” Orlando said. “Well, go on.”

“It’s not like that,” Elijah insisted. “He still loves you, Orli. They’re just friends.”

“Tell me about your mom,” Orlando said. Elijah sighed and rolled his eyes.

“She was so glad to hear from me, Orli. She…she booted him to the curb after what happened! She felt so bad, Orli…she cried on the phone.” Elijah wiped at his own tears. “She didn’t realize how much he hated me…she was just so lonely. She looked and looked for me…never thought to look, you know…” Elijah sniffled again. “We’re gonna meet downtown tomorrow.”

“Oh, babe.” Orlando pulled Elijah into his arms. “I’m so happy for you.”


Elijah made sure Orlando was in the shower, singing loudly, before he picked up the phone. “Hey, Viggo.”

“Elijah?”

“Yeah. Hey, I was wondering…me and my mom are meeting up tomorrow. I’m kinda nervous about it, and I feel weird asking Orlando to come with me,” Elijah lied. “I’m afraid she might judge him or something. Are you busy? I’d feel a lot better if you came along.”

“Uh, well, sure, Elijah,” Viggo said. “Anything I can do to help.”

“Great. I’m gonna meet her at the Lion Café at eleven tomorrow morning. I already reserved a table for three.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

Elijah hung up and wandered to the bathroom. “Orli?” Elijah yelled over the shower’s noise.

Orlando stopped in the middle of the chorus of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” “What is it?”

“Do you think you can go with me tomorrow? I feel weird.”

Orlando opened the shower curtain and poked his dripping head out. “Sure, ‘Lij, if it’s what you want.”

“I reserved a table for three at the Lion Café. Eleven tomorrow. Can you meet us there?”

“Sure,” Orlando said. “I could go with you…”

“Nah…I wanna get some flowers for her or something,” Elijah said, shrugging.

“Okay.” Orlando ducked back into the shower. Elijah left the bathroom, grinning broadly.