"Never seen you do that before."
Viggo looked up, not having heard the approach of his audience before the words came softly from over his shoulder. He smiled slightly at seeing Elijah standing there in full Frodo attire, blue eyes searching the sketch pad he held. "Never seen me sketch?"
"No, not that." The young man sounded almost offended by the suggestion that he might be so oblivious. "Sketch people like that. It's really good. Not that the other stuff isn't, but... I like it. You should show Orli. He'd-"
"I didn't even intend to show it to you, little hobbit," the man broke in. Despite the teasing words, something beneath them warned against further attempts to convince him to share the images, all thumbnail sketches of Orlando dressed in his elven garb.
"Okay, okay, deep breaths, Vig. Just know he'd like it is all."
When Elijah didn't go away after a few minutes of being pointedly ignored in favor of paper and pencil, Viggo suppressed a sigh and looked back at his costar. "What is it?"
Elijah took the question as an invitation and sat down next to Viggo's chair. "You really like him, huh?"
"Who?"
The younger actor rolled his eyes and gave Viggo a look that said quite plainly "I'm not that dumb". "Orli."
"I like all of you," came the rather pat reply before the dark-haired man glanced down almost guiltily at his sketches. "What brought this up?"
Now came Elijah's turn to look edgy, and he reached down to pull a blade of grass out of the ground, slowly stripping it as he shrugged. "Just noticed that you watch him a lot, then those sketches... "
"That's all, is it? Doesn't quite explain your interest, little hobbit."
Elijah shrugged again and then reached up into his own chair to grab the pack of clove cigarettes he'd left sitting there and the lighter beside them. "Just interested. No big reason." He failed to strike the flint three times in a row and cursed quietly only to have the lighter taken from his hand by Viggo, who lit it flawlessly and held it out. Despite a brief glare, Elijah leaned forward and waited until the cigarette began to burn before muttering, "Thanks."
Viggo seemed amused by the grudging courtesy. "Of course." He settled back into his chair and watched and Elijah quickly drew the length of the cigarette into ashes. "Nervous?"
"Huh?" Blue eyes that had faded out of focus searched Viggo's face suddenly before a brilliant flush crept over pale cheeks even through the coat of make-up. "No. Just thinking."
"About?"
"Nothing."
Viggo nodded and closed the sketchbook. "Naturally." He rose and took a step forward before looking down at the younger man once more. "If you decide you would like to talk about it, stop by my trailer this evening, alright?"
"Yeah. Sure. Fine."
<hr>
Of all the things Elijah thought might happen when he came to Viggo's trailer at just slightly after seven — the earliest he managed to justify the visit — nothing certainly didn't occur to him. Contrary to any wild imaginings, Viggo answered the door in loose sweat pants and a paint-spattered white t-shirt, brown hair falling around his face. "Glad you came by." The man stepped aside to allow Elijah entrance and offered him something to drink.
"Uh, no. Thanks." Seeming almost confused, Elijah shuffled over to the couch and sat down. His gaze swept over the trailer once before settling on Viggo's smiling countenance. "What?"
"I thought you were ready to talk."
"I... yeah... I guess." When Elijah's hand moved to the inside pocket of his jacket, he heard Viggo laugh and his head snapped up. "What?"
"Sure you aren't just a little nervous?"
Frustrated, Elijah let his hand fall to his lap and then rise to run through his short dark hair. "No. I'm fine."
"You haven't done this before, have you?"
"Huh?" Frustration turned to confusion as Elijah tried to comprehend the words and the reason Viggo seemed to be moving progressively closer.
"Admitted you have a crush on someone." The man paused and tilted his head to the side. "I suspected before, but when you brought up Orli today... he's an interesting subject and a nice young man, but nothing more than a friend. I would have told you if you'd been honest about why you asked."
Still obviously floored by the blunt words, Elijah sputtered for a moment before managing, "So... why tell me now?"
"Because you came. It isn't quite an admission, but you've managed to get further than I thought you would. I thought that you'd sit around all night trying to decide whether to come and show up at the set tomorrow needing a coffee IV to be honest." Once again Viggo began approaching the couch and stopped to kneel down in front of his younger costar. "What now?"
"Huh?"
"I said, 'What now?'" Viggo repeated evenly while his eyes locked onto Elijah's.
Elijah shrugged and looked shyly down. "I didn't... think it out. I didn't figure... I don't know... I thought... or... maybe... but... you... you weren't supposed to notice or... not to ask about it." The last sounded awkward, and baby blue rose to meet gray steel. "I figured you'd either blow me off or... " He trailed off with another shrug and a blush.
"Or what?"
"Or... just... sort of... y'know... Christ, Viggo, I'm not gonna say it!" the young man said, shifting but unable to stand without knocking Viggo over.
"Too bad. Bet it would sound sexy coming out of that mouth." A moment later his lips covered Elijah's in a gentle, undemanding kiss that ended shortly after it began. "More along the lines of what you wanted, little hobbit?"
Elijah sighed and opened dreamy eyes. "Yeah... a lot more. But... you really... like me?"
"Of course I do." Viggo reached out to gently stroke the young man's cheek and then down to his neck. "Even if you weren't breathtakingly beautiful and delightfully young... I can't imagine anyone spending any time at all with you and not falling in love."
"The age thing doesn't... y'know... bother you?" Elijah asked, though he sounded distinctly more confident than moments before.
"No."
As if the words from before only just sank in, Elijah's eyes went wide. "Fall in... you mean you-"
"I know that I could," Viggo answered carefully. "There's no need to say more than that for now. I have a feeling this is all rather new for you as it is."
"Yeah. Not dating, just... this. Yeah, it's new." Smiling now, Elijah closed the distance between them for another kiss, just as sweet but by no means lacking in skill. "Don't think I'll have too much trouble keeping up though, old man."
Viggo laughed and pulled the hobbit down onto his lap. "We'll see about that... "
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A Lack of Surprise by Elizabeth Wilde
Story notes: It's... well, it's fluff. Really fluffy fluff. But, hey, that's good every now and then, right? I can always angst it up later. For now, I just wanted to write a quick, late night bit of cotton candy-like happiness.
