Archive of Our Own

Ian watched as the four hobbits waited for Peter to call them for filming. The four young men were pushing at each other trying to knock each other off their overly large hobbit feet.

Ian had been here in New Zealand for four months now. Four of the most splendid months of his life. When he first took this job the one thing he had dreaded was the long shoot but once he met his co-stars and this amazing Kiwi crew he knew he’d made the right choice. Watching the four young adults in front of him reminded him of it constantly.

“Ah, youth, it’s a shame to waste it on the young.” Ian mumbled to himself.

“What, you think we old geezers should be acting like the children?” A voice laughed beside him.

Turning, Ian spied Viggo Mortensen taking one of the empty directors chairs next to him. He was nodding his head at the hobbits. A few seconds later another one of his co-stars, Sean Bean, took the chair next to Viggo.

“Who’s an old geezer?” Sean asked.

“We are.” Viggo stated. “Just look at them, they’re like kids on a playground.”

“I think I was that young once. I believe it was around the turn of the century.” Ian laughed.

Ian smiled as he watched Sean Astin and Billy Boyd finally manage to knock Elijah Wood off his feet and the boy fell to his knees. Dominic Monaghan leaped on Elijah as soon as his hands hit the damp ground. The smile left Ian’s face as he witnessed Elijah reach back and slam his fist -- hard -- into Dom’s face and the loud ‘NO!’ that accompanied the fist as it rent through the air. As Elijah scrambled away from Dom he turned, pushing himself up off the ground as he spied the shocked expression on the older boys face.

“Jesus fuck Lij, what the hell was that for?” Dom asked as he rubbed the side of his face.

Elijah looked around and noticed everyone staring at him.

“I’m sorry, Dom, you just scared…” Elijah’s face had turned crimson, and tears had started to form in his eyes. One second he was standing there, the next he was off, dashing around the heavy camera equipment, heading straight for the woods. His large rubber feet tripping over cable wires and tree roots as he ran.

“Trouble in Hobbiton?” Sean asked.

Ian shook his head, “No, I don’t think so. Just trouble with the Ringbearer I suspect.”

******

He was going to stop crying. He kept telling himself that but he just couldn’t quite make it happen. He couldn’t believe what he’d done. Damn it, he’d had this thing under control now for four years. Four fucking years. Why now, why after all this time did this have to happen? When was it going to stop? He wiped his face and tried to take deep breaths, he knew they would follow him. Any minute now one or all of them would come running through the woods and he had to stop this fucking crying.

He knew Dom didn’t mean anything by what he had done. He knew that Dom would never hurt him. Not in that way. He’d heard Dom and Billy through the walls of the Hobbit House, hell, he knew they were lovers, and he also knew that Dom was a very gentle lover. They’d even talked about it, when it had first started. Dom had asked Elijah and Sean A. if it bothered the two of them. They had both just laughed it off and told him they were both jealous that they didn’t have anyone to cuddle with. Sean’s wife was still in the states back then so Sean had stayed with them in the Hobbit House. He’d since moved into his own house with his wife and daughter. So now Lij was alone at night, listening to the other two make love. Sweet, gentle love that made him envious as hell. He wanted something that he could be part of, someone he could make love to so he didn’t have to lay there at night and jerk off to the sounds that came through the walls. He wished he could be normal and just have one fucking relationship that didn’t bring up nightmares from the past.

“Goddamn fucking baby, that’s what I am.”

“No you’re not. You’re weird Lij, but you’re not a baby. Weird we can deal with.”

Lij wiped his face on the sleeve of his shirt, it wasn’t long enough to do a proper job, but he tried anyway. Swinging his head he saw the other three hobbits standing behind him. He’d been crying so loud he hadn’t even heard them running through the trees. Sean smiled at him. It had been Sean who had made the statement about being weird.

The first thing he saw was the vivid red mark on Dommie’s face. The tears started running again.

“I’m sorry Dom. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Dom smiled, “You didn’t hurt me pup, just shocked the hell out me for a second. Hell, you couldn’t hurt me, you’re a Yank, remember. Good British stock and all that.”

“You okay Lij?” This from Billy; Billy was always the concerned one. He was the one who was always checking schedules making sure they got to where ever they needed to on time, making sure there was food in the house and that it was more than snacks and pizza. If it was left up to the rest of them the icebox would be filled with ales or lagers and nothing else. Hell, they’d even started calling him ‘mum’ because of the way he took care of all of them.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

Sean moved closer and sat down next to Lij. “You sure, cause back there I got a definite feeling that something was going on. Want to talk about it?”

Within moments Billy and Dom crossed their legs and sat, completing the circle.

After the last six months of training and filming the four of them had formed a bond, a bond that was stronger than any other friendships they’d ever had. Included in that bond was a fifth person, a young Brit by the name of Orlando Bloom. Orlando, or Orli as they called him, had been in make-up when Elijah had run off. That being the only reason he wasn’t there now. Elijah knew that if he had been there he too would be here sitting on the damp ground with the rest of them.

Elijah waved his hand in the air, “It was nothing…PMS, I think.” He laughed to cover his embarrassment.

“Oh God, a hobbit on the rag, could there be anything worse?” Dom joked.

“An elf on the rag?” Billy quickly said back at him. They all laughed, the tension was broken. Elijah rose and reached down to help Dom up.

"I really am sorry for hitting you.”

Dom smiled, placing an arm around Lij’s shoulders he steered the boy back through the trees. “I know, don’t worry about it. But we have to get back or Pete’s gonna have our asses for dinner.”

Hooking their arms together the four boys moved off through the trees accompanied by a very loud rendition of ‘We’re Off To See The Wizard’.

******

Once filming was concluded everyone agreed to meet at Sean and Viggo’s that night. It was their monthly get-together or ‘The Circle’ as Ian called it. At first it was a means to get to know everyone in the fellowship better, to learn more about their co-stars and to break the ice. Now it was more for themselves, a chance to relax and have a good time. And no booze. That was Ian’s number two rule when they had first started it. He said he wasn’t putting up with a bunch of drunken crazies, it was only for one night and everyone did enjoy themselves, well, except for the one who was in the Circle. Tonight they were minus a member of the fellowship. John had an appointment in Wellington with a local reporter and he had to pass for this one night. Another of Ian’s rules – rule three, you could only miss two monthly meetings.

Soda’s, juices, and snacks had been passed around, and everyone sat in the large sunken living room, and got comfortable. There were two sofas and two large chairs. The chairs were huge, overstuffed ones that held two people at a time. Usually the hobbits stuffed themselves down in them in two’s. Sean A. and Elijah in one, and Billy and Dom in the other. All the furniture was placed so that it faced each other making a circle.

Ian threw a few pillows into the middle and groans were heard coming from a few people.

“Get over it, you know the rules.” Ian stated.

“But I thought we were done with the circle.” Orli whined. “I feel like I’m seeing a shrink when we start these things.”

“Rule Number One, you must enter the circle and tell us about yourself. The others will ask questions and you must answer them. Truthfully. Read your handbook.” Ian pointed a finger at him.

“There’s a handbook?” Lij asked innocently, “I didn’t get my handbook.”

“And a t-shirt, I got mine in blue. The words ‘The Circle” on the front and The Rules written in our blood on the back.” Billy said with a straight face.

Sean A. threw a pillow at Orli’s head, “what are you bitchin’ about, you already did your time in the circle, you’re done.”

“And please dear God, let’s not do that again anytime soon.” Sean B. said, “I don’t think I could handle hearing about his first time in bed a second time.”

“Hey, you’re just jealous that I was getting it at such an early age.” Orli smirked.

Viggo reached over and smacked him upside his head. “Yeah, but you’re supposed to at least be with another fourteen year old, not your next door neighbor’s twenty-something babysitter.”

“What can I say, I was even a stud back then.” Orli rubbed his head, his smirk even bigger than before. “And somebody asked that question, remember, I didn’t start it. It’s the damn questions that get me.”

Ian smiled, “No, we are not going to have to listen to Orlando Bloom’s embellishments of his misspent puberty. If you’ve had your turn your name is removed from the hat, remember. Tonight’s victim is…” reaching down beside the sofa he grabbed the gray fedora he had placed there earlier. He plucked a small piece of paper from it and unfolded it. “Oh yes, tonight’s victim is none other than…Elijah. Please take your place in The Circle Mr. Wood.”

Elijah stared at Ian, he knew it would be his turn sooner or later, he had just been hoping it would be later. Much later.

Ian placed his palm up and motioned to Elijah to sit on the floor. Someone reached up and turned the overhead light off and the two small lamps on either side of the large area shadowed the room. Viggo had placed four or five candles of various shapes and sizes throughout the room. The candles gave the room a nice cozy atmosphere.

Elijah slid off the chair he was sharing with Sean A., crawled to the pillows, and flopped down face first. A loud groan could be heard coming from the general direction of his mouth.

He knew how intense some of these questions could be. He didn’t want to answer any deep, personal questions. Not tonight. In his nervousness he realized he was digging his bare toes into the carpet, it wasn’t a good feeling so he stopped. /Relax/breathe/relax/

“Okay, who goes first, who was our last circle victim?” Viggo asked. “Beanie wasn’t it you.”

“Yep, it was me,” Sean B. answered. “Alright, lets see…what was your favorite role? And it can’t be Frodo. It has to be something that’s finished and has gone to the public.”

Elijah looked up and smiled, “That’s easy. Casey in The Faculty. It was great working with all the alien stuff. And the make-up when I got blasted by the queen alien, it was so cool.”

“Yeah I can see why you liked that role.” Orli laughed, “Wasn’t she naked at the time?”

“No, she was naked earlier, and Laura Harris is a really nice girl, so fuck you.” Lij snapped. “Like you’ve never been naked in any of your movies?”

Orli came right back with “Have you?”

“Hell, my mom had a fit when I got naked to take a shower in one movie.” Elijah told him. “I don’t think she was gonna let me get naked just to be taken over by an alien. Next question.”

Sean A. jumped in next. “What role did you go up for that you didn’t get that you would loved to have had?”

“McCauley’s role in ‘The Good Son.’ I knew I could have been the evil kid but the director said I was too innocent to even think about it.” Elijah sneered. “Stupid director. I’m an actor, I guess he just didn’t think I was a good one.”

Viggo went next, “What role did you take that you wish you hadn’t?”

Elijah sat up, “Another easy one. It’s a toss up between North or Flipper. I loved being in Flipper, the dolphins were cool, but the movie tanked so freakin’ bad it was horrible. North was just horrible, horrible without dolphins, know what I mean. Great actors, but really a stinker of a script.”

This wasn’t as bad as Elijah had thought it would be, hell, it was even fun. He started to relax and enjoy himself. The questions always started out about the acting, then they tended to move into more personal stuff. Hence Orli’s first time story. Elijah was hoping since everyone thought of him as just a kid that they wouldn’t ask him THAT question. Please Dear God, don’t let them ask. He started to tense up again.

“What’s the worst director you ever worked with?” Dom asked next.

“Mimi Leeder from ‘Deep Impact,’ Elijah told them, he started to relax again. “She just wasn’t satisfied with anything. We must have done some scenes thirty or forty times. It started to turn into a big headache. I think it was easier for me than it was for Tea Leoni. She was really on Tea’s case a lot I heard. We didn’t have any scenes together but I heard a bunch of stuff. And then just when we thought it was over she called us back in for more shots. There was this one scene where all I had to do was run up to two other actors, and ask where the girl playing my girlfriend was, and then help the guy playing the dad hang a grate over a window. It was hot and there was a baby in the scene, the kid kept crying and we had to re-shoot over and over again. The producers told her the baby wasn’t needed for the scene, to use a doll instead but she wouldn’t and it was horrible. Not even to mention how much it cost to rent a helicopter for one scene that was only supposed to be there for four hours that we ended up keeping for almost a week. The producer was going nuts. And the more the producer yelled the more pissed off Mimi got. It was not a good time.”

“I’ve heard a few stories about her myself.” Sean A. added.

“Me too,” Viggo told them. “So now we all know not to work with her.”

Elijah looked up and smiled at Viggo, then turned and looked at Ian. He wondered what would be the next question.

“Who would you like to do a love scene with?” Billy asked.

“Eliza Dushku from ‘Bring It On’. She’s hot. And she was great on Buffy as the Evil Slayer. Eliza hands down.” Elijah blushed a bit as he said this.

“Eliza and Elijah, try saying that ten times fast.” Orli said.

Billy looked up and shook his head. “I don’t know her, is she a blonde?”

“Nope, brunette and hot.” Elijah said. “Or Ryan Phillippe. He’s a blonde and just as hot as Eliza. He’s in Gosford Park.”

Elijah never noticed the few raised eyebrows this statement caused.

“I’d do him.” Orli said as he nodded his head.

“Yeah but would he do you, now that’s the question.” Dom threw a pillow at Orli’s head. Orlando caught it smoothly and whipped it back at him.

“Why did you hit Dominic today and why did you run away?”

Elijah froze. He knew Ian had asked the question but he couldn’t look up at him. He couldn’t look up at any of them. The room had suddenly gone quiet, very quiet.

Ian tried again, “Why did you run from Dominic today?”

“Ian, maybe we should just stick to work related questions.” Sean A. spoke up.

Ian had watched as Elijah’s face had gone pale. The boy had totally lost all color in his cheeks. He looked like he was going to pass out; maybe he had pushed him too far. But then again he’d never been known for backing down from something once he got it into his head. He knew there was something more to what had happened. Ian shook his head slowly; he stared at the boy in the center of the room.

“You know the rules Elijah. You have to answer the questions that are posed to you.”

“He scared me.” Elijah whispered. “I panicked.”

“Why did he scare you?” Ian questioned. “In what way did he scare you, why did you panic?”

The rest of the men sat in silence, they didn’t know what was happening but none of them tried to interfere.

Elijah stared at his hands and told himself not to cry. /Please, please don’t start to cry. Not here, not in front of all my friends/

He closed his eyes and felt the first teardrop splat against the back of his hand. /Here it comes, here comes the fucking crybaby/

“I re…” they could barely hear the whisper.

“You what?” Ian gently asked.

“I remembered from before.” Elijah said a bit louder, he let out a very loud sigh. “I remembered what had happened before when somebody grabbed me like that.”

Ian sat up and leaned closer to the young boy. “What had happened before Elijah?”

The eyes were still closed, a finger automatically went into the mouth, he tried chewing on one of his fingernails but there was nothing there. Nothing he could grab onto with his teeth.

“He’d grabbed me…he had been following me for weeks and we didn’t know it.”

“Who, who are you talking about?” Ian asked, still using the gentle tone, he knew he had to take this very slowly. “Who was following you?”

“Dennis, his name was Dennis Shulman. He was what you would call a stalker. At least that’s what the FBI called him. He sent me things in the mail. Told me what he would do to me if he could…get me. He said I was meant for him, that I belonged to him.” Elijah’s voice was a whisper, they could just barely hear him. “We laughed about it, thought he was just some nutcase.”

“Then one day he showed up at the comic book store that I always went too. My mom would drop me off and she’d be back to pick me up in an hour. That’s how we always did it. He had been watching me; he knew I was alone. He waited till she left and then he followed me around the store, told me he was a fan. He was older you know, in his twenties.” His small shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I thought it was neat that this older guy was a fan of stuff that I’d done.”

“How old were you, when did this happen?” It was Ian again.

“Fourteen.” A small sob then silence again. “About four years ago.”

“What did he do to you?”

Elijah wasn’t sure who asked this. There was a soft accent but he wasn’t sure who it was because the question had been whispered. He thought it might have been Billy.

“He said he had this great collection of Star Wars stuff. It was out in his van. He was going to sell it, that’s why he had it with him. He wanted to know if I wanted anything. He was going to give it to me, for free ‘cuz he was a fan…you know.”

Another sob, another tear on the back of his hand.

“We walked to his van, it was in the alley behind the store. He opened the door and I looked in but didn’t see any Star Wars stuff. And then he pu…”

“He pushed you into the van?” Ian sighed. He knew that there had been more to the story but he’d never imagined this. He looked up at the other faces in the room. They all looked as pale as the boy’s.

“Yes, he pushed me inside and slammed the door shut. He slammed my face really hard onto the floor and I got really dizzy. Then…then he put something over my mouth…tape, it was tape. And then he taped my hands together and then wrapped the tape around my waist. I couldn’t move them.”

He felt a hand touch his back and then Sean A’s voice. “Oh Lij.”

He sprang up and turned, “I don’t want your pity. Do you hear me, I DON’T WANT YOUR FUCKING PITY!”

He turned to run again, just like he’d done today in the woods. He didn’t get that far this time. Before he’d taken two steps two strong arms came around him and pulled him back into the circle. He was slowly pushed to the floor again. The arms slid off until just the hands remained on his shoulders. He looked up into the face of Orlando.

“Nobody pities you Lij, there is no fucking pity here. Just your friends. Do you hear me? Just your friends who love you.” Orlando screamed the words at him. He hadn’t planned on shouting them but it just came out that way.

Sean A. moved down beside Elijah and ran a hand between his shoulder blades. “Orli’s right. We don’t pity you. Never that.”

Orli moved his hands but he stayed next to Elijah. He reached out and put his hand on his knee and squeezed.

“What happened after he tied you up, what did he do to you Elijah?” Ian asked him, his voice was so soothing that Elijah answered without thinking.

“He kept touching me. Grabbing at my…he tried to…he pulled my pants down and he was going to…rape me…but someone had seen him push me into the van.” A puff of air came out, he thought it was meant it to be a nervous laugh but it wasn’t much more than a slight sound. “A girl, she’d recognized me in the store and she followed us out to the van. She was going to ask for my autograph -- she told the cops that later. When she saw what he’d done she ran back inside and told the store manager. He called the cops. He came out and started pounding on the sides of the van, then he broke a window, started yelling that he had a gun and that he better let me out of there. The…the guy opened the door and pushed me out and took off but the manager got his license number. They picked him up the next day. He had all kinds of pictures of me in his house, all kinds of stuff. Not the pictures from magazines but one’s he’d actually taken himself. Really close ones. In some I was smiling into the camera, that’s how close he got to me.”

“And I grabbed you today, jumped on you and it reminded you of what happened didn’t it?” Dom asked him, his voice was laced with pain.

Elijah nodded, “He was behind me, he was leaning over my back and…today, when you did that, I remembered. It doesn’t happen that often, not anymore, but every once in a while I remember it.”

“I’d never hurt you, you know that don’t you Lij.” Dom told him.

Elijah looked up at his friend and smiled, “I know Dommie. You didn’t know. I just…”

“You what Lij?” Orli ask.

“I’m just a wimp sometimes. Sometimes someone will touch me or lean against me and I remember.”

Sean Bean shook his head. “You’re not a wimp Elijah. You were just a scared little boy and something bad happened to you. It’s not your fault.”

“What happened to this guy, this Shulman guy?” Viggo ask him.

Elijah wiped his face with the back of his hand and slowly looked up at Viggo.

“He’s in a nut house in San Francisco. Turned out his family has money and they put him away in one of those fancy places. It was part of a deal that the FBI made with his family. He had all those things in his house, my pictures and this freaky shrine set up. They said he kept babbling about me, how I belonged to him and stuff like that. He broke all kinds of laws that would have put him in a prison for a long time if we had prosecuted him. But my mom…she didn’t want anyone to know. She said she didn’t want my name in the papers because of my career.”

“How did you feel about this deal they made on your behalf?” Ian thought that they should have gone after him to the full extent of the law, put him in a federal prison and let the perverts at him.

“I just didn’t want to talk about it. And I didn’t want to have to go to court and tell a room full of people what had happened. They said they would have questioned me, where did he touch me? How did he touch me? Things like that. I didn’t want to do that. I’m fucked up enough as it is.”

Ian shook his head no, “I’d say you turned out pretty darn good for a fellow who’s gone through such a traumatic experience. If you were my son I’d be proud of the way you turned out.”

Elijah laughed, “Yeah right, then why can’t I let anyone touch me? And I don’t mean in the normal way. I’m pretty good at forgetting about it day to day, especially after all the hugging and kissing you people do. Sometimes in the beginning, when we first got here it freaked me a bit when somebody would run up and hug me. But you people, all touchy and feely, all the time, you’ve made it a lot better. Just wish I could put it behind me when I want to…”

“When you want to get close to somebody, really close.” Orli finished for him.

Elijah nodded, he couldn’t believe he was talking about this. But for some reason it was easier than he thought. It seemed right. He knew these people wouldn’t laugh at him. And down deep inside he knew they didn’t pity him.

“Yes, every time I’ve ever tried to get close to somebody in a…romantic way it all comes back. Fucked up is what I am. I’m gonna die a virgin. A disgusting, stupid virgin.”

“And how many times have you really tried. I mean really. Not just making out with some young person but really got close to somebody physically?” Ian ask him.

Elijah shook his head, “Not that many, twice to be exact. The first time was a friend. We’d been dating for fun for about a month. She wanted to take it further. I just couldn’t relax enough. In the end, she thought I was a total nut case.”

“And the second time?” Billy asked, he’d been so quiet up until now, Elijah had been wondering what he’d been thinking. Dom too.

“That was even worse. A co-star of mine, on location. In a trailer with everyone walking around outside. I think he figured that I was straight and just couldn’t do it.”

“And are you straight little one?” Ian asked with a smile.

Elijah thought for a moment. “I don’t think so. I’ve been attracted to both men and women. I like ’em both, always have, as far back as I remember.”

Elijah looked around the room at his friends and saw everyone smiling, “What, what did I say that was so funny?”

“I don’t think you’re the only one Lij.” Sean A. laughed. “I think I’m the only true straight male in the room.”

“And we still love you, even with all your hetero maleness leaking out all over the place.” Ian told him.

“Believe me, with all the hot stuff in this room and if I was not a married man, who knows, but I love my wife. Enough said.” Sean told him.

Elijah felt a hand on his cheek, he turned to face Orli.

“Do you trust us Lij?” Orli ask him, he had a very serious look in his eyes.

Elijah swallowed. “Yes, I trust you.”

Orli slowly leaned in and pressed his lips against Elijah’s. He felt the younger man stiffen up for a moment, he paused but didn’t pull back. When he felt Lij relax again he slowly opened his mouth, using his tongue he gently caressed the small bottom lip of the other man. He waited a second and did it again, he felt Lij tremble, a small slight shake of his body and then he felt him open his own lips and then a wet moist tongue moved against his own. Without removing his mouth Orli smiled.

He kissed him for a few more seconds, then leaning back he smiled at Lij and ask him if he was okay.

Elijah smiled and gave a breathy little “yeah”.

Everyone was silent again. No one knew what to say.

Orli cleared his throat, “I never asked you my question Lij. For the game, remember.”

Elijah smiled and said, “Okay Orli, what’s your question.”

“Will you let me make love to you?”

Elijah just sat there staring at Orli for a few moments. He slowly turned and looked at the others in the room. Blank faces stared back at him. He must have dozed off, cause he knew he had to be dreaming. He turned back to Orli.

“Here…ah…now?”

Orli smiled, “Yes, here and now. I don’t think we have any secrets from these people. And if anyone minds they can leave.”

Elijah swung his eyes around the room again; no one was getting up to leave.

“What do I do?” Elijah asked, you could hear the slight tremor in his voice. He wanted this, he really did, but could he do it? /What the fuck was he doing/

“Nothing, just relax and enjoy. If there’s anything you don’t like, or you want me to stop at any time just say so, okay.”

“Ok..okay.”

Orli looked around the room. “Anyone leaving?”

Again, no one moved.

Orli slowly reached out and cupped Elijah’s face. “Just relax. I won’t hurt you. And I’d like you to keep your eyes open. Just so you know who it is who’s touching you.”

“Okay.” Elijah knew he sounded like a parrot, saying the same things over and over again but he didn’t know what else to say, or to do for that matter. But strangely enough it was okay. He was scared, but not in a bad way, more nervous than scared actually. It was almost as if he was…anticipating what was to come.

He watched as Orli leaned in again and laid his lips against his. He was proud of the fact that he didn’t freeze up this time. He actually wanted to feel Orli’s lips again; he liked the way they felt against his. It was soft, and gentle, not like kissing a girl, but sorta the same. He didn’t know how to explain it. After a few moments he felt like it was too gentle, too soft. Tilting his head a bit he pressed his lips a little harder to Orli’s. As soon as he did Orli opened his mouth and ran his tongue along Lij’s lips and then into his mouth. He hesitantly moved his tongue to touch Orli’s. It felt warm and wet.

Just when he was getting into the rhythm Orli withdrew and moved his mouth along Lij’s jaw line. He actually thought Orli’s wet tongue felt hotter on his skin than it had in his mouth. He closed his eyes and realized he hadn’t taken a breath since Orli kissed him. He tried to draw air into his lungs slowly but it sounded so loud in the quiet room, as if he couldn’t get any air. The other boy moved to his neck, Lij was amazed at how hot it felt. It was as if the more Orli licked the hotter it got.

Orli moved his hands under Lij’s shirt and pushed up. Lifting his head he watched as Lij raised his arms and the shirt came off. Tossing it to the side he lowered his head to Lij’s chest.

The first swipe on his nipple sent tremors to his fingers and bare toes. For a moment he forgot to breathe again. He felt his cock get hard. He couldn’t believe this, Orli was going to do this…to him, right here in front of everyone.

“Ah, Lij, your eyes. You’re supposed to keep them open, remember.” This from Billy.

He didn’t know if he could open his eyes. Hell, just feeling what Orli was doing to him was amazing. To actually watch him doing it, hell he’d probably come right there and then.

“You okay, Lij?” This from Orli.

“Yeah, yeah.” God, could he sound like a bigger dork. He heard somebody chuckle but it was gone to quickly for him to figure out who it was.

“Lay back.” Orli gently lowered him to the floor, pushing the rainbow of pillows out of the way.

Elijah opened his eyes and watched as Orli removed his own shirt.

God he was so fucking beautiful Lij thought to himself. All golden And shiny. Not skinny, lean and hard. Muscle ran along the long body, filling him out in all the right places. He noticed the small dark lines of Orli’s sun tattoo rising up out of the waistband of his jeans. But it was only a glance as it quickly disappeared as Orli leaned over and placed his lips against his again. This time Lij opened his mouth immediately. Tongues rubbed, slipping and sliding together. He felt Orli’s hands running up and down his ribs. He wondered if he could feel his rib bones through his skin. /don’t think Wood, just feel/

As Orli’s lips moved down to his chest again Elijah turned his head to the side. Viggo and Sean B. were sitting on the couch in front of him, they’d shifted closer to one another, and were now leaning into each other. Viggo turned and placed his face against Sean’s neck. He watched as Viggo ran his tongue up and down along Sean’s pale skin. In the dim light Sean’s eyes met Lij’s’, he could see the candlelight reflected in them.

Once again he wondered if this was a dream, it didn’t feel real, the small tingles running up and down his body felt so good. He realized his hands were lying at his sides. That didn’t feel right either; he knew what he wanted to do. Raising them slowly he laid them against the skin on Orli’s back. He held them there for a few moments, until the fluttering in his heart stopped. Then slowly he moved them, one up to the back of Orli’s neck, the other down to the waistband of his jeans. He didn’t push his fingers into the jeans like he wanted to but just kept it anchored there, just getting used to the feel of Orli’s skin under his.

“Do you want more Lij?” Orli ask him.

First he had to remember how to speak, then he’d tell him yes. It was somewhere in his brain, he knew he could talk, he’d been doing it all his life. He just couldn’t remember how to make it work for a moment. So in the end he just gave a quick nod of his head, but Orli couldn’t see it. So the others decided to help him out.

“Yeah, he wants more, don’t you Lij.” Dom’s voice came from above and behind.

Elijah turned his head searching for the face that belonged to the voice. Dommie was lying across Billy’s lap and Billy was running his hands over his back and down along his ass. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ian just a cushion away.

Elijah shook his head, trying to clear his brain, but it wasn’t working. He felt Orli’s head lift and he knew he was looking at him but he didn’t want to stop watching Dom and Billy quite yet.

“Do you want more Lij, you have to tell me if you do?” Orli smiled down at him.

When he finally did speak it was to the room in general. “It’s just a lot to take in you know. I mean, I wasn’t expecting anything like this to happen.”

“Is it too much, do you want to stop?” Ian ask him from behind Orli.

“N..n..no..o!” Elijah stammered, “It’s just…just all of this…Viggo and Sean, Billy and Dom...it’s so beautiful. And no, I don’t want you to stop. I’m okay.”

He turned and looked up at Orli, his face sobered, “I want more.”

Orli surprised Elijah by straddling his legs and leaning into him, chest-to-chest, skin to skin. Elijah closed his eyes again as the tingling once again ran through his body, it felt so fucking good. He felt Orli’s tongue slide down the center of his chest, felt hands on his hips, gripping gently through the material of his pants. When Orli’s tongue lightly swirled around his navel he thought he was going to shoot up off the floor. He suddenly saw flashes of bright light behind his eyes. God, he didn’t think he could take much more of this. And this was only the foreplay.

“Don’t get scared Lij by what I do next okay.” Orli whispered.

He barely had time to think about that statement before he felt Orli’s hand cup him through his pants.

Air rushed through his lungs and he heard a moan, he realized the moan was coming from him. He suddenly grabbed Orli’s arms without making the conscience effort to actually do it, it just happened. He waited for the nightmare to begin. Waited for the memories, the shadows to come creeping out of their dark hiding places in his head, to put an end to all this.

But nothing happened. Even with the thoughts of what had happened that day in his mind he didn’t freeze up, didn’t pull away. This was Orli, he was in Sean and Viggo’s living room, in New Zealand. Not in a van in Los Angeles, not with that fucking nutcase who had hurt him. It was Orli. Everything was fine. He smiled.

Orlando watched that smile steal across the other boy’s face and he relaxed. He moved his hand, gripping Lij a bit tighter, a bit more firmly. He shaped him with his hand and slid his palm up the hard length. He felt a small jump in Lij’s chest when he moved his hand on him. Not in a bad way but in a good way. Lij was enjoying this. And just that fact made Orli’s blood rush to his groin. His pants were suddenly a lot tighter than they were a minute ago.

Orli smiled, “I’m going to take your pants off, okay.”

There went Elijah’s ability to speak again, in the end he just gave a small nod of his head. He pulled his hands back from Orli and waited. /breathe Lij, for Christ sake just breathe/

Orli reached down and popped the button on his jeans, the zipper soon followed. As he peeled the pants off he knee walked backwards pulling the material off Lij’s legs.

Orli’s eyes traveled up and down the body lying before him, from the top of Lij’s short hair to his hard cock and then down to the long white limbs laid out in front of him.

“You’re beautiful, do you realize that? I thought it was just your eyes, they way you have of looking at someone with those gorgeous blue eyes of yours. But it’s not; it’s your entire body. You’re beautiful from your head to your toes.”

There was movement above them and they both turned to look as Sean A. came back into the room. No one had even noticed when he’d gotten up. He bent down near Lij head and laid a towel, a small bottle and a foil packet next to the pillows.

“Just thought somebody should take care of these things. Didn’t mean to interrupt.” He said smiled sheepishly as he took his seat.

“See breeders are good for some thing’s.” Ian smiled at the younger man.

“I didn’t think about that.” Orli said. “That was wrong of me. I should have thought of it.”

Sean just smiled at him, “You were kinda busy.”

“Sean this doesn’t bother you does it. I mean we’re all okay with it but we didn’t even think about you.” Sean B. questioned.

The other man shook his head, “nah, I’m fine with it. I grew up in Hollyweird, remember. Believe me, I’ve seen a lot. But I’ve got to admit it, Lij is right. It is something to watch you guys. I’m just honored that you let me be a part of this.”

A small voice suddenly interrupted their conversation, “Hey, I am feeling a bit uncomfortable being the only one without any clothes. I think I would feel better about this if there was more naked flesh around here.”

“He seems to have lost his shyness doesn’t he.” Ian stated with a grin. “But I came with my clothes on and I’m leaving with them on. Don’t let that stop you though.”

Without saying a word Viggo removed his t-shirt and pulled Sean B.’s hand to his chest. He just looked at everyone with a grin.

Orli turned back to Elijah, he stood, toeing his shoes off he proceeded to pop the buttons on his own jeans. He watched Lij’s face the entire time. He popped them slowly, with each button the boy’s face reddened more and more.

He slid his hands down the insides of his pants and slowly pushed them and his boxers to the floor. As he stood up he slowly moved his hips back and forth in a bump and grind motion.

“Getting shy on me again?” Orli asked him quietly.

Another small moan crept from between pale pink lips.

“Orlando, remember you’re dealing with an eighteen year old boy, you keep this up and he will be finished long before you are.” Ian told him. “Don’t play with the boy.”

A nervous giggle from Elijah. Ian was right. He was afraid that this would be over before Orli really got any further.

Orli dropped to his knees again, his legs on either side of Elijah’s knees. Sliding his hands up Lij’s thighs he gasp the boy’s hips and without another word he bent over and kissed the head of Elijah’s rigid cock.

“Ah…” He knew he would hit the ceiling this time. There was no way he could stop himself from jumping through the roof.

Orli pushed Elijah’s hips back down to the floor and grasped the base of the cock beneath him and squeezed.

“Not yet Lij, soon, but not yet.” Orli whispered to him.

He’d almost come, right there and then. If Orli hadn’t grabbed him, held on to him this would have been over with. Just another memory. He didn’t want that, he wanted this to last as long as it could.

His mouth was suddenly filled with tongue again. Hard and fast this time. He wrapped his arms around the shoulders above him and held on for dear life. He felt the thin sheen of sweat that had collected on Orli’s back. He ran his hands through the dampness and quickly moved them to Orli’s hips and pressed down. Something hot, stiff and silky was pressed against his own hardness -- hips moved on their own, pushing up and against Orli’s body. He could feel a thin trail of moisture gather across his stomach, he didn’t know if it was from him or Orli. He didn’t have time to think about it as he was suddenly engulfed with a stream of pleasure shooting through his body. He forgot about the others, he forgot about the memories, forgot about anything; he just felt. It was like ribbons of color pouring through his brain. Rippling past with no way of catching them nor of keeping them. No way to hold on to the feeling, before another one zipped past. It poured over him in luscious waves of pleasure. He felt Orli’s hands on his ass, clutching and un-clutching.

And then it was gone. He felt the cool air against his belly and he waited. He felt Orli reach up by his head, he opened his eyes and noticed the small bottle in the other man’s hand. He watched as the top was popped and a large dollop of lotion was squirted into the palm of Orli’s other hand. Orli made a fist and moved his fingers around so that when he reached down and smoothed his fingers between the sweat-slicked globes of Elijah’s ass the lotion was warm.

Elijah’s eyes widened and a small squeak escaped his lips.

“You have to relax Lij, I’m not going to lie to you. This will hurt a bit, but only at first. Do you still trust me?”

“Yes…just let me know when you’re going to…you know.” Elijah stated. He raised his knees and let one leg fall to the side. It felt strange to have someone touching him there. But it felt good at the same time. Orli kept his fingers moving in a circular motion the entire time. Every few seconds he’d press against Lij’s anus, but he didn’t enter him, just kept his fingers moving.

“I will, I promise.” Orli answered. He leaned down, took one of the small pink nipples into his mouth, and sucked.

The tingles started again, closing his eyes Elijah let them spread through his body.

“Relax Lij,” Orli’s concern could be heard in his voice. “Just a bit of pressure, that’s all, just relax.”

Elijah felt him pressing against him and then felt Orli’s finger enter him. It was uncomfortable for a few seconds but it didn’t really hurt. He tried to concentrate on the mouth and tongue on his nipples but he couldn’t stop picturing what was happening inside of him.

“That’s right, just relax. Feels good doesn’t it.” Orli’s voice slid over him, almost in a teasing, sensual way. “Do you like that Lij?”

“Ah, yeah…it…feels good. Don’t stop, please don’t stop.”

Another finger moved in beside the first one. He could feel them stretching him, moving in small circles inside of him.

It went on and on, just when Elijah thought he was ready to explode, just when his ‘Oh God’s’ and his ‘yes, yes Orli’s’ threatened to end it all Orli would stop moving and switch his efforts to Lij’s chest or jaw line, moving his mouth from Lij’s neck to his lips again. A sweet sweeping lick of his tongue, a slight suck at the base of his throat. Just enough to give the boy a chance to gain some small amount of control again. He didn’t remove his fingers just kept them still. Then he would start all over again pushing them deeper.

Instinct had Orli reaching for the small nut shaped prostate but his mind told him not to. Wait; just wait; if he pressed against it now it would be over. So he kept the fingers moving, adding another one, slowly opening the tight muscles surrounding his fingers.

The older boy was not unaffected himself, his breaths were getting deeper and deeper. His dick was so hard he wondered if he would be able to hold off coming himself. He couldn’t wait to get inside of this beautiful man beneath him. But he knew he had to make this good, had to make Lij’s first time right, something unbelievable.

Orli finally leaned up and through half opened eyes he gently asked the boy, “Are you ready Lij?”

Elijah squeezed his eyes shut and moaned, “Fuck yes, please Orli, please.”

The fingers were slowly removed, Elijah looked up and watched as Orli opened the foil packet with his teeth, watched as he opened the bottle again, smoothed a small amount on his own cock and then slid the condom over himself. Again he released more lotion from the bottle, he rubbed it in both hands this time. Then one hand on Lij, one on himself he stroked both cocks for a few seconds, leaning over he placed his lips over Elijah’s and precede to kiss him until the younger boy couldn’t even remember his own name.

“Please Orli.” Lij begged.

Placing the head of his cock against the opening he pushed. He slid sideways, to the left a bit, replacing his cock he tried again. It was tight, tighter than he had thought it would be. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to get in he felt the tight ring open and the head slide in.

It was just enough to cause Elijah to squeeze his eyes tightly shut, a large in-drawn breath, hands suddenly raised into the air, almost as if to ward something off. “Jesus…it hurts. Is it supposed to hurt this much?”

Orli reached down and pulled the other boy's legs up and closer to him, his thighs slid under the slender legs, draping them over his arms he reached up and grabbed both of Lij’s hands in his, twining their fingers together he grasped them tightly.

“Just relax, it’ll pass, I promise Lij. Just relax.”

A hand reached out and gripped both Orli’s and Elijah’s, “It’s okay, just relax Lij. Orli won’t hurt you, you know that. It’s okay.”

Elijah looked up into the face of Sean A. He felt the tight grip that Sean had on his hand. He took a long breath and let it out.

“Sean.” It came out more of a sigh than a word.

“I’m here. It’s okay.”

Elijah never questioned it when he felt Sean’s lips touch his brow, gently kissing him there, then moving down lower to the tip of his nose, brushing against the smooth skin there before finally settling on his mouth.

He didn’t stop to think about it, didn’t want to think about it, he just leaned up and returned the kiss, sliding his tongue into the older man’s mouth he dragged his tongue against the other and let his body relax.

Orlando felt the tense muscles give and he slid the rest of the way into Lij’s body. Leaning forward a bit he pushed against the small knob he felt there and watched as the small body beneath him arched up into the air. Keeping still for a moment he enjoyed the site of the two best friends kissing each other.

But he knew the moment Elijah pushed back at him that it was time, time to finish it, he couldn’t hold out much longer, and neither could Lij from the looks of things. Moving slowly he pulled out a bit and gently pushed back in, a moan escaping from his own lips told him it wouldn’t be long. He pulled his fingers away from one of Lij’s hands and watched as Sean’s fingers replaced his. He reached down and grasped Elijah’s cock in his hand and started to pump. He felt the muscles surrounding his cock tighten and then everything was a blur as he lost all coherent thought. With eyes closed he poured every movement, every thought into making Elijah come.

In the end Orli didn’t seem to mind that it wasn’t his name that Elijah called out, it didn’t matter that the boy had probably forgotten that he was even in the room, just as long as it was pleasure that caused him to cry out, pleasure that drove him over the edge, it was alright by him. After all this was about Lij, not him.

“SEAN!”

“I’m here, it’s okay.” Sean told him as he kissed his sweat stained forehead. “We’re all here with you Lij.”

All Elijah could get through his lips were whimpers. He’d never experienced anything like that before. And he’d enjoyed every fucking minute of it.

When his breathing slowed enough, when he could actually form a thought again Elijah slowly turned his head and watched as Orli, with a huge smile on his face, asked him if he was okay.

“That was fucking intense!” This statement was followed by a few chuckles.

“Did you…?” Elijah asked Orli.

Orli laughed, “Yeah I did, you were a bit too busy to notice I guess.”

Orlando slowly pulled away from him, he held his breath as he came out of Lij’s body. Lij’s eyes slid closed and his face screwed up in a grimace.

“Are you sore?”

“A bit.” Elijah answered with a smile, “But I’m okay.”

“He looks like a little boy with a new shiny bicycle, doesn’t he?” Ian
said with a laugh.

Sean A. threw the towel to Orlando and smiled. “Yeah, he does, doesn’t he.”

“Okay, I’m not inviting you people to my house anymore. I’m too old for this shit.” Viggo said as he stood and walked out of the room.

Everyone turned to watch him leave.

“Is he mad?” Elijah asked looking at Sean B.

“No, not mad…just…” Sean smirked as he watched Viggo enter the bedroom.

“SEAN! Get your ass in here now!”

“Hot? Bothered? Horny?” Billy howled with laughter.

Sean B. stood and tried to make a graceful exit. “Yes, yes, and yes.
Excuse me while I tame the savage beast.”

“Well Mr. Wood, have your shadows been tamed?” Ian asked with a smile, he tossed Elijah his pants.

Elijah caught his pants and slid into them. Eyes shining in the candlelight, a smile plastered on his face as he stood. “Definitely, my shadows have been vanquished. Thanks to Orli and you guys.”

“Glad to help mate, anytime.” Orli stood, pulled his trousers on and with a wink he leaned in and kissed Lij on the mouth. “Anytime.”

“I’m hungry, anyone want to raid the refrigerator while they’re busy?” Elijah asked. Turning he headed towards the kitchen. Billy, Orli, and Dom followed him.

“Orli have I ever told you about the time the postman touched my leg.” Dom said, to which he received a swipe on his ass from Billy.

“If you need any therapy it isn’t going to be Orli giving it to you, you hear me.”

Sean A. sat down next to Ian, reaching down he picked up the gray fedora that rested by the older man’s feet. Slowly he removed the small scraps of paper and read each one.

“You’re a devious man Sir Ian, very devious.” Sean said as he read Elijah’s name on every piece.

“We are all devious my young man. We can be anything we want to be. We can all play any part we want too, at any time. Tis why they call us actors.”

Sean smiled as he watched the older man stand and head towards the kitchen.

Without turning back Ian offered, “After all, you call yourself ‘straight’ remember?”

The End