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Part 1 of The saga of Dominic, Billy and Orlando
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2010-01-24
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A Helping Hand and We Can Do More

Summary:

Dominic and Billy share a trailer, and more.

Work Text:

This story contains adult content of a sexual nature. Do not read if you are under the age of 18. Please also note that this website's Terms of Use apply to you, even if you choose not to read them.

A Helping Hand and We Can Do More
1. A Helping Hand

by Lobelia

[email protected]
Pairing: Dominic Monaghan / Billy Boyd
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: The Two Towers
Warnings / Content: RPS
Disclaimers: This is a work of amateur fiction. I do not know these people. I am not making money. The events described in this story did not happen.

Summary: Dominic and Billy share a trailer, and more.

Author's Notes, Part 1: Nice and happy. I've tampered freely with the shooting schedule. I would love feedback, please! Thanks a million to Snow Dome who did a wonderful job beta-reading and improved this story no end (even introduced a nice little plot twist that had somehow escaped me :). Thanks also to Cimorene who beta'ed another story which never made it to the list but which inspired this one.
Author's Notes, Part 2: I stayed up till three in the morning to finish this; it just needed to get written. In the end, they started doing things I hadn't expected but what can you do? Thanks so much to Verylisa for doing a wonderful job as beta and being generally encouraging.

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It was late at night as Billy and Dominic made their way back to the trailer they were sharing. They were so tired that they bumped into each other, trying to go up the step ladder and through the door at the same time.

"Sorry," said Billy.

"After you," said Dominic.

They stumbled into the trailer, and almost immediately, Dominic fell over his bags. When they'd arrived earlier that day they barely had time to dump their stuff, then they had to be off to start shooting. Now it was dark. They were exhausted. They'd had something quick to eat, they'd said "good night" to the others, and then they had to run across the clearing because it had started to rain.

"Where's the light switch?" asked Dominic. "I can't see a thing."

"Wait a minute," said Billy. He took off his shoes and crawled along the double bed to lean against the small window at the end of it. "You can see Orli and Viggo's trailer from here."

Dominic crawled up next to him and looked out.

The reason they were in this trailer was Fangorn Forest. This was the wood where they were shooting the Fangorn scenes. There was nothing here for miles and miles, nothing but woods and more woods. A little village of tents and trailers had sprung up there, with vans, carts, cables and equipment for their location unit. Everyone had to share lodgings. Billy could see the trailer shared by Orlando and Viggo under the trees, some fifty feet away, veiled by rain. The lights were on, and shapes were moving behind the windows. Dotted around the edge of the clearing were other trailers and makeshift huts.

"It looks sort of cosy, doesn't it?" Billy said.

"Yeah, reminds me of Hobbiton," said Dominic.

"I do miss the other hobbits," said Billy.

He was bone tired and the scene out there, all the little glimmering lights in the forest, was making him feel wistful.

"Well, you've still got me, Pip my dear," said Dominic and threw an arm around his shoulders. The arm felt warm, and Dominic smelled of wet bark.

"I know," said Billy fondly. "But not much longer. Soon, I'll be off to Minas Tirith, and you're off to do your things, and we won't see each other for weeks and weeks."

They fell silent for a while. The Fangorn scenes, and the forced marching scenes in Rohan, which they had been doing the week before, were certainly proving to be more intense than anything they had filmed so far. Not only physically but also emotionally. For the first time, Pippin and Merry were on their own, without the Fellowship, and had to rely on their own resources and on each other. And for the first time, Billy and Dominic were on their own, without Sean and Elijah. That is, they were not entirely on their own. Viggo and Orlando and John were there, of course, filming the pursuit, and Ian was there, too. But still, they weren't doing any scenes with them, just watching them do their own episodes. The intensity was all between the two of them.

And soon it was going to be interrupted. Pippin and Merry were each going their own way, and so were Billy and Dominic.

For the filming of the Rohan grassland scenes, they had been near a town, and everyone had stayed in their own hotel rooms. But now they were alone together, in a trailer, at night.

"You know what?" said Billy, smiling at his friend. "I'm glad I'm sharing a trailer with you." He looked out into the glade again. "I'm not sure I could cope with Orli, for example. Or Viggo. They're lovely but getting up with them at four in the morning ... I don't know. D'you know what I mean?"

Dominic laughed and pulled his arm away. "Oh, it could be fun, who knows," he said. "Viggo sneaking off at midnight to meditate. Orli doing his cat dance all over the beds. Well, they'll have to cope with each other. Anyway," he added, "you haven't tried living with me yet so don't count your chickens." He gave Billy a peck on the cheek and hopped off the bed. "Now, where's the light switch?"

The light came on, a dim, low-wattage bulb. Dominic looked around. "So, where shall we sleep?"

There was the bed, tucked into the back end of the trailer, and there was a narrow couch that doubled as seating for the fold-down table in the middle.

"I'll take the couch," said Dominic and hopped onto it.

"No, no," said Billy. "I'll take the couch."

"Really," said Dominic. "I prefer it. You stay where you are."

"If it's horrible," said Billy, "we can swap tomorrow. If you like."

"Sure," said Dominic.

Billy flopped down on his back and lay sprawled across the double bed. Just lying down made him remember how worn out he was and how soon he would need to get up again, and his eyes half closed.

"I think I'll just go to sleep right now," he mumbled.

It was pleasant to lie there and to hear Dominic moving about the room. Through his eye lashes, he watched Dominic disappear into the toilet cubicle, come out again and wash his hands at the sink, pumping the tap up and down, then crouch down and dig through his bag, then brush his teeth, then hit his shin against the corner of the bed and say, "Fff ...!" He didn't finish that word and shot a glance at Billy on the bed.

"Don't worry," murmured Billy. "You can swear; I'm still awake."

Dominic laughed. Billy thought how pleasant it was just to lie here and to have Dominic there, being considerate. He continued following him around with his eyes. Dominic rubbed his shin, dug through his bag some more, pulled out some pieces of paper, studied them and crumpled them up, looked about, found a waste bin, threw the paper in, then undressed. He looked about himself again, opened a couple of doors, folded his clothes into a drawer, then stretched and yawned. Billy wondered idly what type of pyjamas Dominic would be putting on but Dominic didn't put on any type; he climbed onto the couch in only his boxers, wrapped the blankets around his waist and sat up against the wall, with a pad propped on his knees and a biro in his hand.

"I wonder if there's going to be any shooting tomorrow," Dominic said, "what with this rain. What do you reckon? Is it going to go on all night?"

"Hmm."

Dominic started to write in his pad. The last thing Billy heard before he drifted off to sleep was the drumming of water on the trailer roof. Some minutes later he thought he felt someone pulling the bedspread over him but that could have been just his imagination.

He had no dreams at first, then he found himself in the forest with Dominic being curly-haired Merry at his side. There was a strange tension between them, of that peculiar kind found only in dreams, weighted with meaning but not revealing what that meaning was. A golden light slanted through the trees, they were climbing up a rock face, and then they were climbing it again, and again. It was like a replay of all the takes done during the day. Then he heard the dream-Merry swearing loudly.

He woke up. It was Dominic. He was bumping about in the trailer and saying, "Shit!"

"Whassup?" Billy mumbled, blinking into the light. The lamp was still on. The bedspread was tangled around his torso and legs.

"Sorry, mate," said Dominic. "But there's water coming into my bed. I think there's a bloody leak in the roof or something."

Dominic was pulling the blankets off his bed and pulling open drawers. He found a saucepan in a cupboard and put it on the couch. An irritating "plop, plop" was heard: huge drops plonking down onto the metal. Dominic looked around again, found a towel and squashed it into the pan. The plops were deadened. There was a damp patch on the ceiling just above Dominic's pillow.

Billy sat up. He had that sticky, hung-over feeling you get from falling asleep in your clothes. Dominic stood in the middle of the trailer, looking dismayed.

"You better come in with me," said Billy.

"Sure that's all right?" said Dominic.

"Course it is," said Billy. "Anyway, there's nowhere else. You have to come in here, at least for now."

Dominic knitted his brow. "I'm afraid I'll have to."

"Don't be afraid," yawned Billy. "It'll be nice. We can snuggle up together, like real hobbits."

"Do you think Merry and Pippin did much snuggling?" said Dominic, smiling.

"Oh, I'm sure they did tons," mumbled Billy.

He struggled out of the bedspread and disappeared into the loo. When he came out, Dominic was already ensconced in the double bed. He was lying on the left-hand side, bundled up in the bedclothes he'd pulled off the couch, with only his hair poking out at the top. Billy stood a while and looked at the short tufts of hair, sticking out in all directions. He smiled. Dear old Dominic.

Billy unzipped his bag and searched around for his toothbrush. It wasn't there. He looked in the side pockets, he looked at the ceiling and thought. Then he whispered:

"Are you asleep?"

"Yes," mumbled Dominic.

"Can I borrow your toothbrush? I left mine at the hotel, I think."

"M-hm," grunted Dominic.

"Sorry, is that a 'yes-mhm' or a 'no-mhm'?"

"'Yes-mhm'," came Dominic's muffled reply.

Dominic had a smart blue toiletry bag. It was sitting on the shelf above the sink. A bottle of after-shave and an electric shaver were visible. Next to the bag lay a travel toothbrush, with a lid over the bristles. There was also a squeezed-out tube of Colgate. Billy brushed his teeth and then pulled his pyjamas out of his bag. Quickly, he got changed, buttoned up his pyjama shirt and stuffed his clothes back into his bag. He switched off the light and slipped into bed.

The balance of the bed had changed subtly. The mattress was indented on Dominic's side, and Billy found himself rolling into the middle to a small extent. He settled himself in a bit but he didn't like to move around too much; he didn't want to disturb Dominic.

"Good night," muttered Dominic.

"Night," said Billy and he smiled.

He edged towards the side of the bed. He didn't want to roll into Dominic in the night. It was true that it had been more comfortable alone on the bed but, in a funny way, it was also comforting to have Dominic there with him, their backs turned towards one another in the dark.

"I hope you don't snore," Billy whispered.

"I hope you don't fart," Dominic mumbled.

Billy giggled and closed his eyes. He was just drifting into sleep again when he felt the bed move. Billy opened his eyes. It moved again, just ever so slightly. And there was a sound, too, barely audible but unmistakable. It was the sound of fabric rustling softly. Billy was suddenly wide awake and all his senses on full alert.

There was no doubting it. Dominic was stroking himself in the dark.

What to do? Well, that was obvious enough: do nothing, of course. Still, that was more easily thought than done. Billy's heart was pounding so loudly he was sure that Dominic would hear. His arm was also suddenly itching but he was afraid of moving it. He didn't want to draw attention to himself. It was only normal that Dominic, after a hard day's work, would be feeling in need of a little pre-sleep release. Billy just wasn't sure he wanted to be quite so close to the proceedings. What was even more embarrassing was that he now also found himself inexplicably aroused.

Dominic went on for a while, then he gave a little hiccup, then a sigh, then there was nothing for a bit, and then the sound of muted rubbing. Billy guessed that he was towelling himself off. He tried to make his breathing deep and even, until he heard Dominic's own breathing turn deep and even.

Billy was still awake, his hand on his crotch. But it was impossible. He couldn't do anything with Dominic next to him. Yet he desperately wanted to. Quietly, he got up and sneaked into the loo, finishing the business, crouched on the toilet seat. He tiptoed back to the room and stood at the foot of the bed, looking at Dominic. He had to smile to himself. Two men at night together, with their urges. Billy could barely see Dominic in the dark, just a hump under the blankets and a guess where his hair might be. He leaned over to listen to his friend's breathing. Then he crawled into bed on his side.

He slept for what felt like ten minutes when he was awoken by a pounding at the door and a shout. "Hey, you hobbits!" came Orlando's voice. "Rise and shine! It's four-thirty: footsie time! Didn't you set your alarm?"

"Go away," came Dominic's voice, stifled by the blankets.

"Come on, I've got you coffee!" shouted Orlando, and they had to get up.

This day was possibly even more exhausting than the first one, mainly because it was longer (they'd only started half-way through the morning the day before) but also because it was, if anything, even more draining. The rain had stopped. Filming went on into the hours after dark. Finally, they were out of costume and in Orlando and Viggo's trailer, chewing blearily on some sandwiches from catering. Orlando wanted to play cards but they couldn't really concentrate properly.

"I'm shattered," said Billy. "I'm turning in. Sweet dreams."

He padded across the grass between their trailers. It was only when he got inside and saw the bed that he remembered the leak and their odd nighttime activities and wondered what was going to happen once Dominic arrived. He inspected Dominic's couch. Because they'd completely forgotten to alert anyone about it, it hadn't been aired. The pan had been useless. The leak seemed to have shifted location during the night, and the pillow end of the couch was soaked and smelled of mildew.

Billy got ready for bed. He made sure to leave plenty of room for Dominic on the left-hand side. He fell asleep but woke up when he felt a weight on the mattress. Dominic was crawling in.

Billy held his breath. At first, nothing happened, and he thought, maybe Dominic had simply gone to sleep. But then, sure enough, he heard that rustling again, and felt the bed move a tiny, tiny bit.

Billy's heart was thumping, and he had a hard-on almost immediately. He lay, staring into the dark, listening to Dominic's ministrations. Then, not stopping to think about what he was doing, he rolled over and placed his hand on Dominic's back.

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Dominic froze.

He thought he had been so careful. Admittedly, it was awkward but after such punishing days of work, Dominic couldn't fall asleep just like that. His mind kept on racing and going over the events of the day. His tiredness felt like physical unrest. He just needed a quick orgasm to lull himself into sleep.

So, dozing on and off, he waited patiently for Billy to nod off. And then he carefully and quietly and barely moving went about his work. It wasn't going to take long, after all.

When Billy's hand landed on his back, he felt so shocked that he immediately lost his erection. All the blood in his body seemed to rush into his head and, for one instant, he couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't speak. How utterly embarrassing!

It seemed, however, that speaking was not called for. Billy's hand crept around his hips and down to his groin. Dominic's hand was still resting there but Billy pushed it gently out of the way and folded his fingers around Dominic's cock. The fingers were slim; Dominic thought he could almost feel each of the joints, but they were hot and dry and gripped Dominic just tightly enough. He was still hardly breathing; this was too strange. But Billy moved his hand up and down, and Dominic couldn't help it, he became hard again. He squeezed his eyes shut and lay perfectly still, trying to pretend that this wasn't happening. This was just another one of those wet dreams about Billy.

Dominic had been having wet dreams about Billy more or less since shooting began. They'd been getting more frequent in recent weeks, ever since the separation from the other hobbits. Sometimes Billy got muddled up with Pippin in the dreams, and sometimes there were others there as well. Dominic wasn't worried about these dreams. He put them down to their intense working environment. After all, they weren't real, were they?

What was happening in this bed, on the other hand, was all too real. Billy kept going, rubbing the foreskin against the head of his cock and stroking faster and faster. Soon, Dominic stopped thinking it was strange because he had, in fact, stopped thinking altogether. He let his stored-up breath out in a gasp and moved his hips back. And there was Billy's hardness, pressing against his buttocks. Dominic broke out in a sweat. The roots of his hair were perspiring and he felt beads collect on his upper lip. Billy was moving his fingers about and twirling his hand around him in a sort of spiral movement that was sending Dominic to the edge, fast.

Then, Dominic did a thing he couldn't understand himself. Instead of letting go and coming, he stilled Billy's hand with his own, and, panting, turned onto his back and looked at Billy. There was just enough light to see that Billy had raised himself on one elbow and had his eyes closed. He was wearing those buttoned-up gentleman's pyjamas of his. The top was crumpled up around the collar. Billy's mouth was slightly open but he didn't move when Dominic turned over, and he didn't open his eyes.

It was certainly very strange. Here was his friend and good mate, also his dear little Pippin whom he laughed at and hugged twenty times a day. Why Billy was doing this, he had no idea. Well, go with the flow. Dominic closed his eyes. That seemed safest. He moved his hips experimentally and, yes, Billy started to stroke him again with those nimble fingers of his. Dominic rolled over again, turning towards Billy, and reached across into Billy's pyjama trousers.

There was Billy's hard-on, silky and strange. When Dominic closed his hand around it, Billy shuddered.

That shudder did it. Dominic gasped and moved faster into Billy's hand, and at the same time, moved his own hand faster around Billy. There was moisture at the tip of Billy's hard-on, and he spread that all over Billy's cock. As things were moving faster and faster and Dominic felt himself approaching the brink again, he did something else that surprised him. He turned his face and found Billy's shoulder and bit it through the fabric. Then he stopped altogether. He left his hand in Billy's pyjamas but pulled away from Billy's hands. He found that he didn't yet want this to be over.

Billy's eyes were open, looking at Dominic in a puzzled way. Dominic bent down and, without thinking why, he kissed Billy on the mouth.

Billy said something. It was the first thing that had been said throughout these goings-on.

"What?" Dominic whispered, his chin grazing Billy's cheek.

"We'd better stop this," whispered Billy in return.

"Why?" asked Dominic and started to lick the corner of Billy's mouth.

"Because if we don't I might want to do more," whispered Billy. He had brought his hand up and was twisting it through the short hair above Dominic's left ear.

"We can do more," whispered Dominic into Billy's mouth, and pushed his tongue in.

Billy was now tracing Dominic's earlobe and the whorls inside his earshell with his index finger, and this was something that Dominic found just unbearably erotic. He made a sound in his throat and forgot his kiss. Billy continued it, meeting Dominic's tongue, stroking it with his own, caressing his lips, and all the time moving his finger around Dominic's ear. It was as if the sounds that Dominic was now making had galvanised him into action. He was kissing and touching and massaging Dominic's cock and grinding his loins into Dominic's.

At this stage, Dominic barely remembered where he was or who he was with. He was in sexual heaven. Billy was now underneath him, slim, warm and hard. His pyjama buttons pressed against Dominic's naked chest. His heart was racing along with Dominic's own. Billy smelled of toothpaste, salt and laundered cotton. He was moving around underneath Dominic in the most delicious way, and his hand, trapped between their two bellies, was slithering along Dominic's cock.

Dominic felt his balls tighten. He buried his face in the crook of Billy's neck. There was a deep, throaty moaning noise, and he realised that it was he himself who was making this noise as he came into Billy's hand. He had just enough presence of mind left to keep a hold of Billy's cock, and then he felt Billy come as well, shuddering against him and saying something that sounded like, "Oh, oh, oh" but could have been anything. Billy's shudders went right through him and made his own body shudder in response. Billy's pyjamas were wet with their mingled semen.

For what felt like minutes or hours, Dominic lay still on top of Billy. It was so comfortable and warm there that he almost drifted off into sleep. Also, he had no clue what they were going to do or say once they broke their embrace. How could this possibly be explained? Best just to lie there and enjoy the feel and scent of Billy.

After a while, Billy shifted.

"Am I too heavy?" whispered Dominic.

Billy shook his head.

Dominic thought, 'Shall I look up?' He didn't dare but then he did, anyway, and met Billy's eyes. He was almost afraid of Billy for a second, it was so odd, but then Billy's mouth broke open into a smile.

"Don't look so frightened," he said and laughed softly. "It's only me. Billy."

"Yeah, well," Dominic said. "That's what's confusing. Actually."

But he was smiling, too, and then couldn't help but plant a kiss on Billy's smile. Why he did that, he didn't know. It was over now, whatever it was that they had done, but Billy looked so sweet, in the dim light, with his hair mussed and his collar crushed.

"I'm sorry about your pyjamas," Dominic said.

Billy laughed. "What? That's all you can say? You're sorry about my pyjamas?" He put one hand on Dominic's nape and pulled his head down for another kiss. "Who cares about my pyjamas?" he muttered.

So then they were kissing again. Would this ever stop? After the frenzy of earlier, this kiss was slow and languorous. Dominic felt he could drown in this kiss. It seemed to go on forever, and although it continued feeling strange to be kissing Billy, it also felt, in some odd paradoxical way, completely right, as if this was what he had always meant to be doing with Billy.

After the kiss, Dominic felt light-headed. He also needed to pee.

He got up on all fours and gingerly disentangled himself from Billy and the bedclothes. He went to the loo, cleaned himself up and brought Billy back a towel. Billy had discarded his pyjama trousers and was rolled up, bare-bottomed, under the sheets.

Dominic got back in. What now? Just lie there and fall asleep? What was the protocol in such a situation? Billy, though, looked so warm and inviting that Dominic, without further ado, rolled into him and put his arms around him from behind. That seemed to have been the right thing to do, to judge from Billy's contented sigh and the way he nestled back into Dominic's body.

"You smell nice," said Dominic, just to say something, really. Also, he wanted to hear Billy say something in return.

"So do you," said Billy. "I was noticing that yesterday."

"Really?" said Dominic. "Yesterday?"

"Yeah. I also. Hm. I also heard you last night."

Dominic took a few seconds to comprehend what Billy was talking about. When he did, he felt himself blush. Which was sort of silly, considering what had happened in the meantime, but there it was. He cleared his throat.

"So you heard that," he said, his mouth in Billy's hair. "Well. If I'd known you were awake. You know ... well, ah. Well," he laughed. "Actually, I don't know what to say. I'm just, to tell you the truth, I'm just completely surprised and amazed. By all of this."

"D'you mind it?" said Billy.

"No! How could I mind?" Dominic brought his mouth close to Billy's ear. "Beats a wank any day, that's for sure."

Billy giggled. "I should hope so!" he said.

"So," said Dominic after a while and yawned. "What's going to happen now? I mean, tomorrow? What are we going to do about this tomorrow?"

"Dear little Dominic," said Billy and he yawned, too. "We can just do it again. If you want to. And more. We never got to do more, remember."

"How do you mean, 'more'?" asked Dominic, coming awake slightly.

"Oh, you know, you said 'we can do more' before," murmured Billy. "And we didn't. Do more. We just kept on going with what we were already doing."

Dominic was silent. It had not occurred to him that this could be anything but a weird, one-off event.

"How long are we in this trailer for?" he asked slowly.

"Don't ask me," mumbled Billy. "I never know about schedules."

"No, I know you never know about schedules," said Dominic affectionately.

He leaned over and licked Billy behind the ear but Billy had fallen asleep.

Dominic stayed leaning over him for a while. He looked at Billy's profile in sleep, his lips parted just a fraction. He looked very peaceful.

"Good night," he whispered. "See you in the morning."

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2. We Can Do More
Lights were coming on here and there in the small film production settlement that had sprung up in the forest clearing. People started moving about. The trailer shared by Dominic and Billy, however, was still dark.

A young man came bounding across the grass and started to hammer his fist on the trailer's door.

"Rise and shine, hobbits!" he called out. "Time to get up! Time to get those footsies on!"

'Time to get up' meant that it was four-thirty in the morning. The stars were still out, and it was greyish dark.

"Go away, Orli," came a muffled voice from inside the trailer.

"Come on, I've got coffee!" shouted Orlando. In his free hand, he was balancing a cardboard box, containing two styrofoam cups with plastic lids.

The door opened a crack and a tousled head peeked out.

"Hey, Billy," said Orlando, ruffled Billy's head and pushed past him into the trailer. He burst into a warbling advertising-jingle-type sing-song, "Look, hot hot coffee. Smell that mellow aroma."

Billy rubbed his eyes and said, "Where do you get the energy from, Orli?" He was standing barefoot in the trailer, pyjama shirt askew and a towel slung around his waist.

"Youth, Billy, it's my youth," said Orlando and laughed. He plonked the cups down in the sink and flopped onto the end of the bed.

"Can't be youth," said Billy. "Look at Dominic. He's dead to the world."

"Did I hear the word 'coffee'?" came a stifled voice from underneath a mound of blankets.

"So!" cried Orlando, pulling up the corners of his mouth. "Are you both sleeping in that double bed, then?"

"Um," said Billy. "Thanks for the coffee, by the way." He curled his hands around the cup and took the lid off. Curls of steam rose from the surface, and Billy took a first sip.

Dominic sat up in bed. His torso was bare. He kept the blankets around his waist. Orlando handed him a coffee cup and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"So!" he repeated. "Hobbits cuddling up at night, is it?"

Dominic sputtered into his coffee which was hot and may, or may not, have burned his tongue.

"Leak in the roof, mate," he said. "My bed's bloody soaked."

"Oh," said Orlando, peering ceiling-wards. "You should tell someone about that. They should fix it."

"Anyway," said Dominic, smiling a mischievous smile. "Where do you sleep, then? Your couch didn't look very slept-in when we were over in your trailer last night."

Orlando shared his trailer with Viggo. He laughed vaguely and made a gesture with his hand but didn't answer the question.

"Where's Viggo now, anyway?" asked Billy.

"Oh, he threw me out, would you believe it?" pouted Orlando. "That's why I'm up so early."

"Threw you out? What'd you do?"

"Nothing! He wants to meditate, that's all, and needs his solitude. At four-bloody-thirty in the morning! The man's incredible. I don't mind, actually." He grinned. "I enjoy waking you lot."

Dominic threw back his head and laughed. "You know, that's just what I was saying! Viggo needs to meditate and can't cope with you doing your cat dance all over the place."

"You're just jealous," said Orlando fondly.

"What, of you or of Viggo?" said Dominic and blew him a kiss.

He gulped down the rest of the coffee, then got up. Naked as the day, he walked over to the loo. Both Billy's and Orlando's eyes followed him. If anyone had been there to observe them closely, they might have noticed that Billy dropped his eyes after a moment and smiled a secret little smile to himself.

They had to move quickly now, get up, get showered (in the cramped shower cubicle, tucked in next to the loo), get shaved, get dressed. These operations and Orlando's presence meant that there was no time to think too deeply about the activities of the previous night. Because the trailer had been witness to some unexpected nocturnal manoeuvres. There had been groping and kissing, stroking and fondling, gasping and moaning. There had been catchings of breath and stoppings of heart.

But the two parties involved in all those doings did not mention them once all day. Instead, they threw themselves into being Merry and Pippin.

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For the hobbits, it was in some ways a frustrating day. First, there was a lot of hanging around while the lighting was re-rigged and Viggo, John, Orlando and Ian did take after take. Then, some of the earlier Fangorn scenes had to be re-done because it turned out that the size of the digital Treebeard had been wrongly estimated. Everything had to be filmed again with the hobbits looking up at a slighly different angle and acting with the non-existent Treebeard at a new height.

On the other hand, they had done these scenes only the day before so it wasn't too difficult to get into them again. Billy wondered if last night's events had in any way affected their acting but so far he couldn't detect any difference in the way Pippin was with Merry. Pippin, after all, had always been very physical with Merry, and that had got neither easier nor more awkward. It all seemed just the same. Still, Billy noticed a sparkle in Dominic's eyes at odd moments during filming. He couldn't remember seeing that sparkle before but maybe he just hadn't noticed. Whatever the reason, their scenes were wrapped much faster than they had been the first time round.

In the moments spent hanging about and watching Orlando and the others, Billy's thoughts drifted to Dominic's body. He remembered the feel of Dominic against himself, and he remembered the surprising warmth and fervour with which Dominic had responded to Billy's tentative attempts. He didn't know what else he had expected. He had reached over and touched Dominic on complete impulse, and his friend's reaction had been somewhat overwhelming. Overwhelming and very, very agreeable.

Billy didn't glance sidelong at Dominic but he did smile to himself, and then he had to look up at the trees to smile some more.

When he thought of how Dominic had said, "We can do more," a hot shiver crawled up and down his spine.

They kept on shooting after dark, completing various night scenes. Finally, they were out of costume and make-up, and standing around in the catering hut, looking at each other with tired eyes and gnawing on bits and pieces of supper. Billy wiggled his toes. At least it felt good to be out of the hobbit feet.

"I'm shattered," he said. "But it's starting to feel like my normal condition of life. When am I ever not shattered?"

"Remember when we were in training?" asked Dominic. "We used to do stuff, at nights and at the weekends."

"What's a weekend?" said Orlando nostalgically.

Dominic was scratching his left ear. "I think this glue has soaked into my skin," he complained.

Billy and Orlando touched their ears in sympathy, like a reflex, and then laughed.

"Are you coming round to our trailer again?" said Orlando.

"I'm not; I'm off to bed," said Billy.

"I'll come for a bit," said Dominic and collected an apple.

"Oh, okay," said Billy. "See you later, then." He was kind of relieved that he would be alone for a bit.

"See you tomorrow," said Orlando in a sing-song voice.

Dominic said nothing. But as he bit into his apple, he looked at Billy and smiled with his eyes.

Billy came back to the trailer, half intending just to go to bed and sleep. But there was the double bed, covered in knotted-up sheets and blankets. There were his pyjama trousers, rolled up in a ball on the floor next to the bed. Here was Billy, his heart suddenly thumping so hard in his throat that he felt it must be reverberating from the trailer walls.

This was a rather interesting situation.

Billy got undressed slowly. He dug through his bag and realised that he had not brought a second pair of pyjamas. He stood there for a full minute, debating what to put on. This had suddenly become an important point: what to put on in bed.

Finally, he put on a T-shirt and some jogging trousers. He went to the loo; then he brushed his teeth with Dominic's toothbrush (even that seemed strangely intimate tonight). After that, he got onto the bed and knelt, peering out of the window. He could see Viggo and Orlando's trailer under the trees a short way off. The light was on there, and shadowy shapes were moving behind the windows. Once he thought he saw Dominic's profile but he couldn't be sure.

The light in their own trailer presented itself as a problem. On or off? Billy got up and turned it off. Then he got up and turned it on again because he didn't want Dominic to bang his shin in the dark. Then he got up again and turned it off because the light would be visible from the other trailer and he didn't want Dominic to think that he was waiting up for him in the dark. The he got up yet again and turned it back on because he did, after all, want Dominic to know that he was waiting up for him.

He was starting to feel like a bloody yo-yo.

Why was there no bedside lamp, anyway? Dominic, he seemed to remember, had a torch somewhere but he didn't like to search through Dominic's things.

In the end, Billy decided to leave the light on but to lie down in bed and pretend to be asleep. That way he was leaving the options open to Dominic. This was his main concern: he didn't want to seem to be pushing Dominic into anything. He felt rather responsible for what had happened the night before.

The thing was that when they were Pippin and Merry, it was Merry who felt responsible for Pippin. But in real life it was the other way round. When they were Billy and Dominic, it was Billy who felt responsible for Dominic. He didn't know why, perhaps because he was the older one. Not that he'd ever tell Dominic this.

So. If Dominic just wanted to come in and go to sleep, that would be fine. A pity, but fine.

Though what he would do if Dominic started to relieve himself in the night again, Billy could not guarantee.

At any rate, there were only one-and-a-half days of Fangorn left. The next night would be their last in the trailer, and after that they were off to different locations. Pippin and Merry were to be separated, so that was going to be that.

Suddenly, the door went click. Billy jumped, pulled the covers over his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

He heard the door creak open and close with another click. Billy's heart was pounding so hard he thought that he might faint. Also, the sheets were stifling him.

It was silent so long that he started to feel silly. Anyway, he never slept with his head entirely smothered by sheets. He grunted and pretended to turn over in his sleep.

"Billy?" said Dominic.

"Yes," said Billy at once and opened his eyes.

He looked at Dominic, standing just inside the door. He couldn't believe how alive Dominic's eyes looked.

Then, without warning, Dominic was in the bed and on top of him and pressing hot kisses to his face. Billy opened his mouth in surprise, and immediately Dominic's tongue slipped in, as if this were its rightful home. The tongue was warm and moist and felt just like it had yesterday. Only better.

Billy struggled to raise himself up, and then he was sitting up, leaning against the wall, with Dominic in his lap, legs curled up against Billy's sides. They were kissing open-mouthed, breathlessly, moving their heads around like movie stars, grabbing each other's hair.

It was completely insane.

They were pulling and tearing at each other's clothes like animals. Dominic licked Billy's nipples and the hollow under his throat, at the same time trying to pull Billy's T-shirt over his head and also kicking off his own shoes. He almost fell off the bed in the process.

"Hang on, hang on, slow down," said Billy, laughing unsteadily and grabbing Dominic's arm.

"Can't," gasped Dominic, tugging off his own T-shirt and throwing himself against Billy, skin against skin. "Been waiting for this all day."

"Really?" was all Billy could get out before his mouth was once more covered by Dominic's.

After some moments of kissing, Billy whispered, "If you were so keen, why did you make me wait so long?"

"Nervous as hell," mumbled Dominic, tonguing Billy's neck. "Also, I saw the light going on and off all the time. What were you doing in here?"

"Being nervous as hell," said Billy.

"Mmm," said Dominic.

"You know what you said yesterday," whispered Billy. "How you said we can do more ..."

"Yes, let's do more," Dominic said. "Let's do everything."

The heat and passion of Dominic made Billy's senses reel. He steadied Dominic's head against his own mouth and found his tongue. He started to caress Dominic's ears, and this seemed to produce the same results as it had last night. Dominic went all swoony. He stopped moving his tongue and made those throat noises again; his hips ground into Billy's and their hard cocks moved against each other.

"Where's ---," Dominic said, pulling his lips away from Billy's just enough to speak. "Have you got any -- You know ..."

"Shit," said Billy.

"What?" asked Dominic.

"I've not got any," said Billy. "Haven't you?"

"What?" cried Dominic. He sat up and looked round the room wildly. "I don't believe this! D'you mean we're here in this bed and we haven't got any fucking condoms?" He stared out of the window, as if he half expected some prophylactics to materialise in the night sky.

"You're not going to find any out there," said Billy who was torn between laughing and swearing. "We're in the middle of a forest. There's no local chemist for miles and miles!"

Dominic hopped up. He looked truly distressed. He went over to the sink and rummaged through his toiletry bag, muttering, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, fuck. I don't believe this."

He came back to the bed. "Where are we going to get some from?" he said.

"Perhaps tomorrow ... ," began Billy.

"Orli," said Dominic and jumped up. "Orli will have some."

"Orli?" cried Billy in alarm. "You can't go over there now!"

"Why not?" said Dominic. He stood on tiptoes and peered out into the dark. "They've still got their light on."

"We've still got our light on," Billy pointed out.

"What are you saying?" Dominic said and looked down at Billy. "They're having sex?"

Billy giggled. "I didn't say that," he said.

"Well, at least that would mean they had condoms," said Dominic and looked out of the window thoughtfully.

"Maybe," he added, grinning roguishly, "maybe this was all some big trick on Peter's part. To add to our screen chemistry."

"Peter didn't choose who was to share where," observed Billy. "If he had chosen, I'm sure he would have put Orli in with John, not with Viggo."

Dominic laughed, then he stopped and thought, then he laughed again. "That is a scream," he said. "I think we should suggest it tomorrow. I think we should suggest that every cast member who has an on-screen friendship with any other cast member must share a trailer with them for the duration."

"That would mean a nine-bed trailer," said Billy, drily.

What was really strange was that they were laughing together in the way they always were. And at the same time they were half-naked and had hard-ons. Strange but nice. However, there was one thing that seemed wrong. Dominic shouldn't be standing in the middle of the trailer like that, with yards of air separating him from Billy.

'After all,' thought Billy, 'there are plenty of things we can do without a condom.'

So he edged himself to the end of the bed, sat up and leaned forward to pull Dominic close. He placed his hands on Dominic's waist. He was desperate for more but he was also worried that maybe Dominic was standing in the middle of the trailer because he was nervous, because he'd changed his mind, because who knows what. And he really didn't want to push Dominic.

Or so he told himself. The fact was that as soon as he had Dominic between his legs, he was transfixed by the proximity of Dominic's crotch to his own face. He should really look up at Dominic, check his facial expression at least, check that everything was all right. Instead, he closed his eyes and pressed his face into Dominic's groin, mouthing his penis through the fabric.

Straight away, Dominic groaned, grasped Billy's head and started to move his hips. With flying hands, Billy began to fumble with Dominic's fly, not breaking contact with his mouth. But before he could get anywhere, Dominic had slid down onto the floor. He looked flushed and eager, and he was kneeling on the floor, sliding his hands up Billy's thighs, pulling his jogging trousers off with one tug and breathing hot breaths onto Billy's aching cock.

"No, no," murmured Billy. "Let me ..."

He stopped speaking, then, because Dominic was licking his shaft, from root to tip.

Billy gasped and squirmed involuntarily.

Dominic did it again, and then cupped Billy's balls and then, all of a sudden and all at once, took Billy whole into his mouth.

Billy thought he'd blacked out but it was only that his eyes had fallen shut. Dominic was like a hot desert wind, blowing through Billy and leaving him without breath or defense.

His thoughts dissolved into incoherence as he surrendered himself to Dominic. It was becoming a habit in this trailer, surrendering himself to Dominic.

Then there was nothing, only Dominic's mouth and tongue, and the tip of his cock pushing into Dominic's cheek, and Dominic doing something swirling with his tongue, indescribable. Dominic squeezing his thighs and then kneading his buttocks. Billy crying out with pleasure, and Dominic starting to moan himself, Billy feeling him hum against his cock; and Dominic pressing a finger against Billy's anus and pushing, pushing until his finger went in to the first joint. Billy was starting to come, it was all too much and too hot; he'd wanted to wait and eke this out but instead found himself moaning, "I'm coming, I'm coming, oh, oh," and he had just enough wit left to try to pull out but Dominic held on to him and sucked him back in and pushed a second finger into his arse. Billy spent himself, wildly and gloriously, in Dominic's mouth.

He kept on shuddering with after-shudders as his head jerked upwards and he gasped and shouted and twisted his fingers through Dominic's hair. A tingling sensation spread from his spine and his hot cock and his hot, hot rectum to the tips of his fingers and toes.

Oh, this was not like yesterday. This was no everyday climax; this had moved onto another level altogether. This was way out of control.

His chest was heaving. It took Billy some minutes to come down from his high. Or was it hours, or years? He seemed to have lost all sense of time. He felt Dominic's body slide back on top of him. He was getting used to it being there. It seemed like a good place for Dominic's body to be.

Dominic was covering Billy's face in small moist kisses, leaving dribbles of sperm all over his cheeks.

"The things I want to do to you," Dominic whispered. "All day I've been thinking about ... I don't know why ... But that was one of the things."

"Thank you," murmured Billy. "Thank you for that."

"You're a sweet man," said Dominic, looking surprised.

For a second, it seemed as if he were going to say something else but then he blinked, laughed and said, "Taste sweet, I mean. You taste sweet. And you don't have to thank me, Billy."

"I am ...," stammered Billy. "I'm just ..."

"I know," smiled Dominic. "I can see you are."

"Sorry about this," Billy mumbled. "This is all getting a bit ..."

"Yes, it is getting a bit ... ," said Dominic. "But don't be sorry. Remember?" And he winked. "It's only me, Dominic."

True enough. There was Dominic's familiar face, with his familar crooked smile. But there was also something else in Dominic's face, an expression that Billy had not seen there before, something yearning and altogether adorable.

Feeling revived, Billy said, "Before I forget. You interrupted me before."

And he rolled Dominic around and slithered down to Dominic's crotch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dominic couldn't believe how fantastically erotic Billy felt and sounded and tasted. When Billy's warm semen had filled his throat and he heard those delightful sounds that Billy was making, Dominic almost came himself. Then he had looked up and his breath caught at the sight of Billy's face, looking blurred at the edges and lovely in post-orgasmic disarray.

And when Billy's short-haired head had disappeared between his thighs, he had leaned back, closed his eyes and simply given himself up to sexual bliss.

There was licking and sucking and fingering, wetness and tightness and heat, and finally, exquisite spasms and abandoned moaning as he came into Billy's mouth.

And then there they were, with their hair matted and their limbs entangled, and it wasn't fully clear what was to happen next.

Dominic turned to look at Billy and a mad thought went through his mind: 'I could look at that face forever.' But it was probably only a thought born of bedtime lust and destined to fade away as soon as the sun rose.

He cleared his throat and said, "I'd better brush my teeth."

Because, whatever this thing was they were having, it was surely nothing more than a kind of circumstantial sex, arising from being thrown together into the same bed, under strenuous working conditions. Even though, when he'd brushed his teeth and had a pee, he did go to sleep again with his arms wrapped around Billy. Still, that too, no doubt, was merely circumstantial. It was true that Billy smelled good and felt comforting. Also, each of Billy's breaths in sleep had a tiny hitch to it, and Dominic couldn't help listening to that with a smile. But these sensations were likewise just side effects. Doubtlessly.

The next day, he noticed that their acting had changed.

Only subtly. Perhaps only noticeable to them. He was sure that Billy felt it, too. The thing was that the relationship between Merry and Pippin had always been the more intense one. That was the one that consumed their days and that was the one they had to come down from after shooting. The Dominic-and-Billy relationship was the relaxing, fun one. Today, Dominic felt for the first time that Dominic-and-Billy had, at least temporarily, become more intense than Merry-and-Pippin.

Instead of being fired up by being Merry to Billy's Pippin, Dominic found himself looking for traces of Billy in Pippin's wide-eyed expression or imagining Billy's own short hair underneath Pippin's curls. In the middle of one scene, the memory of Billy's cock in his mouth came rushing to him without warning. All of this certainly added a keen new edge to the comradeship of Merry and Pippin. It was, to put it mildly, disconcerting.

Still, it seemed to go down well. Shooting proceeded without a hitch, and by the time they finished for the night, there was a general feeling of satisfaction all round.

Because it was the last night for all of them together, they hung out for longer with Orlando and Viggo, and Ian joined in as well. They chatted about this and that. Ian produced several bottles of red wine. They looked at the Southern Cross. Orlando tried to ring Elijah on his mobile but didn't get a signal ("There probably isn't a fucking radio mast around for hundreds of miles"). Dominic tried not to glance sideways at Billy too often. And Ian kept throwing meaningful looks at the hobbits, saying, "You must be sad to be separated as of tomorrow."

Billy said, "I do, I feel awful! I've only just got used to being without the other two hobbits, and now I've got to leave this one and there'll be no-one left."

"I'll miss you, too, Pip," said Dominic.

It was safe to say such things because the others were there and they were getting just ever so slightly sloshed. Anyway, he was always saying such things to Billy. Wasn't he?

"Yeah," said Billy morosely. "But you'll still have Legolas and everyone."

"You get to go off with Gandalf!" said Orlando. "I'm jealous as hell."

Ian laughed.

"I think it's me he's jealous of, Orli," said Dominic and winked. "'Cos I get to stay with you."

This was how it went. Friendly banter, and everyone getting slightly boozy and putting their arms around each other.

When they finally did go back to their trailer, they still hadn't said anything about their situation, or whatever it was, and what they were or weren't going to do about it.

They got to the door.

"After you," said Billy.

"No, you," said Dominic.

They were inside.

It was odd. But after the first night's breathless hands and the previous night's mad romp, Dominic suddenly felt unaccountably shy.

He said, "Well, I think I'll brush my teeth, then." Walked over to the basin, squeezed out toothpaste, brushed his teeth. Went to the loo. Came back out, washed his hands. Started to take off his clothes. Pulled off his trousers but left his boxer shorts on. On second thoughts, also left his T-shirt on. Put away his trousers. Sat down on the couch. The couch was quite dry.

He almost said, "I could sleep on the couch tonight," but, on second thoughts, didn't.

Billy said, "Can I use your toothbrush again?"

"Sure," Dominic said. "Don't even ask."

He undid the hinges that fixed the table onto the wall and folded it down in front of him at the couch. It sat there, like a barrier between him and Billy. He pulled his pad from his bag, uncapped his biro and started writing. He didn't know what. Ostensibly it was a journal entry but what he was writing was totally incoherent; it only gave the semblance of purposeful activity. In fact, his mouth was dry and his throat felt tight.

When Billy came over to the table, Dominic jumped and made a scribbly line all over the page. Billy crouched down on the other side of the table, folded his arms on the table top and placed his chin on his left wrist.

"Dominic," he said.

"Yeah," said Dominic and looked up.

"Can I just say two things?"

"Sure. Go ahead."

"First thing. Are you trying to avoid something?"

Dominic gulped.

"Because you don't need to," said Billy. "Really you don't. Whatever we do, let's just only do what we want. If we ... just want to go to sleep, then we'll do that. And if the couch is dry again, we'll swap and I'll sleep on it tonight."

Billy looked unbearably luscious in that position. Dominic stopped really listening to what he was saying. All he heard was that Billy was saying kind things to him, and somehow that was unbearable, too.

Billy stopped talking and looked at Dominic as if he were expecting an answer. Dominic hadn't heard the question.

"You want to sleep on the couch," he said blankly.

Billy laughed. "Have you been listening?" he said, making a stern face. "What did I just say?"

"Um," said Dominic, grinning a little. "That you wanted to sleep on the couch?"

"I was saying," said Billy, and now he had this strange dream-like expression in his eyes, "no, I was asking whether you were in any way freaked out. By this thing. What we ... "

"D'you think it's buggering up our acting?" said Dominic, apropos of nothing.

Billy looked surprised, then pensive. "No," he answered. "At least not today. It may even be good for the characters."

They pondered this. They were always talking about what would be good for the characters. It had just never been sex before. Actually.

"And anyway," Billy continued, "we won't be acting together for a while now."

"That is so sad," blurted out Dominic.

"Dear Dom," said Billy. He looked as if he were about to move but then his hands tightened on his arms and he stayed where he was.

Neither said anything for a while. They seemed to have hit an impasse. All that was possible was to sit on either side of this stupid table and stare at each other.

What Dominic really wanted to say was, "You feel so nice, can I feel you?" and, "Your eyes look gorgeous. Can I kiss them shut?" But these things sounded like compliments, like declarations of desire, much too romantic, and that was just what he didn't do with Billy: trade romantic compliments. So he just thought these things but the thoughts must have come out in his eyes somehow because suddenly it was Billy who was saying,

"You look cute when you're a bit troubled."

Dominic gave an embarrassed laugh and tried to look less troubled.

"You are so sexy," said Billy in a voice so low that Dominic had to stop the laugh to hear it. "You make me feel all warm; and I can't resist it when you do that, when you jump on me like you did. Yesterday, and the day before. You're like a hot wind in bed."

Dominic blinked. Billy was still motionless, his head on his arms. Only his lips were moving and saying these extraordinary things. It was as if they were in some movie together, and Billy was acting, not acting Pippin but some romantic, love-interest role. He even had those liquid eyes that love-interests put on.

"You're being ...," he said and had to clear his throat. "You're being very poetic tonight."

"Is that bad?" said Billy. "Can't we be poetic?"

Dominic closed his eyes. He moved his arms forwards, brushing pen and papers to the floor, until the tips of his fingers touched Billy's face. He moved them along Billy's cheeks, and then rubbed his thumbs along Billy's forehead and smoothed Billy's eyebrows from nose to temples. Then he moved his fingers down, feather-light touches only, and let them rest on Billy's lower lip. Or tried to let them rest; they were, in fact, shaking uncontrollably. He felt a small moist touch: Billy's tongue, flicking his fingertips.

Inexplicably, Dominic wanted to cry. He just felt so moved by Billy.

"Dom," whispered Billy. "Friend. Don't freak out."

"I'm not," said Dominic, eyes still closed, fingers still trembling, and voice trembling, too. "I think I may be more drunk than I thought. No, I think you feel nice and I want to feel you, and your eyes look so gorgeous, I want to kiss them."

He had to fight the irrational impulse to add, "And I love you." Because that would truly mean getting carried away by circumstances.

"Then, do, Dominic," said Billy. "Do."

Dominic leaned across and, without opening his eyes, found Billy's face and buried his own face against it, cheek against cheek. Then he moved his hands to cover Billy's ears and pressed his lips against Billy's eyelids, folding them against the round orbs of his eyeballs. Billy sighed.

The edge of the table was digging into Dominic's ribcage. He didn't know why this pointless bit of furniture was preventing him from getting closer to Billy, so he climbed over it without letting go of Billy's face, knees on the table top, and then, of course, the whole thing gave way underneath him, and he crashed, table and all, onto Billy. Billy lost balance and toppled backwards, and now they were lying on the actual floor of the trailer, and that was a hard, dirty and bloody stupid place to be in. But Dominic didn't care because now Billy was against him, fully against him. He could feel nothing but Billy from his fingers to his shins, and that was what he wanted. That was just what he wanted.

"Are you hurt?" he whispered.

Billy didn't seem hurt. He was wriggling underneath Dominic, in that way that Dominic was starting to recognise -- oh, to recognise something so intimate about Billy! --- and sighing and wrapping his arms around Dominic's back in such a tight squeeze, so tight, and whispering, "There, you're doing it again. I love it when you do that."

"What?" whispered Dominic, still not trusting his voice entirely. "When I wreck the fittings and furnishings, and knock you over with a table?"

"Yeah, that too," laughed Billy. "I love all of it. First you look cute and troubled, and then you jump me."

"Oh, Billy," said Dominic and buried his face against the crook of Billy's neck. He really wanted to kiss Billy but he was afraid he might want to cry again if he did that so he decided to wait a while with the kissing.

"Billy," he mumbled against Billy's neck, partly because it was so nice to say Billy's name. "Billy. What was the second thing you wanted to say?"

"What second thing?" said Billy who was now moving his fingers softly up and down against the back of Dominic's left ear. This, predictably, made Dominic want to come in his boxer shorts, and he suspected that Billy had known this and done it on purpose -- oh, to have such intimate things recognised by Billy!

Dominic pulled his head away and laughed softly and said, "No, no, wait. What were you going to say? You said you had two things you wanted to say to me."

"Oh, yes," said Billy and looked wicked. "I've got something for you. For us. Lift up a bit."

Dominic hoicked his hips up, and Billy started to scrabble around in his trouser pockets. Even that was wonderful because his hands brushed Dominic's cock a few times, and Dominic thought he might need to come very, very soon. Then Billy found what he was looking for and held it up between index and middle finger.

It was a wrapped condom.

Dominic burst out laughing.

"Fuckin' A," he cried, "Billy, you are --- Where'd you get this?"

Billy grinned completely mischievously and shook his head. "Uh-uh," he said. "Not telling."

Dominic laughed even more.

Billy said, laughing too, "Well, I'm relieved to see that you're not freaking out anymore."

"Wait here," said Dominic.

"Okay," said Billy.

"I want to show you something now," said Dominic.

"Good," said Billy.

"You're not moving," said Billy.

"Weren't you going to get something?" said Billy.

"Yes," groaned Dominic. "But I can't let go of you. I seem to be ... I don't know, glued to your body."

Mentioning Billy's body made him feel hot all over, and he had to bury his head in Billy's neck again.

"Maybe it's the ear glue," joked Billy. "Oh no, stuck together by the ears. Forever. You're not freaking out again, are you?"

"Oh no, no, no," said Dominic into his neck. Billy gave him a push, and he did, finally, hop up.

"I was getting uncomfortable on that floor, anyway," said Billy.

"You know what," said Dominic, again as a complete non sequitur. "I love Scots. I'm going to start speaking Scottish myself." And he said that in an Edinburgh accent.

Billy sat up and giggled. "If you're going to go Scottish," he said, "you should at least go for Glaswegian. What were you going to show me?"

"Oh yes," said Dominic, feeling light-headed and looking around the trailer vaguely. "Where are my trousers?"

They were folded away in a drawer. Dominic put his hand inside the pocket and drew out his own condom packet. It was the identical brand.

Billy looked entranced and laughed until he stopped.

"You are a rascal, sir!" he cried. "Here I was, embarrassing myself ... and all the time you were ... Who'd you get it from? Not Orli?!"

"No," said Dominic. "Maybe I won't tell, either. Actually, I asked Ian."

"Ian!" shouted Billy. "Of course!" Then he collapsed onto the bed and held his diaphragm, he was laughing so hard.

"What?" said Dominic. "Don't tell me you asked Ian, too?"

Billy kicked his legs in mirth. He had tears of laughter in his eyes.

"Oh no," said Dominic, and he was laughing too, now. He threw himself down on the bed next to Billy, and then they both laughed and laughed, and whenever they started to stop laughing, one of them said, "Do you think he suspects anything?" or, "I wonder what he thought when first one of us sidled up to him, and then the other one ...", and that set them off again.

Finally, Dominic sat up and wiped his eyes. Now he really had cried.

"That is a scream," he said. "That is an absolute scream. Oh, and you're going off with him tomorrow. Well! Pippin and Gandalf are going to have some interesting conversations! D'you think he's told anyone?"

"Oh, no, I don't think so. Ian's a perfect gentleman," Billy said, and then he added, "But the best thing is ..." He looked at Dominic, and his eyes were beginning to go all lustful again.

"What's the best thing?" said Dominic, holding his breath.

"That now," said Billy softly and brought his mouth close to Dominic's ear, "that now, we get to fuck."

"God, I love you," said Dominic.

Then they started kissing in earnest. Billy moved his hands into the back of Dominic's boxer shorts and spread his fingers over Dominic's buttocks and into Dominic's cleft, and Dominic murmured into Billy's mouth, "Dearest. Billy. Sweetest. Dearest", and undid Billy's fly and combed his fingernails through Billy's pubic hair.

The condoms lay on the bed, like little presents waiting to be unwrapped.

------------------------------------

The End.

Continued in When the Cat's Away

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I would love feedback! Any feedback is appreciated. Please email me at [email protected], or comment at http://lobelia321.livejournal.com

21 and 26 Feb. 2002

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