Title: Captivated: Part Eight Authors: Brenda & Jo Disclaimer: Never happened. "Consolation I want so much Want to feel your touch Tonight" -- Depeche Mode Orlando let himself into the house, his movements silent as he closed the door and looked around. The past 24 hours had been beyond fantastic, but they were past. Now it was time to talk to Karl. And Orlando was not looking forward to it. At all. Confusion, uncertainty, hurt, and anger rolled around in his head as he made his way through the house, heading for the study. Of all the things he'd imagined when he'd gone to Harry's, not once had it crossed his mind that all of this would be the result. He stood just outside the door, and watched Karl. "Hi," he said, voice calmer than he felt. "Hey." The word was softly uttered as Karl stood, took a step toward him, then stopped. The same uncertainty flickered across his beautiful features...and something else. Orlando couldn't quite place it, but it wasn't pleasant, whatever it was. "How long are you here?" Orlando leaned against the door. He wanted to go to Karl. Wanted it more than anything he'd ever wanted in his life. But he didn't. He knew if he did, Karl would touch him, and that would be the end of the conversation. So he shrugged. "I guess that depends on how long you want me here. I'd like to stay, though." "This is your home. Stay as long as you want." Karl shoved a hand in his jeans pocket, raked his hair back from his face with the other. Orlando managed to smile as he moved into the room, and headed towards the bar, glanced over his shoulder. "You want something to drink?" "Just water. Think I did enough drinking last night. I guess we need to talk. Or did Harry..." a slight stumble over the name "...explain everything?" "He explained some things." Orlando nodded and pulled a bottle of water out of the small fridge. "He told me why he acted like he did at the party and about Lauren dying. Explained a few more things as well." Karl continued to stand at the other end of the room, body still. "I'm glad he explained about... She was everything to him, to us. When she got sick, he just...we were expecting it, but it was...hard." "I can only imagine how rough it was." Another small smile as he opened the bottle and poured it into a glass. "He said I remind him of her in some ways." "I can see that. She was so fearless, so open. Everything she felt was right there for all to see." "So tell me," Orlando said, sliding the glass across the bar to Karl. "How is it Harry had a daughter?" "Don't tell me they don't teach basic reproduction anymore." Orlando made a face. Very funny. "How could he get her mother pregnant? Everyone's told me that it's not possible to have sex with a vampire unless you're bound. And Harry's never had a pet, so..." "Oh...well, Danielle was his companion." Uh huh. Like that explained anything. What the fuck was a companion? Orlando waited a moment, watching Karl expectantly. Wasn't at all surprised when Karl didn't elaborate. "Okay, what's a companion? I'm getting the idea that it's not a close friend." "A companion is... You really don't know, do you?" Of course he didn't. If he did, he wouldn't be asking. Orlando had the feeling this was another one of the endless somethings he should have known before Karl claimed him. Someone needed to write a bloody manual and give it out to potential pets before the ceremony. "No, I'm sorry, I don't." Karl nodded. "Best way I can think to describe it is they're temporary pets." "Temporary pets?" Orlando blinked. There was such a thing? Yes, a manual was definitely needed. It would save some other poor sod a lot of grief in the future. "So they're like me -- only their bond can be broken?" "Well, there isn't a bond...not like what we have. And there's no claim, per se. Once the intent for sex is clear, the vampire asks for permission and the mortal ingests a bit of blood. But it doesn't dampen desire for either the vampire or mortal for anyone else," Karl explained. "At its core, it allows a mortal to have sex with a vampire for a period of time, normally a few months or, perhaps, years, if both parties are willing. Understand?" Orlando nodded, thinking that over. It certainly helped explain a few things. But this wasn't how he'd imagined the conversation going. "Harry let me into his head," Orlando said, eyes on Karl's face. "To explain your bond. The one the two of you have." "And did it? Explain things, I mean?" "Yes and no." Orlando picked up a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass. He took a sip before looking at Karl again. "I don't understand it completely, but I understand it more than I did. But at least he talked to me about it." "We were going to talk to you. The both of us." Karl sank onto a stool, rolled his glass around the bar top. "We were waiting until you got settled in, got used to me, got used to all of this." "And how long did you think that was going to take?" Orlando set his glass on the bar harder than he'd intended. "Or where you waiting until after Harry scared the hell out of me to tell me you were planning on sharing me with him?" "He wasn't supposed to scare you, alright?" Karl bit the words out, lost some of his calm. Good. Orlando was tired of being talked down to, talked around. "We were waiting until you got back from Tokyo. Things obviously did not go as planned." "Yeah, no shit," he snapped before taking a deep breath, and running his hands through his hair. "I asked you before I went to Tokyo, and you lied to me. Everyone told me it wasn't possible for me to be shared." "I did it for you. You weren't ready. You were already terrified of him, and I wasn't going to risk you by saying anything. I figured we'd have time to straighten it all out." "How would it be risking me to tell me the truth?" Orlando didn't understand that. He'd been told to ask questions. Told by everyone...but when he asked a really important one, he'd gotten a less than honest answer. Fuck that, he'd gotten lied to. "I can handle anything as long as you're honest with me and you love me." "Of course I love you," Karl snapped, getting up. He let out a short puff of air. "I'm sorry. I fucked up. I fucked everything up. But you are not blameless here. You lied to me by omission." "What? How the hell do you figure I lied to you?" "Did you tell me what you were planning?" "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that I had to account for my every damn move. Didn't realize I had to tell you I was going out." "You don't have to tell me anything!" Karl shouted. "But perhaps it didn't occur to you that I would worry about you being alone with him after what he did to you," he continued, sounding a little more calm. "Did you think about that? About how I'd feel, as your protector?" "Perhaps if you hadn't kept telling me I could fucking trust him when you so obviously didn't, I'd have never gone over there by myself!" Orlando shouted back. Karl wanted to yell and scream? Fine with him. "Did you think about that? Fuck, Karl, I thought you'd be happy, not go off half-cocked!" "I fucking trust him, alright!" Karl dropped his head in his hands, ground the heels into his eyes. "I trust him," he repeated, voice mumbled. "I trust you. But you didn't say anything when I reached out...and you sounded just like...I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say." "If you trust me, what's the big deal about me going over there?" Orlando stomped around the bar, threw himself into a chair. "And if you trust him, why the hell did you attack him? He wasn't hurting me. Just the opposite, in fact." "I know that now. Hell, I knew it then." Karl sighed, dropped into the chair across from him. "Tell me what to say and I'll say it. I want to make it right with us, at least." "I just want to know why you didn't tell me. Hell," Orlando said, waving a hand in the air, "you didn't have a problem dumping everything else in my lap and then shipping me to Tokyo. So why not throw that in there, too?" "Because you're mortal. Harry said you wouldn't understand. I believed him. Mortals are...possessive." "I see." Orlando pushed out of the chair and began to pace. "So it was better to let me spend a couple weeks thinking I had you all to myself, and then tell me that not only do you have another lover, but I'm going to be sleeping with him, too? Yeah, that's nice." "You didn't have to sleep with him." Oh sure, trust Karl to point that out. Orlando was mad here; he wasn't in the mood to be reasonable. "And I'm sorry, again, for not telling you about Harry. He was out of town when I claimed you, and I didn't want to risk losing you to someone else. And by the time he came home...I don't know. I really don't. How many times do you want me to say I'm sorry? How many will it take? Either you're going to forgive me, or you're not." "Fine, I forgive you." Orlando walked behind the bar and eyed the assortment of bottles there. Fuck it. Not like it would help the situation. So he leaned against the oak, arms resting atop it, and watched Karl. "You don't sound like you do." Orlando shrugged, and glanced down at his hands. "It's just that it would have been nice to know about all this before I went over there to talk to him." "And, again, had I known you were going over there, I would have said something." Karl held up a hand when Orlando would have replied. "Where do you want to go from here? That's the important thing. I can't change the past." "I don't know," Orlando said softly. He tried to figure out just when his life had gotten so complicated. "I love you. But you don't talk to me. Harry talked to me more in a few hours than you have the entire time I've known you, and I'm not even bonded to him." He lifted his head and looked directly at Karl. "Why did you claim me when you had him?" "Because my soul knew you," Karl stated simply. "You were so much like him, so much like me...I can't explain it, really. I don't have Harry's gift for words." "So you just wanted a more submissive version of him?" Orlando cocked his head and studied Karl. "I'm nowhere near as strong or intense as he is." "No, God no." Karl shook his head, opened his mouth to speak, and Orlando could feel him struggling with something. "It's not that at all. Not even close." He walked to the bar, placed his hands on top of Orlando's. "I want you because you make me happy. Because I sense joy in you, and I want to give that back. Not because of Harry. He and I...we're different. Not less, not more. Just different. And I'm sure I'm fucking this all up." "Do I really? Make you happy?" Orlando murmured, turning his hands so that he could lace his fingers with Karl's. "I try so hard, but I always feel like it's not enough. And then you throw Harry into the mix...." He tried to smile. "He's pretty overwhelming." "Yes, he is," Karl agreed. "He overwhelmed me from the very first." Orlando winced slightly at that, wondered why it hurt. He had Karl -- he knew this. Had Harry as well. So why was he still so unsettled? "But that doesn't mean that I don't love you." Karl squeezed their fingers together, gazed deep into Orlando's eyes. "I do love you. I will do whatever it takes to make you see that." "I just..." Orlando trailed off. "I know you love me, but sometimes it just seems...I don't know." He sighed and brushed his thumb across Karl's fingers, his eyes following the movement. "No, what?" Orlando glanced up, was snared by Karl's serious expression. "Tell me. We have to start here. Talk to me." "I don't know how to put it into words," he said, voice just above a whisper. "I met Harry, found out what he was to you, and I just...felt a little inadequate, I guess. Insignificant. I don't know how to explain it." "Inadequate? Insignificant?" And Orlando saw that Karl was honestly puzzled. "You're not serious, are you?" "Compared to Harry..." Orlando shook his head and smiled. "I'm just being stupid right now. Didn't get much sleep last night." Karl leaned forward, brought their joined hands to his lips. "Stop comparing yourself to him. It doesn't work like that." "As you keep reminding me, you're not mortal." Orlando rubbed his eyes. "Told you I was being stupid. All of this," he made a vague gesture in the air, "is wonderful and I'm glad you claimed me." "And I'm sensing a 'but' in there..." "But sometimes it overwhelms me, and I'm scared you won't think I'm good enough." There, it was said. All of his fears wrapped up in one nice little package. "You are good enough." Karl's soft statement drew Orlando's attention. And the emotions swirling in hazel eyes overwhelmed him. "Perfect. Perfect for me. Perfect for him. Stubborn, irresistible, witty, beautiful, fearless. Everything. I don't ever want you to say you're not good enough." "I'm not fearless, I'm insane." Orlando could feel his face burning as he tore his eyes from Karl's. "But thank you for the rest of it." "Then I guess we're all insane. It's just how I see you. I'm sorry you can't see it in yourself." "I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going to Harry's, but tell me you understand why I did it." Karl nodded. "You had to face him on your own, to prove you could." Orlando's fingertips traced the lines of Karl's face. "I wanted you there with us. I don't think that's going to happen now." "Not anytime soon, no." Karl kissed the tips of Orlando's fingers, shook his head. "He doesn't forgive like you. And I damaged him. I know that. I'm hoping he'll talk to me tonight at Council, hoping I can make him understand. But he's still..." Karl shrugged. "He's still blocking me." "He was pretty pissed." Orlando walked around the end of the bar, still holding Karl's hand. "What you did...if he had hurt me, would you...." Karl pulled Orlando into his arms; both sighed at the contact. "He wouldn't. He can't, any more than I would," Karl told him, breath fluttering his curls. "But, if he had, then yes. I would have defended you. Even against him." "Even against him...." Orlando wrapped his arms around Karl's waist and pressed his face against the side of Karl's neck. This was where he belonged, where he wanted to be. "Not saying I could kill him for you, but I'd have gotten him out of the equation long enough to get you someplace safe." "That's more than enough." Orlando smiled, pressed soft kisses up Karl's throat as his hands roamed over Karl's back. "Thank you." "You're welcome." Orlando pulled back and smiled at Karl. "I love you. But don't ever do that again, okay?" Karl kissed the curve of Orlando's jaw, smiled against his skin. "Which part?" "Acting before you think and scaring the hell out of me." Orlando tipped his head back to give Karl better access, slid his hands up to Karl's shoulders. Yes, this was home, definitely where he wanted to be...safe and secure, surrounded by Karl's warmth and Karl's love. Soft lips trailed a path up his cheek to his ear. "I promise to try." Orlando shivered, leaning into Karl's warmth. "Guess that'll have to do." Karl lifted Orlando's head, placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "I love you." He smiled. "Now, are we done fighting, because I am really fucking ready to skip to the making up portion of the evening." Why was he not surprised? "Jesus, you and Harry really are alike. Both of you want to hurry up and get to the sex." He shook his head, watched Karl through lowered lashes. "He never did though. Get to the sex, I mean. Kept playing with that damn ring until I thought I was going to die." Karl's laugh was soul-deep. "Figured it would drive him as insane as it made me. Do you know why he didn't have sex with you?" "Because it would kill me," Orlando frowned. "I'm still not sure I understand that. Aren't I bound to him through you?" "It doesn't work like that," Karl chuckled, grazing Orlando's cheek with his knuckles. "But, I could do that companion thing, right?" Karl shook his head. "You're a pet. You're not supposed to want another vampire. The normal rules don't apply." "Shit." Orlando gave Karl a weak smile. "I'm never going to have sex with him, am I?" "That's up to you." Karl kissed Orlando again. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Orlando looked up, confused. "How is it up to me? And...um...could we just leave the damn ring alone tonight? I've embarrassed myself enough with it in the past 24 hours." Karl's grin was sin itself. "Talk to Harry. Ask him the right questions next time." He pulled Orlando close to him. "No ring. Check. What about the tattoo?" "The tattoo? He, um...yeah, he liked that,. Didn't make me come twice by sucking on it though." And the memory had Orlando's cheeks burning. "Damn, I've got a record to break now," Karl laughed, and lowered his head to Orlando's neck, tracing the throbbing vein with his tongue. Onto Part Nine main Captivated page If you enjoyed this fic, please leave feedback here. Thanks!