Riding Together Upon One Horse

by Lobelia

[email protected]
Pairing: John Rhys-Davies / Orlando Bloom
Rating: PG
Spoilers: The Two Towers
Warnings/Content: RPS. Middle-aged plump man.
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. Quotations taken from J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers, book 3, chapter VIII, copyright George Allen & Unwin.

Summary: John and Orlando rehearse a scene and share a horse.

Author's Notes: Happy and tasteful fluff. I've been waiting and waiting for another story with poor old John who, out of all the Fellowship, seems to get the shortest shrift. So I finally wrote it myself. Thanks to all those lovely people who responded to my question about Legolas and Gimli on the horse. And kisses and thank-yous to Lisa and Snow Dome for their betas and for sorting out saddle headaches!

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Legolas and Gimli were now riding together upon one horse; and they kept close beside Gandalf, for Gimli was afraid of the wood.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
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Orlando sat on a fence outside the stables, bent over the dog-eared copy of The Two Towers on his lap. His brow was furrowed and he was licking his lips in concentration.

That's how John happened upon him, turning the corner of the stable, horse in tow. He stopped short. He hadn't expected anyone still to be there.

The mare whinnied and stamped the ground. Orlando looked up.

"Oh, hi," he said, grabbing the book as it slid off his lap.

"Hello," said John. "Hail, Fellow, well met, I should say. I'm, ah, I'm just off to do a bit of riding practice, actually. For our scene tomorrow."

Orlando waved his book in the air. "That's just the scene I'm re-reading right now," he said. "It's a bit different from the script but it helps to know the Tolkien version as well."

"I know, I know," smiled John.

He knew the scene by heart, be it book or script. They were shooting it the next day. It was the scene in which Gimli and Legolas share a horse after the battle of Helm's Deep, Legolas praising the forest of Fangorn, Gimli praising the Glittering Caves, and both promising to travel together and visit each other's favourite sites after the end of the war.

"A very important scene," Peter had told them at the briefing session. "A crucial scene for Legolas and Gimli, because this is where their friendship is cemented. It's got to be emotionally convincing for the audience."

John wasn't worried about being emotionally convincing. What troubled him was the horse riding.

"So," said Orlando. "Why do you need more riding practice?"

"To tell you the truth," said John, feeling foolish in front of Orlando, "despite all our lessons, I still feel rather wary of galloping about on a horse."

"Really? But you did a lot of riding in those Indiana Jones films, didn't you?"

John laughed. "The number of stuntmen they used in those movies! It's a wonder I ever even got to sit on a horse for longer than a minute."

"I loved Last Crusade when I was little," said Orlando enthusiastically. "And Sallah was my absolutely favourite character!"

"Why, that's very kind of you to say so. My sons say that but then they would, wouldn't they? You remind me a bit of them, you know. My youngest, especially." He cleared his throat. "Why are you still here, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm. Um. Well, actually," replied Orlando, tapping the book on his knee, "I'm just trying to get into that scene for tomorrow. Because, you know, I'll not be acting it with you; I'll be up on that horse with one of the dwarf stand-ins. I know you and Ian and everybody are all very good at acting with tennis balls and things." He laughed. "And I'm okay most of the time. It's just that this scene, well. It's sort of more important that it's really Legolas and Gimli, not stand-ins."

"I know what you mean," said John. "Because it's much more emotionally charged. A unique moment between Gimli and Legolas."

Orlando was looking at him, and suddenly John found that he wanted to drop his eyes. He turned to the horse and clumsily patted her neck.

They were silent for a moment. Then John said, "You know what. Why don't we rehearse this scene together? Now?"

"On the horse?" said Orlando.

"Yes, why not? I've got her here, we might as well. And that may help you to visualise everything better."

Orlando jumped off the fence. "Oh, that is such a good idea. That would be really ... It'd be really great."

"And," smiled John, "you could perhaps teach me some of your riding skills, while we're at it."

"Oh, I couldn't do that," said Orlando, and was he actually blushing or was that just a trick of the setting sun? "I'm not really any good. Not nearly as good as you are at all this."

Orlando didn't specify what 'all this' referred to but John guessed that it meant 'all of this acting business'. He recalled his own first experiences on movie sets and had to smile to himself. He'd been young and nervous, full of enthusiasm and high hopes, with his head constantly in the shooting script and his eyes full of stars.

"Let me tell you," he said. "In the very first film I was ever in, I got blown up in an explosion before the title credits even started rolling. I know this isn't your very first film but it's nearly so. You're a very lucky young man, you know. You get to stay alive until the very end!"

Orlando laughed. He pushed his book in between two rocks on the ground and went up to the mare.

"So, how shall we do this, then?" he asked. "Who'll sit in front? You or me?"

"As far as I recall," said John, "you sit in front. Because you do the actual riding, remember?"

"Yes, I know" said Orlando slowly, studying the horse and sucking in his lower lip. "But we're never actually together on that horse, are we? It's the stand-in who sits behind me. And we use a special saddle during filming." He thought for another few seconds, then he said, "I'm not sure how this is going to work. Unless I go on the saddle and you sit behind me, bareback."

"Oh, no!" cried John in alarm. "No, no, that sounds, ah, more adventurous than I'd bargained for."

"Look," said Orlando. "I don't think it matters for rehearsal purposes. Why don't we just switch the order for now? You sit in the saddle, and I'll go behind."

"Are you sure?" said John. "You won't fall off or anything?"

"Oh, no fear of that!" laughed Orlando. "As long as you're all right. Don't know what the horse will make of it, though. You should go first, I think."

It took John several attempts to mount the stirrup, let alone the horse. "I'm getting too old for this," he puffed, as he sat down heavily and grabbed on to the pommel.

Orlando used the fence to propel himself onto the horse's back, and John marvelled at the quick and easy way in which he managed the task. Orlando only briefly needed to grip John's left shoulder as support, then he was settled behind him. The horse lifted her head and snorted, shifting her legs under the new weight.

"Are you all right back there?" asked John.

"I'm fine," came Orlando's voice. "Now, can you grab the reins?"

John said, "Yes, yes, of course." He picked up the leather straps and tugged at them ineffectually.

"John, hang on, let me. I'll just reach around you ..."

Before John could protest, he felt Orlando's torso press up against his back and Orlando's hands creep around his waist to take hold of the reins.

"You're a mite taller than Gimli," chuckled Orlando, straining to peep around John's shoulder. "But this is good. Okay, here goes!" he called out and giddied the horse up.

They set out at a slow walk. John held onto the mane. Orlando's arms closed around him, as if holding him in an embrace from behind. The boy's breath brushed his neck.

Orlando gave the reins a little flick, and the horse started to jog.

They didn't say anything for a while, until they were out of sight of the stables and riding through the open country. The trees were throwing long, shuddering shadows across the grass.

Perhaps it was the orange light of the late evening or the stillness of the blue air but all of a sudden John felt quite breathless, what with Orlando's warm, slim form pressing against him and Orlando's hands touching his own at the base of the horse's neck. It was a strangely intimate way to be riding.

"Are you all right there?" asked Orlando, and as he spoke, his lips grazed John's neck.

"Ah, sorry, what?" said John.

"Just asking whether you're all right there," repeated Orlando more loudly, and again his lips touched John, this time somewhere near his right earlobe.

Oh dear.

"Fine, fine," he managed to get out. "Perfectly fine. Now, ah, what were our lines again?"

"Well," said Orlando and fell silent.

They trotted along for a few more moments until finally John said, "Well what?"

"Sorry, um, " said Orlando. "I was thinking about something else. Legolas and Gimli. Right. Well, they talk about the forest and the caves, and then Legolas says, 'You move me, Gimli', and I think that's the emotional scene Peter was talking about."

"Yes," said John. "You move me." He coughed. "I mean, Legolas says, 'You move me.' I say, 'I will endure Fangorn, if I have your promise to come back to the caves and share their wonder with me.'"

"Yes," said Orlando. "And I'm sure we won't even need to do all this riding tomorrow because they'll probably film the whole scene in close-ups."

John thought that he detected a slight note of anxiety in Orlando's voice. He tried to guess why that was and ended up suggesting, "Why don't we do that part now? We can practice the exchange together, and you can get the emotional intensity right for the close-up work."

"Okay," said Orlando, sounding relieved.

"Right," said John. "Okay, I'll gesture at these trees and say how wonderful the caverns at Helm's Deep are, and how glorious the caves at Khazad-dum once were. And you say ..."

"You move me, Gimli," said Orlando, and it really did sound like Legolas. John caught his breath. Orlando's arms tight around his body, Orlando's hands practically on his own wrists, Orlando's voice in Legolas mode saying, "You move me." It was enough to give anybody a shudder.

"I have never heard you speak like this before," continued Orlando-Legolas behind him. "Come! Let us make this bargain -- if we both return safe out of the perils that await us, we will journey for a while together."

"Yes," replied John. "I will endure Fangorn, if I have your promise to come back to the caves and ... and share their wonder with me."

Suddenly, Tolkien's lines seemed pregnant with hidden meaning. John swallowed.

"Was that okay?" asked Orlando in his normal voice. "Because, you know, isn't this where they realise, or show, or whatever, that their differences don't matter? That although one's an elf and the other one's a dwarf, they can be friends and love each other?"

Now why had Orlando said that about the differences and about loving each other? John suddenly felt acutely conscious of his bulky body and of Orlando's so very different shape. He wondered what it would feel like to have Orlando in front of him, instead of behind, leaning against his chest, rubbing up against his ...

How ridiculous. He'd given himself an erection now, with all his absurd musings.

The horse stumbled, and John almost slipped off.

"Hold on," said Orlando. He gripped the reins with one hand and steadied John with the other, pulling him back up and against himself.

"Thanks," said John, his heart beating fast. "I really am Gimli, the way I hang off a horse. Like a sack of potatoes. You put me to shame, Orlando."

"Right," said Orlando, and was he sounding a little breathless himself? "Could we ... would you mind if we did that scene again?"

"Not at all. On the contrary!"

And there he went again, with that musical Legolas voice of his: "You move me, Gimli. I have never heard you speak like this before."

Abruptly, John turned to look at Orlando. Orlando twitched the reins. The horse stopped.

"I will endure Fangorn," said John, his voice hoarse, "if I have your promise to come back to the caves and share their wonder with me."

"You have my promise." Why was Orlando whispering the line? John had to bend his head to hear him.

"You have my promise," Orlando repeated, barely breathing the phrase.

All of a sudden, Orlando's lips were on his. John closed his eyes. He didn't know who had moved first, he didn't know anything. As far as he was aware, their mouths had simply floated towards each other, and now they were joined, and their lips were moving against one another, and was that Orlando's tongue?

And now he felt Orlando's right hand leave the reins and come to rest on his stomach, a warm spot on his belly, and he shivered with pleasure. The horse shifted underneath them, they were perched precariously on this unsteady seat, an airplane buzzed past many miles above, and John was lost in Orlando's kiss.

The horse stamped. They broke apart. John gasped for air. Orlando's face looked pink and surprised.

"Right, well," said John and turned to face the front again. He felt dizzy.

Orlando laughed. He spurred the horse on. John cried, "No! What are you doing, you mad boy?" The horse broke into a trot and then a canter, and before he knew it they were flying across the open grassland. He held on for dear life, and Orlando held on to him; they were moving up and down on the horse in unison, and it was glorious.

When they got back to the stables, the light was failing and the wranglers came to complain about the late hour. Orlando hopped off the horse lightly and held up his hand to help John.

"See you tomorrow, then," said John. He thought about patting Orlando's shoulder but then didn't.

"Yeah," said Orlando and smiled. "And thanks for helping with the scene."

They did the scene the next day, in chopped-up bits, separately, using stand-ins and filming in shot-reverse shots. But it was there, the emotional intensity was all there, and when they finished, after only three takes, the crew burst into spontaneous applause.

"Go, Legolas and Gimli!" shouted one quip.

'Yes,' thought John, smiling to himself and winking at Orlando across a bank of arc lights. 'Go, Gimli and Legolas.'

The End.

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If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Lobelia; [email protected]

25 March 2002