Title: "Acceptable Substitute" Pairing: Dominic Monaghan/Harry Sinclair (Karl Urban/Orlando Bloom) Rating: R Summary: Sometimes things aren't always what they seem. Disclaimer: As always, the line between reality & fantasy should be noted & appreciated. Notes: Written for Lobelia, for her birthday. "You only get one shot Do not miss your chance" -- Eminem Dom watched, fascinated, as Karl lined up his next shot, body coiled, forearms and triceps tensed -- dark hairs smoothed over sun-kissed skin, glasses firmly pushed up a straight nose. Watched as Karl grinned, wide and full, full lips stretched over white teeth, when his dart hit the target dead on. Orlando groaned, head flung back in frustration, waved the two-fingered salute in the general direction of Harry's chuckle. "Fuck me, mate. Coulda warned me you were a star at this," he mumbled, standing. "Sorry." Karl flashed another grin as he pulled the darts out of the cork (a real cork dartboard, and Dom didn't think they even made those anymore), fingers lightly brushing Orlando's in a familiar gesture when he handed the darts over. Dom took another long pull of his lager, savored the brief flash of heat when Karl sat beside him and reached for his pint, arm brushing against his in the barest of kisses. "So, I'm taking you on next, I reckon, since Harry's sitting this one out." "Haven't I beaten you enough at this game?" Harry replied, voice mild, eyes twinkling. "Still looking to get my money back." "Keep dreaming." "Guess I am next then," Dom mumbled, wishing. Just...wishing. "Don't worry, mate, I'll go easy on you." Karl flashed another lightning quick smile, eyes alight with mischief. Oh, no you don't. Easy, indeed, Dom thought. "Perhaps I'll go easy on you," he teased back. "Fancy a lesson, then?" Karl asked, voice dropping to an intimate low. And, for a second... Dom opened his mouth -- then closed it when Orlando draped himself across Karl's back and kissed his ear soundly. "Give over, Sblom. If I can't beat him, you know you can't." He reached across Karl for his glass, winked at Dom over the sloshing rim. And whatever Dom might've seen was lost. * * * "One more game," Karl pleaded, giving Harry his best puppy dog look. "No." Harry grinned, kissed Karl's pout quickly before sitting down. "You already owe me a million quid. Go play with Orlando or Dom." Orlando's hand immediately shot up. "Oh, pick me, pick me!!" "Don't I always?" Karl teased, hand dipping just below Orlando's shirt collar. Orlando shiversquirmed, stood. Dom bit his lip, glanced away. "I meant the game," Orlando said. "You suck at darts," Karl reminded him. "So teach me, great Jedi master." Orlando rested his head on Karl's shoulder, batting his eyelashes. "Careful there, you sound like Lij." Harry put his hand over his heart, grinned at Dom's grin. "Ouch." "Sod off, both of you." Orlando rolled his eyes, nudged Karl with an elegant shoulder. "Go protect my virtue." "What virtue?" Karl ducked immediately, pushed his glasses back up his nose and flashed the table another grin before moving toward the dartboard. "And hurry up. The Jedi Master waits for no man." "Bleedin' slave driver," Orlando muttered without heat, following, pint in hand. Harry winked at Dom after they'd left, still good-naturedly bickering. "If I'm lucky, Orlando'll keep him occupied so I can enjoy this pint in peace." Dom forced himself to raise his own glass, and clinked it with Harry's. "Go you." "You know," Harry remarked, dark eyes enigmatic as they gazed at Dom. "Sometimes things aren't always what they seem." Dom caught a glimpse of Orlando's smile just before Karl's lips covered it. Shrugged and turned to face Harry, noticing light glinting off the salt-and-pepper highlights in dark hair. Shimmering. Halo-like, except for that glint. "And sometimes...sometimes they're exactly what they seem," Dom finally replied. He gazed back at Harry with a glint of his own. "Ready to go?" Harry swallowed the last of his beer, wiped the foam from his lips with a gentle swipe of his tongue. "You sure about this?" Dom's gaze strayed once again to the dartboard. Saw the flash of tongues as Karl deepened the kiss, cupped the back of Orlando's neck. "I'm sure," he stated, nodding sharply. Harry's eyes were brown -- deep brown, tiny flecks of green right in the center -- and intent. Focused. Aware. "Are you doing this because you want me or because I had him once?" Dom returned Harry's look steadily, nails digging into his upper thigh. Focus. Concentrate. Harry's lips, Harry's smile, Harry's eyes. "Does it matter?" he finally asked. Harry's gaze stripped him, raked over him -- heat emanating in waves, a bubble around them. Dom couldn't look away, couldn't tear his eyes away, was drowning. He wanted the promise in that look, wanted those hard hands on him, wanted the oblivion they pledged. Then Harry looked past Dom for a minute, and Dom studied the way Harry's thumb brushed against the condensation on his glass, rubbed in small circles. Wetly smearing liquid. Dom swallowed, throat dry. Took a long drink, the bitter taste of ale rolling over his tongue. And stilled when Harry's eyes finally returned to his. Jesus. "No," Harry said. "I don't suppose it does matter." Dom searched for words, thought, anything. "I can promise not to shout his name," he finally said, trying to inject the proper note of teasing in his voice. This was too...serious. Something. This was just sex. Just sex. "Oh, I think I can promise that you won't even be thinking of him." And Dom shivered again. "Ready?" His voice was husky, low. "Yeah." Harry stood, reached in his pocket, the movement stretching denim across his thigh and crotch, and threw a few bills down on the table. "I'll meet you by my car." Dom nodded. Someone had to do the polite thing. He was just glad that Harry hadn't expected it to be him. He didn't even look in the direction of the dartboard as he made his way out of the door. * * * Hands, hot, circling him, breath warm on his neck. "Say my name." Gentle bite on an earlobe. "Please..." Gasped when he was filled again, clenched, pushed back into the thrust. That clever, clever hand -- wicked, lovely hand -- promised forgetfulness, matched the slow, rocking movements inside him. Yes, please, fill me, fuck me, take more, take everything. Pushpull, twistturn. Sweaty fingers clutched cotton sheets, tainted scent of male arousal -- sweat and need -- filling his nostrils until he could smell nothing else. Hard, heavy cock filling him again and again until he could feel nothing else. Just hot skin, sleek muscles, slipsliding together. Eyes clenched shut, better to hear the dull slap of flesh on flesh, moans spilling from his lips. Oblivion ...just a few strokes away. Please... "Say it." No, don't talk. Please. He turned into the words, hoped the kiss was enough, moans were enough, tongue and hands and ass were enough. Hoped his body was enough. *** (Two years later) Karl was dripping wet, towel hurriedly slung around slim hips when he snatched up the phone. "Yeah?" "You alright?" Concerned, deep voice filling the phone line. "Yeah, yeah." Karl relaxed, sank to the edge of the bed, raked a hand through damp hair. "Just got out of the shower." "Christ, Karl, it wasn't that important," Harry laughed. "I could've called back." "Yeah, well. I was almost done." Karl twisted until he got the towel off, started drying his hair in short movements. "What's up?" "Thought you might want to go to the airport with me." Karl frowned, hands paused, cupped the phone between his cheek and shoulder. Harry sounded much too casual. "Who're we picking up?" Long pause. "Harry?" "Dom." Oh. "Um..." Yeah, that about summed that up. "Reshoots?" he guessed. Focus on the film. Good idea. "Yeah. Other Hobbits'll be here in the next few days." Harry sighed, and Karl could just see Harry running his hand over his face the way he always did when he was about to say something Karl didn't want to hear. He didn't really want to hear it this time, either. "Karl..." "No, let's not." "I think we need to." "Fuck that." Karl stood, started pacing the small confines of his bedroom, water droplets flinging everywhere. "I had no claim. I was seeing Orlando." Was still seeing Orlando. Had just gotten back from Australia a few weeks ago. He felt a bit calmer at the thought of sharp kisses and the taste of clove on his tongue. "I know." "Okay, so. Done. Finished." Karl didn't want to think past that. "We're fine now, why bring it up?" Harry sighed again. "You're right. We won't. You coming or not?" "Yeah, sure. Why not?" Karl shrugged, resumed drying off the rest of his body. "When's he coming in?" "Later this afternoon. I'll pick you up in an hour." "I'll be home." Karl clicked the button, flung the phone on the bed. An hour to calm his nerves. To pretend that the sudden drop in his stomach was a touch of food poisoning. To school his features. An hour to brace himself. He picked the phone back up. He needed Orlando's familiar voice, chasing away darkness. * * * California certainly agreed with Dom. The whiteblond streaks in his hair suited him, as did the deep tan. He looked relaxed. Happy. Enveloped Harry in a big hug, a loud, smacking, lingering kiss. Karl forced himself to watch. "Didn't expect to see you so soon," Dom smiled as he pulled away, punching Harry lightly on the arm. "Pete's been disgustingly busy," Harry replied. "Brought Karl," he added. Yeah, thanks, Harry. What, Dom's blind now? "I see that." Grey eyes met Karl's and Dom stepped in, leaned up and brushed a quick kiss across Karl's cheek. Faint scent of Lagerfeld, soft touch of lips. Gone before Karl could register either. "Hey there." "Hey." Karl summoned his own smile. "So, two big, strapping, sexy hunks of manflesh at my disposal, huh?" Dom rubbed his hands together, and hefted his overnight bag more firmly on his shoulder. Harry laughed, exposing the long column of his throat. Beautiful still. Their laughter was beautiful together. "Hunks of manflesh?" "Yeah, well." Dom shrugged, flashed another wink in Karl's direction. "You expect us to entertain you, I guess?" Harry's sigh was long-suffering. Fooled no one. "Yes, I do." Dom hooked his elbows into Karl and Harry's arms, started walking out of the airport towards Harry's car. "So? Entertain me." "I don't think I brought enough lube for that." Karl was rewarded by another kiss on the cheek, a blindingly white smile. "We could always stop by the pharmacy," Dom teased. "Uh. You two could just leave me out of that." Harry unlocked the trunk of his car, raised an eyebrow at the both of them. "Prurient threesomes aren't my thing." "You're the only person I know that could throw out prurient in a sentence and make it sound like everyday conversation," Karl said, shaking his head in wonder. "Perhaps I just want to watch, anyway," Dom replied, overly lascivious gaze traveling between Karl and Harry. "I don't perform on demand." Dom patted Karl's cheek and slid into the passenger seat. "Too bad." * * * "Alright, who's buying the next round?" "You are." Karl and Dom replied simultaneously, started laughing. "Why am I not surprised?" Harry shook his head and stood, chair scraping the wooden floor as he used the table as leverage. "Shouldn't volunteer," Karl said, a few stray chuckles still escaping him. "Blow me." "Right here? Well, if you insist..." It was Harry's turn to laugh when Dom started to sink to his knees. He pushed Dom back into his chair. "Later." "Later works, too." Dom's grin was wicked, sweet -- hurt to look at. Delicious hurt. "May I remind you both that I'm still here and you're in a public place?" "Ah, so you are." Dom transferred his smile to Karl, but it was different now. No less sweet or wicked, but not the same. "We not paying enough attention to you?" "He gets enough attention from me," Harry stated, running a light hand through the spikes of Dom's hair. "It's your turn. I'll be right back." Dom twisted, watched Harry walk up to the bar, eyes lingering before looking back at Karl. "So...Orlando tells me you were just in Sydney." Long fingers traced each scar of the tabletop. "Yeah." Karl looked hopefully at his empty glass of lager, wishing it would magically refill itself. "Had some time, he invited me up." "How's he doing? I haven't seen him in awhile." "He's good, y'know." Karl shrugged, watched the muscles bunch in Dom's forearm as he continued to trace lazy circles on the table. "Still Orlando, still insane." Still capable of reducing Karl's body to ash in mere seconds, still made Karl laugh and want and need in equal measure, sometimes at the same time. But he said none of that. Dom lifted his head, gave Karl an enigmatic look. "And you two are still..." "Hmm...oh. Yeah. Yeah, we are." "Okay." Dom's eyes dropped again. "Hey." Karl's hand dropped, hovered over Dom's. "That's not... You're not…" He wasn't? Was he? "No, it's cool." Dom flexed his hand, brought it into contact with Karl's. His smile was genuine, but brief. "Didn't used to be, but it is now." "Used to be?" Karl had a feeling he'd missed a segue somewhere. "Yeah." Dom shifted, turned more fully to face Karl, face a bit pensive. "I used to not be cool with the two of you." "Oh." Karl blinked. Stared. Wondered. "But, you know, it's cool now." Dom nodded decisively. "'Cause, yeah. He makes you smile, you make him happy." "I didn't want him at first." Karl blurted out the words before he could call them back. "You didn't?" Dom peered at him, puzzled. "No. I wanted..." Eh, fuck it, may as well get it all out now. "You," he finally said. "Me?" Dom pointed to himself, eyes wide with disbelief. "Yeah." Karl gripped his empty glass in one hand, smoothed fingers over the cool surface. "Orlando was...a substitute. At first." And oh, he hated admitting it. Hated that he'd ever even thought it. Orlando had deserved better. And Karl had made sure he'd made up for it, that Orlando knew. "He was?" Karl didn't need to look up from his intent perusal of his glass to know that Dom was gaping. "Yeah. Close to you and all." "Why didn't you...?" Karl looked up, saw Dom rake fingers through messy spikes of hair. "I wasn't seeing anyone." "You never seemed interested." "I was," Dom whispered, leaning in. "Harry was also...yeah." He was? Karl blinked, squeezed his hand down on Dom's. "Well, fuck," he stated softly. "Yeah." Dom nodded, eyes sad. "Fuck." "Missed our window, I guess." Tried to make it light, make it a joke. There would be time to go over this later. To trace the path, try to remember what he missed. "Yeah, well." Dom sat back, slid his hand slowly from under Karl's, gaze riveted to the sight. "I heard everything from Orlando. Lived vicariously." Karl's short bark of laughter was tinged with regret. "How embarrassed should I be?" "Very." And the wicked, sweet smile was back. It was still there when Harry returned, three more pints cradled in large hands. "There. Last time I'm fetching for you lot," he stated, sitting down and passing the drinks. His gaze flickered back and forth between the two of them, expression shuttered. "Everything alright?" "Yeah." Dom nodded reassuringly, glanced quickly at Karl before focusing full attention on Harry. "Everything's fine." Karl nodded. Smiled at Harry, smiled at Dom. Smiled when Dom's hand found Harry's and laced their fingers together. "Everything's fine." If you enjoyed this fic, please leave feedback here. Thanks!