salixbabylon | Fic: Young Again (1/1)

Title: Young Again
Author:

salixbabylon
Pairing: Karl/Sean
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1099
Disclaimer: No offense meant at all to the real actors. This is just fiction, people.
Summary: Sean goes on a group vacation but is grumpy until Karl drags him outside for some wintertime fun.
Notes: For

rifleman_s, who asked for snow. Massive thank-yous to

helena_s_renn for the beta!

Young Again

When the Hobbits learned that they could go snowboarding in July, it was as if Christmas had come again for them, mid-year. Although there wasn't any snow in Wellington, the boys were enthusiastic enough that they managed to coerce almost everyone into renting out a ski lodge they'd stayed at while filming the Caradhras scenes for a long weekend. Sean wasn't much of a skier and he sure as fuck wasn't a snowboarder, but he went along anyway, feeling a bit like a midsummer Scrooge and still disoriented from the opposite seasons.

Karl had been hanging out with him and Viggo lately, the Men all together, united in defense against hyperactive Elves and Hobbits. Something was up with Viggo, he and Karl had noticed. Karl thought Viggo was just getting too immersed in the role, but Sean suspected he was getting too immersed in a certain elf, and not Aragorn's betrothed. Still, he'd gotten to know the younger man and liked him quite a bit. Out of all the children surrounding him, Karl was the only one Sean thought of as an equal, despite the age difference.

While the others were out snowboarding and having snowball fights and generally behaving like a bunch of brainless twats, Sean mostly sat around the lodge reading and trying to relax. He went out for occasional walks in the snow with Viggo, trying not to be bored out of his mind while his friend pointed out different kinds of birds and plants and took pictures; he was taking this whole Ranger thing far too seriously and eventually Sean was going to break down and thump him.

No, Sean was just feeling... disgruntled. The cold was making his bones ache and he felt old compared to the others. It was dark when it should be light, cold when it should be bloody hot, and just wrong. He sat inside, feeling sorry for himself and drinking a bottle of scotch in the lounge and not-reading the book in his lap. He must have dozed off or at least severely spaced out because he was somewhat startled when, an indeterminate time later, a hand had reached out and grabbed the book from his knee.

"You being antisocial for a reason?" Karl asked.

He sighed. "Not really. Just don't feel like 'wintertime fun' in the middle of bloody July," Sean grumbled.

Karl shrugged. "You're going to be here for a while; you should get acclimated."

Sean made a disgusted noise. "Just feels wrong, you know. Disorienting."

"Well, you should get out in it a bit more, then." Karl gave him a shrewd glance. "You don't seem like the snowboarding type; how about we go skiing?"

Sean shook his head. "Not after I broke my arm a few years ago. I'm not very good at it and I don't think Peter would appreciate having to work around a Boromoir-injury on top of everything else he's been dealing with lately."

"How about snowshoeing then? Or ice skating?" Karl suggested determinedly.

"Ice skating? What do I look like, a big girl's blouse?"

His friend rolled his eyes. "Snowshoeing then. Come on, we'll go tromp around outside for a bit."

Sean gave an evocative sigh. He got out of the very comfortable chair, cast a longing glance at the scotch, and let himself be ushered outside after a stop off at the lobby to borrow some equipment. He had no idea why he was going along with Karl's stupid idea, although he supposed the sheer boredom of sitting alone in the lounge was enough.

Once outside, of course, it was gorgeous, just to spite him. The snowshoes were, as always, incredibly awkward and yet sort of fun anyway. It was also bloody fucking cold.

"Invigorating!" Karl teased, his cheeks gone pink.

"Invigorating all the way to frostbite," Sean grumbled.

"Oh shut up," Karl said, a sound immediately followed by a large wad of snow hitting Sean on the shoulder.

Sean turned around very slowly. "Did you just throw a snowball at me?"

"Me?" Karl looked around innocently. "Of course not."

Sean's brow furrowed with a glare he usually reserved for his more villainous roles. Then, with two great lunges, he tackled Karl into the snow.

They rolled and tussled until Karl ended up on top, being bigger and bulkier, and well, younger. Sean was suddenly quite glad for the stupid hat that Karl had insisted he wear as he was pushed down into the snow.

"You're such a grump lately."

"I'm cold and I'm tired and I feel fuckin' old," Sean said, pushing futilely at Karl's bulk.

Karl looked over in the direction of all the youthful shouting on the nearby snowboarding hill. "Just because you're not a kid doesn't mean you're old."

"Oh you'd know, in all your worldly wisdom. Are you even twenty-five yet?" he scoffed.

Karl rolled his eyes. "Shut the fuck up, Bean," he said, giving him a shove so they both sunk down even further into the cold.

Sean pushed back, as much as good as it did him. "Make me."

"Why don't I make you do something else instead?" Karl said with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. To Sean's total shock, Karl planted a quick kiss on his cold lips.

Sean lay there and blinked at him in shock.

"Bean? Did I break you?" Karl's expression wavered between amusement and worry.

Clinging to his tattered dignity, Sean replied, "As if you could."

"Oh good," Karl grinned, leaning forward again and pressing a very cold nose to Sean's cheek.

This time the kiss was longer, exploring and lingering as they tasted each other's mouths, tongues sliding together. The body on top of him felt good, warm and hard and more comfortable than Sean would have expected. His bones didn't hurt so much. The sky seemed a brighter blue when he opened his eyes again and the chill did seem more invigorating than freezing. Although...

Sean shoved at Karl again. "Up, get up you great lug."

Karl rose awkwardly and gave Sean a confused look. "All right?"

Sean shrugged. "Snow started seeping in the cracks."

Karl laughed, his relief obvious. "I thought you wanted me to get off."

"Oh, I did want you to get off," Sean said with his own mischievous grin turning into a leer. "Still do, in fact. I'd just prefer we do it in a bed, with a less clothing, and a fuck of a lot less snow."

"You're on," Karl laughed. "Race you back - winner gets to top!"

Sean snorted and with four vigorous lunges the race was on.

~end~