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moit_ficsTitle: Falling for the First Time - Chapter 7/?
Author: moit
Fandom: LotRiPS
Pairing: Orlando/Elijah
Summary: Elijah works at the writing center, where he meets a certain tall, dark-haired student who needs help on his Shakespeare paper. Romance ensues.
Genre: Romance
Word Count: 1,876
Author's note: I do believe I will be caught up if I can get chapter 8 out by Tuesday. Wee! Thank you to everyone who keeps reading and reviewing. It really inspires me to keep going.
When Orlando and Elijah finally made it to bed, it was well after eleven. They had stayed up late talking to Hannah, and Orlando felt dead on his feet. Despite working nights, he wasn’t used to being away for so many hours. He toed off his shoes and socks, and dropped down onto the bed.
“You sleeping like that tonight?” Elijah asked, as he shucked his jeans and t-shirt.
“Maybe,” Orlando murmured into his pillow.
“Orli.” Elijah took the edges of Orlando’s t-shirt and pulled it up over his head. Orlando helped only so much as to lift his arms. Elijah reached under Orlando’s body to unbutton and unzip his jeans. “Lift up.” Obediently, Orlando lifted his hips and allowed Elijah to slide his jeans down his legs, leaving Orlando in only his boxer-briefs. After dropping Orlando’s jeans on the floor, Elijah climbed on the bed so that he was straddling Orlando’s hips. He pressed his palms to the muscles of Orlando’s back, earning a groan from the other man’s mouth.
“That feels so good.”
“It’s supposed to,” Elijah grinned.
“Mmm . . . I would let you do that all night if I could convince you to.”
“I don’t know about all night, but you’ve definitely got me for a little while.” Elijah pressed down between Orlando’s shoulder blades harder than he meant to and felt the bones crack. He sat back on his heels, alarmed. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. That felt great, actually. Just be careful because you could do some serious damage, if you wanted.”
Elijah resumed the massage, but more gently than before.
“Okay, you don’t have to be that soft,” Orlando said. “Just try not to crack my back again.”
Elijah increased the pressure with his hands, but was careful not to press too hard. When he finished, he eased himself over Orlando and onto the bed. Orlando’s eyes were closed and his breathing was even. “Are you asleep?” Elijah asked.
Orlando nodded.
“So much for that mutual wank,” Elijah muttered.
Orlando cracked one eye and rolled onto his side. “I could still use that cuddle,” he said, by way of invitation.
Elijah laid down and backed up against the heat of Orlando’s chest, sighing softly as the man’s arms wrapped around him. “We didn’t even get under the blankets.”
“Shh. I’m sleeping,” Orlando whispered.
Elijah wrestled the blankets out from under Orlando’s body, covered them both, and snuggled back into Orlando’s arms.
Debbie pulled out all the stops for breakfast. There was quiche and egg casserole, fresh fruit, and cinnamon rolls.
“What’s all this?” Elijah asked as they walked into the kitchen.
“A proper midwestern breakfast. We’ve got to fatten that boy of yours up.”
“Please don’t,” Elijah said, clutching Orlando’s waist. He rested his chin on Orlando’s chest, looking up at him. “Don’t let her. I like you lean.”
Orlando let out a laugh. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“So what do you two have planned for the day?”
Orlando and Elijah shared a look.
“We don’t have anything planned, why?”
“Are you planning to go see your father?”
Elijah’s hand clenched around his fork. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Elijah, you really should go see him.”
“I’ll go with you, if you want,” Hannah offered.
“We we have to talk about his now, Mom?” Elijah asked, ignoring his sister.
“I’d like to meet your dad,” Orlando chimed in.
If Elijah could have shot lasers out of his eyes, Orlando would have been dead.
“Seriously,” Orlando said, reaching out to squeeze Elijah’s thigh. “You said he owns a deli, right? We can stop there for lunch.”
Though he still looked unsure, Elijah eventually relented. “Fine. But if he says one thing, I’m leaving.”
Elijah walked into “Deliwood” holding Orlando’s hand tightly. Zach was at the counter. He resembled Hannah and Elijah, but not as much as they resembled one another.
“Elijah,” Zach said, clearly surprised to see his brother. His eyes flickered between Elijah and Orlando and their joined hands.
“Hey,” Elijah said. “Is Dad—”
Warren Wood emerged from the back at just that moment. He wasn’t a very large man. His brown hair was balding, and he wore a bushy mustache. While Elijah and Hannah resembled Debbie, Zach looked like the spitting image of Warren. He wore wire-rimmed glasses low on his nose, over which he addressed his son.
“Elijah,” he said, stopping suddenly. “This is a surprise.” Like Zach, his eyes wandered over Orlando. “Why don’t we sit down?” he suggested, leading them over to a booth as far from the other customers as they could get. Zach stayed at the counter to help customers. “So what brings you to the deli, son? God knows I haven’t seen you in nearly a year.”
Elijah chose to ignore the jibe. “I wanted you to meet my boyfriend, Orlando Bloom. Orlando, Warren. Warren, Orlando.”
Warren just stared at Orlando for a moment. He had never really accepted his son’s homosexuality. Orlando held out his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.”
Warren shook Orlando’s hand, but his eyes were on his son. “Where are you from, Orlando? Australia, or something?”
“England, actually,” Orlando replied, grinning. Beside him, Elijah clenched his teeth to keep from screaming at his father.
“Well, we don’t get many foreign folk around here. Did you meet Elijah at school?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“So you’re in the same program, and everything? You study English? Probably a good thing. I don’ t mean to offend you, but that accent of yours is fake. See, we don’t have accents in Iowa. We talk normal here. You could, too, if you tried.”
“Actually, I’m studying drama. I want to be an actor.”
Warren looked physically taken aback. Elijah could almost see the smoke pouring out his ears. Elijah had once considered becoming an actor.
An actor? It’s bad enough you’re queer. You want to advertise it? Acting isn’t a job, anyway. How do you expect to pay your bills?
By getting a Master’s Degree in English, Dad.
English really was his first love, but it would have been nice to go to an audition or two in L.A. without feeling like he was going to be berated for it by his father.
Warren sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “An actor.” He glanced at Elijah. “Do you have a job?”
“I work as a bartender.”
Warren made a noise of acknowledgment. “Well, at least that’s an honest living. Elijah’s still working on a scholarship,” he said, laughing like he’d said something funny.
“Thanks, Dad. Good to know I’m still a joke to you.”
“Elijah,” Warren sighed. “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing, Dad.” Elijah shook his head. “Absolutely fucking nothing.” He got up and left the deli without waiting to see if Orlando was following him.
They drove for what seemed like miles without saying anything. Finally, Elijah pulled over next to a corn field. He stared straight ahead, unblinking.
“That is exactly why I didn’t want to go see him.” His voice broke on the last word. When he turned to face Orlando, there were tears in his eyes.
“How did it go?” Debbie asked when they got back.
Elijah’s glare said it all. He stomped upstairs, leaving Orlando alone with his mother.
“What happened?” Debbie asked as Elijah’s bedroom door slammed shut.
Orlando made a face. “Well . . . Warren didn’t seem to approve of anything Elijah and I told him, and Elijah didn’t take that so well.”
Debbie sighed.
“Can I ask why you insisted he go? I wanted to meet Warren, but if I had known how bad his relationship is with Elijah, I wouldn’t have gone along with it.”
“Orlando . . .” Debbie trailed off. She clearly didn’t have an answer. Instead, she poured two glasses of iced tea, slid one to Orlando, and sat down at the table. “Has Elijah talked to you about his father?”
Orlando shook his head. “Nothing more than telling me they don’t talk.”
“Well, it’s not my place to share his story, but things have been rather fractured since the divorce. I just thought it would do them both good to sit down and talk to one another.”
“When did you and Warren get divorced?”
“Oh, let’s see . . . The divorce was finalized in 1991, so Zach was 14, Elijah was 10, and Hannah was 7. She hardly remembers when we all lived together, but the boys took it pretty hard.”
“Zach went to live with his dad, right?”
“Yes. We gave Elijah and Hannah the same option, but they chose to stay with me. I don’t think Warren ever really got over that. He expected to get the boys, and leave Hannah with me.”
“And Elijah didn’t turn out at all like he would have hoped, right?”
“Unfortunately, yes. At least that’s what I think. I would never tell Elijah this, but I think Warren also attributes Elijah’s being gay to growing up in a house with two women.”
“Well, that’s absolute rubbish.”
“I completely agree. But it’s going to take a lot of work if those two are going to mend their relationship. I thought maybe taking you there would help, but it seems like it may have made it worse.”
Orlando nodded and took a long swig of iced tea. “Mmm. This is really good. Did you make it?”
“It’s sun tea,” Debbie said.
“Sun tea?”
“You put tea bags in a glass pitcher full of water, and then you leave it in the window all day. The sun brews the tea, rather than doing it on the stove. It’s sort of like the difference between slow cooking and fast food.”
Orlando grinned. “I’ve never heard of making tea like that.”
They finished their conversation, and Debbie went out back to feed the animals. Orlando poured another glass of tea and walked out onto the front porch. He sat down on the wooden swing, rocking gently and enjoying the breeze.
The door opened and Elijah stepped out, feet bare and hair wet, fresh from the shower.
“Hey babe,” Orlando said, scooting over so Elijah could sit down. “You feel better?”
“Yeah,” Elijah said. He tucked his feet under himself and laid his head on Orlando’s shoulder. Orlando wrapped his arm around Elijah’s shoulders. He took a drink of tea and offered Elijah the glass. “Thanks.”
“You smell good,” Orlando said, nuzzling his face in Elijah’s damp hair.
“I smell like strawberries,” Elijah grumbled. “It’s that girly shit Hannah has in the bathroom.”
“I like strawberries.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“I should probably go shower. I haven’t had one since Friday night in that hotel.”
Elijah slung an arm over Orlando’s waist. “It can wait. I’m comfortable. And I like it when you haven’t showered. You smell masculine. It makes me randy,” Elijah said, stroking his thumb over the fabric of Orlando’s shirt.
“Are you randy now?” Orlando asked, his voice going low.
“Nah, not right now. I’m too comfortable to move. I probably will be later, though,” Elijah said with a grin.
Orlando chuckled, rubbing his hand over Elijah’s back. It was nice to see him smiling again. Orlando could hardly stand to see the tears in his eyes earlier.
Author: moit
Fandom: LotRiPS
Pairing: Orlando/Elijah
Summary: Elijah works at the writing center, where he meets a certain tall, dark-haired student who needs help on his Shakespeare paper. Romance ensues.
Genre: Romance
Word Count: 1,876
Author's note: I do believe I will be caught up if I can get chapter 8 out by Tuesday. Wee! Thank you to everyone who keeps reading and reviewing. It really inspires me to keep going.
When Orlando and Elijah finally made it to bed, it was well after eleven. They had stayed up late talking to Hannah, and Orlando felt dead on his feet. Despite working nights, he wasn’t used to being away for so many hours. He toed off his shoes and socks, and dropped down onto the bed.
“You sleeping like that tonight?” Elijah asked, as he shucked his jeans and t-shirt.
“Maybe,” Orlando murmured into his pillow.
“Orli.” Elijah took the edges of Orlando’s t-shirt and pulled it up over his head. Orlando helped only so much as to lift his arms. Elijah reached under Orlando’s body to unbutton and unzip his jeans. “Lift up.” Obediently, Orlando lifted his hips and allowed Elijah to slide his jeans down his legs, leaving Orlando in only his boxer-briefs. After dropping Orlando’s jeans on the floor, Elijah climbed on the bed so that he was straddling Orlando’s hips. He pressed his palms to the muscles of Orlando’s back, earning a groan from the other man’s mouth.
“That feels so good.”
“It’s supposed to,” Elijah grinned.
“Mmm . . . I would let you do that all night if I could convince you to.”
“I don’t know about all night, but you’ve definitely got me for a little while.” Elijah pressed down between Orlando’s shoulder blades harder than he meant to and felt the bones crack. He sat back on his heels, alarmed. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. That felt great, actually. Just be careful because you could do some serious damage, if you wanted.”
Elijah resumed the massage, but more gently than before.
“Okay, you don’t have to be that soft,” Orlando said. “Just try not to crack my back again.”
Elijah increased the pressure with his hands, but was careful not to press too hard. When he finished, he eased himself over Orlando and onto the bed. Orlando’s eyes were closed and his breathing was even. “Are you asleep?” Elijah asked.
Orlando nodded.
“So much for that mutual wank,” Elijah muttered.
Orlando cracked one eye and rolled onto his side. “I could still use that cuddle,” he said, by way of invitation.
Elijah laid down and backed up against the heat of Orlando’s chest, sighing softly as the man’s arms wrapped around him. “We didn’t even get under the blankets.”
“Shh. I’m sleeping,” Orlando whispered.
Elijah wrestled the blankets out from under Orlando’s body, covered them both, and snuggled back into Orlando’s arms.
Debbie pulled out all the stops for breakfast. There was quiche and egg casserole, fresh fruit, and cinnamon rolls.
“What’s all this?” Elijah asked as they walked into the kitchen.
“A proper midwestern breakfast. We’ve got to fatten that boy of yours up.”
“Please don’t,” Elijah said, clutching Orlando’s waist. He rested his chin on Orlando’s chest, looking up at him. “Don’t let her. I like you lean.”
Orlando let out a laugh. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“So what do you two have planned for the day?”
Orlando and Elijah shared a look.
“We don’t have anything planned, why?”
“Are you planning to go see your father?”
Elijah’s hand clenched around his fork. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Elijah, you really should go see him.”
“I’ll go with you, if you want,” Hannah offered.
“We we have to talk about his now, Mom?” Elijah asked, ignoring his sister.
“I’d like to meet your dad,” Orlando chimed in.
If Elijah could have shot lasers out of his eyes, Orlando would have been dead.
“Seriously,” Orlando said, reaching out to squeeze Elijah’s thigh. “You said he owns a deli, right? We can stop there for lunch.”
Though he still looked unsure, Elijah eventually relented. “Fine. But if he says one thing, I’m leaving.”
Elijah walked into “Deliwood” holding Orlando’s hand tightly. Zach was at the counter. He resembled Hannah and Elijah, but not as much as they resembled one another.
“Elijah,” Zach said, clearly surprised to see his brother. His eyes flickered between Elijah and Orlando and their joined hands.
“Hey,” Elijah said. “Is Dad—”
Warren Wood emerged from the back at just that moment. He wasn’t a very large man. His brown hair was balding, and he wore a bushy mustache. While Elijah and Hannah resembled Debbie, Zach looked like the spitting image of Warren. He wore wire-rimmed glasses low on his nose, over which he addressed his son.
“Elijah,” he said, stopping suddenly. “This is a surprise.” Like Zach, his eyes wandered over Orlando. “Why don’t we sit down?” he suggested, leading them over to a booth as far from the other customers as they could get. Zach stayed at the counter to help customers. “So what brings you to the deli, son? God knows I haven’t seen you in nearly a year.”
Elijah chose to ignore the jibe. “I wanted you to meet my boyfriend, Orlando Bloom. Orlando, Warren. Warren, Orlando.”
Warren just stared at Orlando for a moment. He had never really accepted his son’s homosexuality. Orlando held out his hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.”
Warren shook Orlando’s hand, but his eyes were on his son. “Where are you from, Orlando? Australia, or something?”
“England, actually,” Orlando replied, grinning. Beside him, Elijah clenched his teeth to keep from screaming at his father.
“Well, we don’t get many foreign folk around here. Did you meet Elijah at school?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“So you’re in the same program, and everything? You study English? Probably a good thing. I don’ t mean to offend you, but that accent of yours is fake. See, we don’t have accents in Iowa. We talk normal here. You could, too, if you tried.”
“Actually, I’m studying drama. I want to be an actor.”
Warren looked physically taken aback. Elijah could almost see the smoke pouring out his ears. Elijah had once considered becoming an actor.
An actor? It’s bad enough you’re queer. You want to advertise it? Acting isn’t a job, anyway. How do you expect to pay your bills?
By getting a Master’s Degree in English, Dad.
English really was his first love, but it would have been nice to go to an audition or two in L.A. without feeling like he was going to be berated for it by his father.
Warren sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “An actor.” He glanced at Elijah. “Do you have a job?”
“I work as a bartender.”
Warren made a noise of acknowledgment. “Well, at least that’s an honest living. Elijah’s still working on a scholarship,” he said, laughing like he’d said something funny.
“Thanks, Dad. Good to know I’m still a joke to you.”
“Elijah,” Warren sighed. “What do you want from me?”
“Nothing, Dad.” Elijah shook his head. “Absolutely fucking nothing.” He got up and left the deli without waiting to see if Orlando was following him.
They drove for what seemed like miles without saying anything. Finally, Elijah pulled over next to a corn field. He stared straight ahead, unblinking.
“That is exactly why I didn’t want to go see him.” His voice broke on the last word. When he turned to face Orlando, there were tears in his eyes.
“How did it go?” Debbie asked when they got back.
Elijah’s glare said it all. He stomped upstairs, leaving Orlando alone with his mother.
“What happened?” Debbie asked as Elijah’s bedroom door slammed shut.
Orlando made a face. “Well . . . Warren didn’t seem to approve of anything Elijah and I told him, and Elijah didn’t take that so well.”
Debbie sighed.
“Can I ask why you insisted he go? I wanted to meet Warren, but if I had known how bad his relationship is with Elijah, I wouldn’t have gone along with it.”
“Orlando . . .” Debbie trailed off. She clearly didn’t have an answer. Instead, she poured two glasses of iced tea, slid one to Orlando, and sat down at the table. “Has Elijah talked to you about his father?”
Orlando shook his head. “Nothing more than telling me they don’t talk.”
“Well, it’s not my place to share his story, but things have been rather fractured since the divorce. I just thought it would do them both good to sit down and talk to one another.”
“When did you and Warren get divorced?”
“Oh, let’s see . . . The divorce was finalized in 1991, so Zach was 14, Elijah was 10, and Hannah was 7. She hardly remembers when we all lived together, but the boys took it pretty hard.”
“Zach went to live with his dad, right?”
“Yes. We gave Elijah and Hannah the same option, but they chose to stay with me. I don’t think Warren ever really got over that. He expected to get the boys, and leave Hannah with me.”
“And Elijah didn’t turn out at all like he would have hoped, right?”
“Unfortunately, yes. At least that’s what I think. I would never tell Elijah this, but I think Warren also attributes Elijah’s being gay to growing up in a house with two women.”
“Well, that’s absolute rubbish.”
“I completely agree. But it’s going to take a lot of work if those two are going to mend their relationship. I thought maybe taking you there would help, but it seems like it may have made it worse.”
Orlando nodded and took a long swig of iced tea. “Mmm. This is really good. Did you make it?”
“It’s sun tea,” Debbie said.
“Sun tea?”
“You put tea bags in a glass pitcher full of water, and then you leave it in the window all day. The sun brews the tea, rather than doing it on the stove. It’s sort of like the difference between slow cooking and fast food.”
Orlando grinned. “I’ve never heard of making tea like that.”
They finished their conversation, and Debbie went out back to feed the animals. Orlando poured another glass of tea and walked out onto the front porch. He sat down on the wooden swing, rocking gently and enjoying the breeze.
The door opened and Elijah stepped out, feet bare and hair wet, fresh from the shower.
“Hey babe,” Orlando said, scooting over so Elijah could sit down. “You feel better?”
“Yeah,” Elijah said. He tucked his feet under himself and laid his head on Orlando’s shoulder. Orlando wrapped his arm around Elijah’s shoulders. He took a drink of tea and offered Elijah the glass. “Thanks.”
“You smell good,” Orlando said, nuzzling his face in Elijah’s damp hair.
“I smell like strawberries,” Elijah grumbled. “It’s that girly shit Hannah has in the bathroom.”
“I like strawberries.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“I should probably go shower. I haven’t had one since Friday night in that hotel.”
Elijah slung an arm over Orlando’s waist. “It can wait. I’m comfortable. And I like it when you haven’t showered. You smell masculine. It makes me randy,” Elijah said, stroking his thumb over the fabric of Orlando’s shirt.
“Are you randy now?” Orlando asked, his voice going low.
“Nah, not right now. I’m too comfortable to move. I probably will be later, though,” Elijah said with a grin.
Orlando chuckled, rubbing his hand over Elijah’s back. It was nice to see him smiling again. Orlando could hardly stand to see the tears in his eyes earlier.
