Orlando closed the door after the last customer with a shouted Merry Christmas; it was finally closing time. Never in his life had time gone by so slowly; every minute had felt like an hour and every hour like a day. Time and time again he'd found himself drifting, his eyes losing focus as his mind dreamt of later.

"Hey Orli, did you fall asleep again?" Viggo asked from behind the bar.

"No," Orlando said quickly, turning around to face his employer and best friend.

Viggo smiled at him and Orlando's heart did a double take; the older man really was too gorgeous for words. His blue-grey eyes and reddish blonde hair were enough to make the women swoon, coupled with his chiseled face, clefted chin and toned body it made them throw themselves at his feet; to no avail of course since Viggo was gay.

"What's up with you today?" Viggo asked, wiping down the counter with the customary filthy rag, except it wasn't filthy. "Did you meet someone and didn't tell me?"

Orlando laughed. "Of course not, don't be silly."

"Good," Viggo said with evident satisfaction.

"It's good that I haven't met someone?"

"Yes. No. I mean... I would just want you to tell me."

Orlando gave Viggo a suspicious look. Was the older man blushing? "I haven't met someone, not exactly."

Viggo looked up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you later, okay? Let's finish up here so that we can have some Christmas too."

"Okay," Viggo said with a smile.

*~



An hour later they were sitting on the couch in Viggo's apartment, looking at the flickering firelight from the fireplace. Orlando had his legs pulled up against his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Viggo had his feet on the table in front of the couch; none of them was speaking. They'd kept the conversation easy during their late dinner and now they were each nursing a glass of wine. Orlando had a feeling he was not the only one with something on his mind; there seemed to be a sea of unspoken words between them.

They'd been friends for more than three years now, employer and employee for four. Viggo was openly gay, artistic, talented and private. Orlando was undecided, outgoing, gorgeous and brash. Most people considered their friendship unusual but it had always seemed natural to them; Viggo was Orlando's safe haven and Orlando was Viggo's inspiration. So far it had worked just fine despite people's misgivings about their difference in age and statue.

"Do you want some more wine?" Viggo suddenly asked.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I'll get the bottle."

Orlando followed Viggo with his eyes as he left the room; the older man really had a nice ass. He never wanted to fall in love, or lust, with Viggo but his heart and body had begged to differ.

There were so many reasons why it was a bad idea, from the top of his mind he could think of at least three. First, Viggo was his best friend and if things went bad between them he would not only lose his lover but also his friend. Second, Orlando wasn't gay. He'd always been attracted to other men in a rather vague way, but he'd never as much as crushed on someone. Third, Viggo was his employer. Bartending at The Danish Corner might not be the best job in the world, but it put food on the table and it was loads of fun. Besides, Viggo was the good kind of employer that cared about his employees and that gave healthy Christmas bonuses. Orlando didn't want to lose Viggo, or his job, but he still found himself imagining him and Viggo in various states of undress. Maybe he was just stupid.

Viggo came back into the room with the wine and sat down on the couch again. He poured some more wine into their glasses, even though none of them had been empty, and put the bottle down. Orlando got a feeling the older man was nervous, stalling for time. Why else would he excuse himself for the kitchen when none of them really needed a refill?

"So... Want to exchange gifts?" Orlando said when the silence was starting to get on his nerves. Usually the fact that he could be silent with Viggo was one of the things he appreciated most about their friendship, but right now the silence just felt uncomfortable, like it was filled with words that wanted to be said.

"Of course," Viggo said with a smile. "It's been Christmas day for... oh... four hours already."

Orlando chuckled. "We're worse than the kids."

"Probably," Viggo admitted.

"So... Who goes first?" Orlando asked.

"I don't know, you choose."

Normally Orlando would have been jumping in his seat to give Viggo his gift, but today it held a bit too much significance for him to be so flippant about it. If Viggo disliked his gift it would be the same as rejecting him and he would really like to put that off for as long as possible. They would probably be able to salvage their friendship and Orlando's heart would maybe heal in time, but it would ruin what was left of Christmas and Orlando almost regretted his idea.

"You go first," Orlando said. "I want my present."

"Okay."

Viggo got up and got his neatly wrapped gift for Orlando from under the tree, handing it to the younger man with a rather nervous smile. Orlando carefully took the fairly small box and shook it, making the older man roll his eyes at him.

"What?" Orlando asked innocently. "You have to shake your gifts; it's one of the ten amendments."

Viggo rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you're not a teacher."

Orlando stuck his tongue out and almost forgot how to pull it back when his mind supplied him with a lot of interesting places to put it. Blushing slightly, he hurriedly put his attention back on the gift, tearing the wrapper without a care in the world until he got to the ornamented box underneath. He ran his fingers over the silver inscriptions on top of the black box, not understanding what the words said.

"What does it say?" he asked Viggo.

"It's Danish and it says to a special friend."

Orlando smiled softly. "Thank you."

He opened the box and found a leather bracelet with three black stones that had silver runes on them resting on silvery velvet; it was beautiful. He picked it up and removed the scarf he had tied around his right wrist before giving the bracelet to Viggo and holding his wrist out. Viggo swallowed as he put the bracelet on; tiny shivers of delight ran through Orlando's body at the gentle touch of Viggo's fingers against his skin.

"Thank you," he said, surprising Viggo by giving him a big hug. "It's beautiful. What do the runes mean?"

Viggo gave him an inscrutable look and gently took Orlando's hand so that he could clearly see the runes.

"This one..." he pointed to a rune that looked like a P with sharp edges, "Is called wunjo and means joy. I choose that one because you've always brought joy to my life."

Orlando's pulse sped up and his heart was banging against his ribs so hard he was sure Viggo could hear it. Viggo holding his hand and the soft lilt of his voice was doing weird and amazing things to his system. Orlando was in love all right, and it looked like his feelings just might be reciprocated.

"This is kenaz," Viggo continued, pointing to a rune that looked like an open-ended triangle pointing to the right. "It means beacon or torch. Kenaz stands for many things: visions, inspiration, creativity, passion. I choose it because..." Viggo coughed slightly. "Because that's what you are to me.."

Orlando licked his lips, keeping his eyes locked on where Viggo's fingers were resting against his skin.

"The last one is gebo, gift." Viggo indicated the last rune that looked like an X. "I choose it because this is the time of giving and you are a gift to me."

Orlando squeezed Viggo's hand. "Thank you," he croaked, more moved than he wanted to admit. "I never knew I meant so much to you."

"You mean the world to me," Viggo said as he let go of Orlando's hand, looking away like he was ashamed to admit it.

With his pulse thundering in his ears Orlando reached out and gently captured Viggo's chin, forcing the older man to look at him. Taking a deep breath for courage, Orlando bent forward and pressed his lips to Viggo's in a gentle kiss.

The kiss was over before it even started but it was more than enough to convince Orlando that nothing was more right for him than to be in love with Viggo. His whole body was thrumming with the need to be with the man sitting next to him, in a way he'd never experienced before. He might never have slept with another man before but that didn't mean he couldn't recognize the feeling of wanting to.

Orlando opened his eyes that had fluttered shut on their own volition and blushed slightly. Viggo looked completely befuddled and he was touching his lips with the fingers of one hand like he wasn't sure Orlando had really kissed him.

"Do you want your gift now?" he asked.

"I thought I just got it," Viggo said, smiling one of his breathtaking smiles.

Orlando blushed and hurried to get his package from under the tree, making sure to bend over for long enough that Viggo really got to appreciate his ass. His gift was considerably larger than the one Viggo had given him but then it wasn't jewelry but something a lot naughtier. One of Orlando's greatest interests and one of the things that had brought him and Viggo together was photography. So this year he'd put together a photo album for Viggo, one that was sure to tell Viggo that Orlando wanted something more than friendship out of their relationship.

Orlando handed the gift to Viggo and watched nervously as the older man opened it, taking care not to tear the paper. Normally Viggo would have commented on the hideous paper Orlando had chosen, as he did every year, but this time he didn't. He just unwrapped the gift and looked at the album in his hands. It was black and in silver writing on the front, easily recognizable as Orlando's penmanship, it said: A Portrait of The Artist As A Young Man.

"Pretentious, are we?" Viggo chuckled as he opened the first page.

Orlando just smiled and leaned back, watching the emotions fluttering over Viggo's face as he turned the pages slowly. The first picture was of Orlando's face, the next of his naked upper body and the third of a completely naked Orlando. All the pictures were in black and white and in the first few pictures Orlando wasn't excited but that was before he had brought the finger paint out. For every picture Orlando's cock got harder as he put handprints all over his body until the last picture that was a close up of his rock-hard cock with a very clear impression of where Orlando's hand had held it moments before the picture was taken.

Viggo looked up, swallowing hard, seemingly at loss for words. Orlando smiled at him and let his eyes slid downwards to Viggo's groin, where a prominent bulge accounted for Viggo's state of arousal.

"Do you like it?" Orlando asked.

Viggo's eyes had trailed down Orlando's body and were focused on the younger man's groin when he spoke. The older man looked guilty as he quickly let his eyes find their way back to Orlando's face.

"I... I don't know what to say," Viggo said, his voice thick with desire.

"Then don't say anything. Show me."

Viggo put the album away and seconds later he was on top of Orlando, pressing him into the couch as they kissed hungrily.

"I've wanted this for so long," Viggo said between kisses. "Since the moment I first met you."

Orlando was too busy panting for breath and kissing the older man back to be able to answer. He'd never experienced a passion that came even close to the one that was wrecking havoc on his system now. Kissing a girl was nothing compared to kissing Viggo who knew what he wanted and took it without asking.

Soon just kissing wasn't enough and they began fumbling desperately with each other's clothes, trying to bare as much skin as possible. It took some time and many kisses but somehow they managed to get at least partially naked. Orlando groaned with pleasure when their hard cocks rubbed together; it was the most intimate and erotic thing he'd ever experienced.

"I want you inside of me," Orlando panted.

"Are you sure?" Viggo asked, lifting his head from his exploration of Orlando's neck.

"More than," Orlando responded.

Viggo smiled and bent down to kiss him, which set them off again until Orlando was so close to coming he could barely hold back.

"Now," he begged. "Please."

Viggo fumbled under the couch cushions, coming up with a bottle of lube, and Orlando made a mental note to ask him sometime why he kept lube there. The older smeared lube on his fingers and reached down to rub them around Orlando's virgin hole. Orlando whimpered with need and forced his body to relax.

"Hurry," he panted.

The older man didn't listen but took his sweet time preparing Orlando for penetration, until the younger man was incoherently begging to be fucked. He'd never felt so hot in his life; Viggo's fingers scissoring in and out of him felt like heaven. He would have expected some pain, but there was none, just a wonderful feeling of fullness and need for more.

"Nooow," Orlando whined.

Finally Viggo complied, slathering lube on his own cock and guiding it to Orlando's hole, letting it rub back and forth over the flexing opening.

"Please," Orlando said weakly, grabbing Viggo's forearms with his hands and spreading his legs as wide as he possibly could.

Viggo obliged him, slowly pushing forward until the head of his cock found its way past the guarding ring muscle. Orlando moaned with the pleasure-pain, urging Viggo on with his legs. The older man slowly pushed forward until he was finally buried fully inside of Orlando. The younger man trembled; the pain did nothing to diminish the pleasure and it wouldn't take much for him to come now.

"I'm gonna come too fast," Viggo warned. "I want this too much."

Orlando opened his eyes and gave Viggo a reassuring smile. "Me too," he said.

Viggo's cock felt huge inside of him and it was the most extraordinary thing Orlando had ever experienced, taking the man he loved inside of himself. Keeping his eyes locked with Orlando's, Viggo shifted his hips slightly, drawing a gurgling sound of intense pleasure from Orlando as the large cock brushed against something inside of him that made fireworks go off in front of his eyes.

"God," Orlando moaned. "I never... oh... Viggo."

Viggo bent down to kiss Orlando as he started thrusting lightly, his panted breaths dampening Orlando's lips. They moved in tandem, rocking together and making them both reach heights they'd never experienced before. Orlando reached the peek first, tumbling over the edge and coming violently without having his cock touched even once. His seed kept pumping out of him, coating Viggo's stomach and chest as well as his own. The older man came just seconds afterwards and the feeling of his seed filling Orlando's tight channel heightened Orlando's pleasure until it almost felt like he was coming again.

Viggo collapsed on top of Orlando, panting for breath and Orlando wrapped as much of himself as he could around the older man who was still buried within him.

"Merry Christmas," Orlando murmured with a smile. "I love you."

Viggo lifted his head to look into Orlando's eyes. "I love you too," he said softly.

Orlando's insides turned to complete mush and the smile on Viggo's face told him that the older man could see it on his face. Orlando hugged his new lover a bit closer and just knew that they would live happily ever after. Viggo loved him, what more could he ever need?

The End