It was a slender, smooth band of pale, pale gold. It looked pretty enough, he supposed. And he was doomed by it. He couldn't help but be drawn in, again and again, seeking... seeking something that he had yet to find. But the ring kept calling to him,
promising – and the promises were never fulfilled.
"You look terrible, friend."
Sean looked up, and smiled lightly at Viggo, who was just arriving on set. He made to stand up, but Viggo sat down next to him instead, jerking his chin to indicate Sean's hand. "What's that?"
Sean shrugged and looked down, opening his palm for Viggo to see.
"Wedding ring?" Viggo asked, softly.a33;
Sean nodded, a small, dry smile tugging at his lips. "Don't really need the One Ring, do I?" he chuckled, ruefully. "I've got three of
these already."
Viggo was looking at his ring, and when he lifted his eyes, they were friendly, encouraging. "Wife called?"
"Her lawyer." Sean shrugged again, not willing to talk about this, even with Viggo. He just wanted to forget everything about this
mess – hell, he should be able to do so, he was at the other end of the world. He couldn't get much farther away than this.
Viggo waited for a couple of minutes, then seemed to accept that Sean wasn't going to add anything else. So he thrust his hand forward, palm up, and after a short hesitation Sean put the ring there, watching while Viggo closed his hand around
it – so like Elijah in those rushes of Mordor – and then picked it up between his fingers, studying it as if he'd never seen one before.
"You keep getting in trouble with this thing," Viggo said, still looking at the ring.
"You're telling me," Sean joked – or tried to. He was suddenly wary, because Viggo looked quite
serious – and that meant, possibly, that Viggo was going to do something odd and unexpected... Viggo's idea of cheering people up was often absurd, but Sean found he was actually looking forward to it. Whatever it
was – and it would surely be annoying as hell and possibly just as
embarrassing – he knew Viggo meant well.
Most of the time.
"Are you going home?" Viggo asked suddenly, looking up.
"No – have to do some close-ups, but what..."
"Good. Just meet me at the catering tent in two hours, all right?"
"Yeah, but..." Viggo was already walking away, waving over his shoulder. Sean's ring was still in his hand.
***
When Sean got back to the catering tent later that afternoon, the place was almost empty, most people busy elsewhere. He nodded at Billy's and Dom's scale doubles, seated at one table having pie. Orli was there, too, with Philippa and John and one of the makeup girls, and he didn't look up when Sean passed him
by – which probably should have, in hindsight, alerted him.
But Sean had spotted Viggo standing at the other side of a long table, talking with Peter, so he walked over to them, vaguely wondering about Peter being here at such an unusual hour.
Most of the people around, actually, looked like they had no business being here in the first place, since they weren't even pretending to eat.
He could feel it in the air – they were having him on, though he couldn't yet see what about. He kept walking, feeling wary and elated at the same
time – because he knew, he just knew that Viggo was behind this. He'd known that Viggo was up to something, and he hadn't been let down.a33;
"Slow down, Bean." Sean felt his arm being tugged, and when he turned Orli hooked their arms together. A little smile curved Orli's lips, as if it was trying not to escape. "What's the hurry?"a33;
Viggo and Pete looked up just then, and they both smiled.
Orlando, still walking at his arm, cleared his throat, and John – John! –
actually started humming an awfully familiar tune.
Everything was suddenly crystal clear.
"Come on, don't make us wait!" Orli said, smile more pronounced now– bordering on a
smirk– and one of the camera guys walked up to him and took his other arm, so Sean couldn't get away.
Well, fuck, he thought. And they say that marriage is a cage.
"Since you can't live without being a married man," Viggo said, solemnly, when Sean was finally positioned next to him in front of Peter, "and you can't keep a woman for shit, I decided to solve all your problems."
Then Viggo took his hand and smiled up at him, and the next thing Sean knew, in the sudden, general
silence – someone was unsuccessfully trying to stifle a giggle – the Ring of Power was around Sean's left ring finger.a33;
There was muted cackling from the hobbits' doubles. Philippa and the makeup girl were pretending to dab at their eyes with paper napkins.a33;
It was stupid, it was absurd. He was being made fun of.a33;
Viggo was looking at him with his most serious, eager gaze – and it was all Sean could do not to burst out laughing. It was better than he'd imagined, and oh, just the thought of revenge...a33;
Instead he picked up his own wedding ring that had been lying next to the One Ring on the table and, with the most serious face he could manage, he put it on Viggo's finger.
"So," Viggo said, gravely enough, "now you can't go around marrying women any more."
Philippa elbowed Peter just then, and he cleared his throat. His voice was dead serious, though Sean could see the evil twinkle behind his glasses perfectly well. "I now pronounce you man and, um... married," he proclaimed, voice booming in the half-empty space. "But you can refrain from kissing, thank you," he hurried to add.
"Spoilsport!" Philippa hissed, and then people were laughing and cheering. Someone had somehow managed to get rice, so Sean got a handful of that right in the face, too.
"I want to kiss the bride!" Orlando laughed, and he stepped between them, planting a wet sloppy kiss right on the side of Viggo's mouth, before he caught Sean with another just under the nose. "Guys, congratulations!"
Peter chuckled, and then he ushered them all out. "Now, gentlemen, we still have work to
do – so, if you please, you can go have your honeymoon elsewhere."
***
After a while people started to walk away to their own business. Sean could still hear the laughter in the tent, so he turned and made for the nearby copse.
He knew that Viggo was following him, keeping a safe distance for now. Only when he couldn't hear voices anymore did Sean stop,
turn – and as he'd known, Viggo was right there, a few paces away.
He held Viggo's gaze for a long time, but in the end, he said nothing, and watched Viggo trying to read him.
"You aren't mad, are you?" Viggo asked softly, at last. "It was just a joke. I didn't mean..."
Well, that was fun, Sean had to admit. It wasn't often that he could see Viggo squirm. So he couldn't resist.
"Funny," he said, making his voice cold and low. "I didn't laugh." And prayed that, indeed, he hadn't.
Viggo just looked at him, trying – Sean guessed – to see if he was serious.
"So I suppose you owe me a bit of fun," Sean said, and with that he closed the distance between them, backing Viggo against a tree. "After all, this
is our first night," he added, huskily, and saw Viggo's eyes narrow in suspicion. Aw shit, maybe he'd overdone that last part.
So he had only one remedy left.
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Viggo's.
And yes, Viggo tensed up all right, and Sean tried hard not to chuckle – but,
mmm, Viggo's lips were soft, warm. It'd been years since Sean had felt stubble under his lips, had been this close to a man... and then, suddenly, Viggo relaxed, and his
lips– his lips parted under Sean, and Sean's eyes flew open – when the hell had he closed
them? – and Sean's lips, too – and next thing he knew, Viggo's tongue was licking at his teeth.
Sean felt something stirring inside him and he had to think fast – Viggo was trying to call his
bluff – so he just had to outdo him – so he thought, what the hell, he was never good at screen kisses
anyway – and thrust his tongue into Viggo's mouth.
And things went downhill from there.
It was slick. It was hot. Viggo had finally closed his eyes and was making little pleased
sounds – and Sean couldn't really think, with Viggo's tongue wrapped up around his like that, doing... oh... that... sliding... thing.
And so they were kissing.
"Wha– ?!" was the first thing Sean could say, when they came up for air.
Viggo looked kind of flushed and – ravaged – but Sean suspected he was not the only one. His face felt hot.
"Look," he said after a few more breaths, wincing at how husky it came out. "Now would be the time to tell me."
"Tell you what?" Viggo murmured, and damned if he didn't sound husky, too. He was, Sean realised, looking at Sean's lips rather than at him.
Sean swallowed. "That we're still joking."
Viggo didn't speak. He looked up from Sean's mouth, though, right into Sean's eyes. Sean realised he hadn't quite released Viggo, either. They were still leaning against the
tree – well, Viggo was. He was leaning against Viggo.
Then Viggo lifted his hand, so that Sean could see his own wedding ring glinting softly on his finger.
"If you want it," Viggo began, and Sean's brain kicked into gear again. And what a kick that was.
"...come and claim it?" he finished, voice still husky, still unbelieving.
Viggo gave him a look that was positively wicked. "I expect," he said, sliding his hand suggestively down Sean's side, "you have to claim, before you can come."
And smiled.
And just like that, Sean was laughing again, and Viggo too, and they had to keep each other standing
upright – but then that was too much of an effort, so they ended up sprawled in the grass, still grasping arms, laughing so hard tears trickled from the corner of their eyes.
"Yer daft," Sean gasped, trying to breathe again.a33;
"Your face– !" Viggo hiccupped, and then broke off laughing again, finally letting go of Sean's arm to clutch his sides. He rolled about on the grass, crushing it, and a green scent of spring and childhood rose up around them, calming Sean a little. Viggo rolled back to him, curling up against Sean's side.
"Gerroff!" Sean thumped him playfully. "I wouldn't marry you if you were the last wanker on earth!"
"I'm crushed," Viggo giggled, without moving. Then he took a long, deliberate breath, and seemed to calm down.
"Jesus," he said at last, taking another deep breath. "I needed that."
Sean smiled, half of his brain registering that he had put his arm back around Viggo, but it didn't seem of consequence, so he just let it be. "Yeah," he agreed, softly. "Me too."
"Yeah, you bet your ass you did." It was Viggo's turn to thump him, Viggo's muscles moving pleasantly under Sean's hand, where it rested on Viggo's waist. "Getting all morose and depressed over this... tacky golden trinket," Viggo finished, lifting his own left hand to contemplate Sean's ring.
"That ring," Sean said, taking Viggo's hand in his own, noticing they were both the same size, fitting well together, "has always given me trouble, in the end."
Viggo laughed again, a little. "Oh, yes. Because that one – " and he turned their clasped hands so he could see the band of gold around Sean's finger, and stroked the One Ring with his thumb,
grinning – "has been so good for you."
Sean growled, still amused despite himself. "That's not me – that's Boromir."
"Yeah." And suddenly Viggo wasn't smiling, wasn't playing any more. "And I'm not your wife."
They were lying – snuggling, actually – together in the grass, at the end of a long, tiring day, and Viggo was warm and pleasant against Sean. Scents of Viggo and forest and spring all around.a33;
"This is me," Viggo said, quietly, his voice sounding very close to Sean's mouth.
So after all, Sean reflected, it wasn't about promises to fulfill. It didn't always have to be about making promises, breaking them because they should've never been made in the first place. Sometimes it could be simple. Easy. Uncomplicated, like laughing with your best friend.
Like kissing your best friend.
Maybe sometimes you didn't need promises, because you could have it all by simply asking.
"So," Sean said, lifting their entwined, ringed hands, holding them safe between their bodies, and looking up into already familiar blue eyes, "will you claim it, too?"
And as simply, as easily like that, Viggo grinned again and said, "I will."
Summary: On the rings of power.
Rated: PG
Categories: Actor RPS Pairing: Sean/Viggo
Warnings: NoneChallenges:
Series: NoneChapters: 1 Completed: Yes
Word count: 2158 Read: 657
Published: 01 Aug 2009 Updated: 01 Aug 2009