Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Wow," Billy said, eyes wide as he watched the end credits roll as the lights came up. "Pete really outdid himself."

"He did."

The soft voice pulled Billy around, and he grinned as he looked at Orlando. "Must've been fun putting the ears on again."

Orlando shifted in his seat, shrugged, but a small smile curved his mouth. "It had its moments. Different, though, y'know."

Billy looked around, silent for a moment. Elijah and Dom had their heads together in a way that didn't bode well for whoever was going to be on the receiving end of whatever they were planning. Bean was keeping one eye on them, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Billy just smiled and turned back to Orlando.

"It'd have to be, right? I mean, all of us --" He gestured at the small screening room, knowing Orlando was just as aware of the few faces who hadn't made it to the private screening of The Hobbit. "We had something special, something that can't be duplicated."

"Yeah," Orlando said, quietly, and something in his voice made Billy stop. "We did."

For a long moment, Billy just stared at Orlando, noticed the way Orlando would look at him before his gaze skittered away like a shy deer. And Billy thought, no, there's no way... Then he caught Orlando's gaze, held it, and what he saw there made Billy's breath catch in his throat.

Suddenly, all he could remember was the brief, innocent (or so he'd assumed) flirtation he and Orlando had indulged in back in New Zealand.

"Orlando, you --"

"Miranda said to come by with Ali and Jack while you're in town," Orlando said. He slouched in his seat and glanced away for a second. "We'll have dinner, catch up, y'know."

"Yeah," Billy said, slowly, allowing the moment to slip away with a pang of regret. "Sure, we'd like that."

"Good," Orlando said, smiling that bright, brilliant smile that had always tugged at something deep inside Billy. It still tugged at him, but it eased a tightness in his chest that he hadn't been aware of, settled him in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time.

So he twisted a little more and asked about Flynn, smiling as Orlando lit up and reached for his wallet. Sure, they'd had something special, something magical. But what they still had -- all of them -- was just as special and magical.