Karl's Good News Day (Dave & Karl)

[horseboykarl]

Just the thought of al the work involved in moving makes me want to climb back in bed and forget about it. But Sean pointed out that any potential buyers aren’t going to want to see my shit lying around everywhere, so if we’re gonna do this, I’ve got to organise the stuff that’s accumulated. I’ve lived here . . . I think back . . . almost five years. Not heaps long, but with all the Rings stuff in the barn and the stuff in my workshop, there’s lots that needs doing.

So I’m up in the barn loft, sorting through the boxes of Tolkien crap that I put up here when I though Éomer was a symptom of my delusions. I’ve come a long way since then, had a lot of help with it too, I think with a smile. I miss Bernard all of a sudden, he’s so easy to talk to, I’d tell him how happy I am, finally.

Sean’s off at his own place, seeing to things, especially cleaning up after his plumbing problem. My house is definitely more of a issue than his, because I’ve been in it longer, but his isn’t in showing condition yet either. He said he’d be back this evening, but I hear a car in the yard, and yell for him.

“Sean! I’m in the barn.” I lean over the railing, waiting for him.

Dave: Sean? Maybe I should have called ahead. I poke my way into the barn and look about for you. "Nah, It's the ugly bloke with the big nose. You expecting Bean?" I peer upwards, and see the havoc you're wreaking up in the loft. "Oh christ. You're working, and I'm going to get roped into helping, I just know it. So, I'll be fleeing now. Cheers!" I make a mock dash for the exit, laughing.

Karl: Mildly disappointed that it isn’t Sean after all, nevertheless I smile at your antics and drop the box I was holding, swinging down the ladder.

“No, mate, it’s good. I didn’t want to be doing this anyway. You’re useful for a distraction.”

I consider hugging you to my filthy self, and messing up your . . . interesting shirt, but I smirk at you instead and head for the house to get rid of the grime. Loft’s bloody dusty.

“What brings you out here today?”

Dave: "Hey, I know it sounds cliche, but I was in the neighborhood. Hey! No really, I was! Just took a shot that you'd be around." I clear my throat, both for dramatic effect and because it's damned dusty out here, and give you a pointed look.

"So, you're cleaning your barn. If I were to bet you five dollars that your fridge was in more dire need of a scrubbing, would I win? Tell the truth, mate. Are you out here just to avoid housework?"

Karl: I bristle at the suggestion that my fridge is dirty. And after I dry my hands, I open it to get a water bottle, clearing showing that it's not as dirty as the barn. I offer one to you.

"Ah, no. The thing is . . . " I fidget, because I've been bad about telling you the personal details of my life and now I'm about to dump a whole heap of shit on you.

"I'm moving, so I'm clearing out the barn."

Dave: My insides tense up and I can't get any words out. Not again. Another friend can't handle the shifting, maybe this one's my fault for the whole Zan and Heph debacle, so you're taking off, like Craig did, and Mir, and Harry, and Ian and John and Bernard and Astin, but you're my best friend and this time it's a lot harder to take... and I realize my mind's racing well ahead of the conversation. I find my voice and ask as calmly as I can, "Ah, I see. So, where are you off to, then?"

Karl: You took that remarkably well, not mad at me for not keeping you up to date with my life. I think over the places that Sean and I have looked at already, none of which make either of us entirely happy. This job of finding a place that makes both of us happy is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

"I don't know yet, exactly. We've just started looking around, but this place needs a lot of work before I can show it."

Dave: I raise an eyebrow at that mention of 'we', but I really need to get a grip on the Where before the Who. I'm still trying to keep my voice calm, and it's not helping that there's a tension in the back of my brain that I know isn't Faramir nudging through, it's got to be that other one. The pushy one. The threat of him losing Heph to distance must be rousing him. "When you say you're just looking around... are you looking around Wellington? New Zealand in general? Other countries? The planet as a whole?"

Karl: I stare at you for a moment. I thought you knew how I felt about living other places, after all you were one of the ones I talked to when I realized I couldn't handle LA. And I tried your bloody Sydney too.

"No, I wouldn't leave Wellie. Never mind how it'd freak Éomer, but this is home. I'm the native Kiwi, remember? I may move further out, just to find a place with enough land for Smokey Joe."

Dave: As soon as you say it, I feel a weight come off my chest, and I take a deep breath. "Good. Really good. I wouldn't think of you ever going, guess I just got caught by surprise. Really glad you'll still be around." Babble much, Dave?

"Right, then. So you're looking for a place that suits you better. You, and who? Don't think I didn't catch that mention of 'we'." And then I remember who you were hollering out to when I showed up. You thought I was Sean. My eyes get big, but I'm leaving it up to you to say. I've jumped to enough conclusions for one afternoon already.

Karl: You were really worried about me leaving, I'm surprised, but I grin at you, glad you're my friend and that our friendship has survived all the stresses on it. I've got a better idea of what you put up with after meeting Boromir and watching Sean disappear. Scary.

"Oh, well, you know, it's really your fault." I narrow my eyes at you, wondering if you were plotting when you told Sean to ask me for gardening help. "Sean and I are together now. Bean. We decided to really be together and we're trying to find some place that suits us both."

Dave: "Ah, right, like I'd deliberately wish you on a nice bloke like that." I wink and clap you on the shoulder. "Seriously. That's pretty amazing. Karl, I've spent way too much time wondering if you'd get too set in your ways as a loner. Sean's an amazing guy, and I couldn't be happier for you both, really!"

I can't help a smug smirk, though. "So I played matchmaker, and now you're househunting together. I'd say there's two gits in town that owe old Dave a dinner out!"

Karl: I punch your shoulder, wondering why I always end up acting so immature when I'm around you. Cause you're a bloody goof, probably. Although I have to admit that I'm surprised Faramir didn't tell you, he must have seen Sean when he popped down to the South Island.

"No worries, mate. Be happy to feed you. You and Paris will have to be our first guests when we find something. Whenever that may be."

This whole process is very frustrating.

Dave: "Hey, that sounds great. We'll help give your new place a bit of a housewarming. Whenever you find it. Which you will, I'm sure of it."

I step back and look about your place. It's a good house, solid and welcoming and warm, with plenty of room to roam outside. I'll miss the place, I've got my own good memories here, too, not surprising considering how much time I've spent hanging out with you over the years. "I love this house. Damn, I'd buy it if I didn't already own too many places already."

Karl: I nod. "I don't think the arrangement you and Paris have would suit us. We need one place for us together."

But I know what you mean . . . it's hard for me to think about selling this. It was the first place I ever had that was completely mine. I'd leave it for no one but Sean. Sometimes I worry about what we're doing, that we'll mess up somehow if we live together, but that balances against my need to be with him in every way possible.

Dave: "Yeah, most sane folk like to call one place home. I never claimed to be sane, though." I shrug, finding myself wandering about, poking the door moldings and tapping walls. Just soaking up the ambiance to add to my memories of your house. The back of my head's getting tense again, it's definitely the Great Git, Faramir's got a bit more elegance about making his presence known.

I roll my eyes and turn to look at you. "The damn cowboy's thumping on my skull. I swear he can smell you when you're close."

Karl: Now that does surprise me, because I've never felt the slightest whiff of Hephaestion in my head, not since the day I tried to find him. Maybe he's not as strong as Alexander. Or maybe he's focused on his present life and not the future. The man I sensed wasn't concerned about anything other than supporting his lover, but perhaps old Alex has his legacy to look after.

"Really? I thought he was convinced that you have to summon him. I can't feel his mate at all, so it's a wonder he can."

Dave: "I think he's testing his boundaries. He's not trying to shove through. Just... knocking. Like my head's a door or some such nonsense. If I don't let him in, that's that. He's bound to give up one of these days if I just keep ignoring him, right?"

Maybe it's your voice. Something about your presence feels like it's what's making him try. I really don't like that thought. You're my friend, not some damned signal for playtime for him. "Heph's a lot more diplomatic. And maybe not as strong. I dunno. It's damned rude, though. Forget about it, I shouldn't have mentioned it, really. This is Karl's Good News Day. Let's stick with that!"

Karl: I wonder if I should search for Hephaestion in case he takes me by surprise, or if the act of looking for him will bring him out. I decide to leave well enough alone.

"That's right, mate. I'm bloody happy with Sean, so I've got a lot to celebrate." I clap a hand on your shoulder, steering you to the kitchen. "Want some kip? Might as well start working my debt off now."

Dave: I'm starting to take a bit of perverse pleasure in ignoring the knocking at my mental door. Give it up, you're not welcome here today, go back to conquering your world. I grin at you and obediently let myself be led to the kitchen. "Only if your fridge is clean, mate, otherwise I'll call for pizza, my treat." You punch my arm again and I laugh, feeling the tension ease a bit as I do. It's my head, my life, and I'll have fun with my best friend anytime I damn well please, thank you very much.

"So, is this public knowledge? You and Sean, I mean. Who knows about you two so far?"

Karl: I remember my disastrous performance when Sean and I saw Viggo, I think I’ll skip that.

"Our shifts know. We just came back from Bora Bora, fuck, that's a beautiful place. You should take Paris sometime, very romantic." I smirk at you.

"But anyway, we introduced everybody while we were there. And I thought your shift knew too, because Sean was on the South Island when Faramir was playing at being a stuntie." I struggle not to blush. "I, ah, haven't really told anyone, just been uh, busy . . ." I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.

Dave: I clear my throat and give you a pointed look. "Busy. Right. I'm sure you've been fully.... occupied." Bora Bora. Wow. Excellent choice of getaways, really. I wouldn't mind taking Paris there, absolutely.

"That's good, getting the shifts introduced is a big step, but I think we all know how bad things can go if they aren't consulted with. Well, at least at first. Faramir and I have been at this so long now that we don't always tell each other everything. I figure he's due some privacy while he's here, and he's rather the same way. If he saw you two together down South, he might have figured it wasn't his business to be telling. He gets odd that way sometimes. Very private about some things, way too blatant about others. But he means well."

Karl: Faramir is all right, seems like a nice bloke from the brief contact I've had with him. It seems I've finally come to accept shifting, it just took me a few years. But I've been told I'm stubborn by more than one person. I think being with Sean makes it easier, since I don't have to hide it.

"Do you want to hang around? Sean should be back in a bit and I'd be happy to feed you."

I'm glad you're happy for me and hope that the four of us can get together sometime for some fun.