Ivory Lace
by
Bluespirit

Fandom: Lord of the Rings RPS
Pairing: Sean/Orlando
Rating: PG
Summary: Sean finds a surprise waiting for him.
Word count: 674

Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction. The author is not making any claims as to the real life sexualities or preferences of the people portrayed here. This is purely for entertainment, not profit.

“Bollocks!”

Sean looked up sharply at the exasperated cry. He quickly closed the door behind him and dropped his cases at the foot of the stairs. Shrugging off his coat, he followed the trail of softly spoken curses along the hallway towards the back of the house. As he passed the kitchen on the way to his study, he noticed a trail of oh-so-elegant footprints glistening damply on the tiles, leading from one room and back again.

“Bugger it!”

The latest wail signified that his journey was at an end. Leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, Sean gazed at the bombsite that he had once fondly remembered as his study. The furniture had been herded into the centre of the room and his antique walnut desk was thankfully swathed in an array of dustsheets. But everywhere else was chaos - tins and brushes lay haphazardly around the room, an upended stepladder was teetering precariously against the French windows and there was paint *everywhere*. The walls glistened brightly with it in the early autumn sunlight, as did every available surface, including the floor - a huge tin of paint lying on its side and oozing its contents into an ever-widening pool.

And at the centre of it all stood Orlando; the love of his life - beautiful, ever radiant and, in this case, completely paint splattered from the top of his softly alluring curls to his exquisitely bare toes.

“Sean!”

Orlando’s face registered a myriad of emotions in the blink of an eye - love, joy, surprise and then ever wakening horror.

“Um, I wasn’t expecting you back until tomorrow.”

“I know,” Sean smiled softly. “Filming wrapped a little early and I managed to get away - I wanted to surprise you. But,” he stopped and looked around the room, “I’m wondering if that was such a good idea?”

“Oh no, I mean, *yes*, of course. It’s brilliant to see you, love. It’s just that I wasn’t quite ready with *my* surprise.” Dropping his head as a blush warmed his cheeks, Orlando continued, “I know that you’ve been talking about decorating this room for ages and as I was here, well, I thought I’d do it for you, you know, as a surprise?”

“Orli? Sweetheart?” Sean said, walking into the room. “You do know that we can afford to have someone to do this for us, don’t you? I mean we both make a pretty tidy sum from acting,” he added with a wink.

“I know that! I just wanted to do something for you - to make it more personal and to welcome you home and, well, I was watching ‘Changing Rooms’ and thought it looked easy, you know?”

“Oh, Orlando.” Sean’s face broke into a huge smile as he moved to draw his lover into his arms.

“Sean! Your suit - you’ll get covered in paint!” Orlando squeaked, as he found himself wrapped in a longed-for embrace.

“Sod the suit. I’ll buy another.”

~

A long while later, Orlando eventually surfaced from the kiss and sighed happily. “It’s so good to have you home, love.”

“Good to be home, baby,” Sean whispered, burying his face into the soft skin of Orlando’s neck. “And thanks for this, it was definitely a *surprise*.”

“Um, actually it’s called ‘Ivory Lace’.”

“Hmm?” Sean muttered absently, trailing a line of lazy kisses from Orlando’s collarbone to one delicate ear.

“The colour? It’s called ‘Ivory Lace’. Do you like it?” Orlando asked, waving a paint-streaked hand in the general direction of the walls.

Looking around, Sean nodded. “I love it. Especially this bit *here*,” he laughed, pressing a kiss to a pale, dried splotch on the smooth skin of Orlando’s shoulder. “And this bit here,” he added, touching his lips to Orlando’s palm. “And here, and here….”

Holding the man that he loved securely in his arms, Sean grinned into Orlando’s laughing face. “Now, I wonder where else I might find some…” he murmured as he began to slowly peel away his lover’s clothes.


The end