Dominic kept them all in a beautifully crafted wooden box. No matter where he went, or how long he was going to be away, the box travelled with him.

Viggo had photographs.

Elijah had songs.

Dominic had a cuff to mark each special moment of the last few years. It was his way of making the memories tangible - by wearing them against his skin.

He curled his feet up beside him and tipped the box up onto the bed. Dominic idly picked through them, the scent of leather wafting up to him as he examined and discarded various items.

Some of them were expensive, or ornate. Presents from people who'd noticed his growing accessory habit. These ones were still stiff - worn rarely, if ever.

The important ones were creased and softened from constant wear, from his playing with them when distracted and from rain, shower and seawater.

On the inside of each of them, a notation was burnt. Dominic picked out a few of the most battered cuffs…

***

*NZ - Sept 1999 - Hobbits'n'Orli *

Elijah Wood giggled.

That was pretty much the first thing Dominic had learned about his new co-star, while everyone was being officially introduced and pretending not to be absolutely petrified. Well, maybe Sean Astin (from the Goonies!) wasn't scared; he seemed relatively calm. Everyone else was practically vibrating with barely concealed tension - all around the room knees were bouncing and fingers were fiddling.

It wasn't something Dominic could ever have expected – that giggle – but still, for some reason it made him stop thinking of the guy as this huge Hollywood child star deal who would have no time for lesser mortals such as Dominic himself.

The meeting lasted... not as long as he'd expected. And it was mostly things they had already been told individually and tips for places to visit on the island.

It wasn't until they were being ushered out of the room by Peter, and urged to go explore and have fun before the hard work started, that Dominic realised information probably hadn't been the point of the gathering.

They stumbled over each other as they crowded out of the door into the sunshine, and it really struck him, how much time he was going to be spending in the company of these people.

Dominic trailed behind slightly, watching the group of four as they talked over and jostled each other affectionately. He felt a grin start to creep onto his face.

Billy stopped and reached back to grab Dominic's arm. He hauled Dominic into the centre of the group and smiled brightly.

"Can't have you getting lost now, Dominic. Where would Pippin be without his Merry?"

Dominic returned the smile easily.

A quartet of hobbits with an elf thrown into the bargain - they were going to raise merry hell.

He threw his head back and laughed, his chortles gaining in strength as the others went from staring, to following his infectious lead.

The world had no idea what it was in for.

*

Dominic's face ached from smiling so much. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a good laugh. And all they'd been doing was trailing around the streets of Wellington.

There was a yell from around the corner. Dominic hurried to catch up, only to find Elijah wailing for help as Orlando dragged him into what looked suspiciously like a sex shop.

Elijah beat ineffectively at Orlando's chest. "Guys! Look at me! Can't you see how innocent I am? You can't make me go in there!"

Orlando released his captive and strode into the shop. "Innocent my arse, Lij. Save the act for someone who'd be more horrified at the thought of you on your knees."

"What...? I... uh... what?"

Speechless was an amusing look on Elijah.

Dominic left the younger man standing by the door, noting with amusement that he wasn't trying to leave any more.

He wandered idly around the store, giving a quick bypass to Orlando and Sean who were discussing a huge display of toys. Married people were much too close to the idea of parents for Dominic to be interested in knowing the sexual habits of any of them. Call him prejudiced.

Dominic stopped by the wall of leather jewellery.

He jumped when a hand clamped down on his shoulder and startled him out of his contemplation of an interesting set of straps that hung from the wall.

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Dominic?"

Dominic turned to face Billy. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Billy's response was pre-empted by the clerk's offer of assistance, and he backed away with a slight smirk.

The clerk cleared his throat impatiently. Dominic turned his attention back to him and pointed out a slim black cuff on the wall that he liked.

"Anything you want written on that?"

"Huh?" Dominic glanced at the sign behind the guy, which offered 'personalisation' for a small fee.

He looked behind him at his new group of friends, who were having a light saber fight - complete with sound effects - with objects that were intended for more of a love than war purpose.

He smothered a laugh. "Yeah, I think I would."

*

Oh God, Dominic was mentally scarred for life.

There were some things in life that just shouldn’t be witnessed. One of them was seeing two of your friends fucking like rabbits behind your trailer. *Against* your trailer, even.

Dominic grabbed Billy as he walked by him - heading in the direction Dominic had just come from.

"I wouldn’t go that way right now, Billy."

Billy looked at him blankly, obviously expecting an explanation to follow. Then a smirk started to appear as realisation dawned. "Orli and Lij by any chance?"

Dominic gaped at him. "You knew?!"

"I walked in on them on Monday." Billy grinned. "Someone really needs to teach them about discretion."

"Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?"

Billy shrugged. "Must have slipped my mind."

"You just… forgot." Why did he have to know such infuriating people?

Billy just shrugged again.

Dominic saw Orlando and Elijah emerge from their ‘hiding place’, looking happy and dishevelled. They glanced around, then exchanged a quick kiss before heading off in the direction of the food tent.

"Don’t know why we didn’t notice something was going on earlier," Billy noted. "They’re cute together."

"They’re probably the only ones who could put up with each others insanity, at least."

"Like you’re in a position to be questioning the mental stability of anyone."

*

Billy had been right, they should have realised before – Elijah and Orlando were hardly making an effort to be restrained.

Dominic almost choked on his drink as he watched Orlando dip Elijah over his arm on the middle of the dance floor, both of them laughing. Elijah, once firmly back on two feet, slid his arms around Orlando’s back and placed his hands possessively on Orlando’s arse. The two ground against each other slowly while everyone around them bounced energetically.

He had to admit though; they certainly put on an attractive show.

Elijah finally peeled himself away to let Orlando go to the bathroom and joined Dominic at their table.

Elijah watched the people still dancing, while Dominic watched Elijah.

"Do you love him?" Dominic finally asked quietly.

Elijah turned to look at him, surprised. "I… maybe. I’ve never been in love before." He tapped out a random beat on the table with one hand and chewed a nail on the other. "I like being with him. He’s…" Elijah shrugged helplessly. "…Orli – you know what he’s like. Kind and generous… and the sex is amazing. He does this thing, where he lifts me up and…" Elijah trailed off with a dreamy look on his face.

Dominic rolled his eyes and waited for Elijah to come back to Earth.

Elijah shook his head and focused on Dominic again. "We’re having fun. I don’t know if it’s ever going to be anything serious." Elijah looked up at Dominic with serious eyes. "But I think, maybe, I could love him, given the chance."

"I just want you to be happy. Both of you."

Elijah smiled softly. "Then that’s definitely not a problem."

*

"Um... it definitely is supposed to be summer here, right?" Elijah wrapped his cloak tighter around him, futilely trying to keep out the snow swirling around them.

"So I'd been led to believe," Billy said through chattering teeth.

He turned and quickly burrowed against Dominic, murmuring muffled nonsense when Dominic protested about attack by shivery Scot.

Dominic almost found himself on his arse in the building layer of snow when Elijah and Sean decided to join in and make it a complete hobbit huddle.

He was more than a little relieved when Peter told them they'd have to call it a day - he was as concerned about death through enthusiastic squashing by heat-stealing-supposed-friends, as he was about the fact his feet had gone completely numb.

They stayed sandwiched together as they trudged down the slope, standing on each other’s feet (both real and latex) without apology and clutching the nearest piece of material, regardless of ownership, to protect frostbitten fingers.

Viggo strode manfully in front of them. Dominic thought that the bastard could at least have had the decency to look a little uncomfortable, to make the rest of them look less pathetic.

The car trip back to the hotel was a very pleasant, heated journey. Even the smell of wet wool couldn’t detract from it.

*

Once showered and fed, Dominic had felt like a human being again. And, obviously, there had been no way they could let this freak snowfall go to waste.

It was every hobbit for himself in the Summer Snowballing Championships, 1999.

Dominic kept perfectly still in his hiding spot behind the tree. Sean was too nice really and Elijah was a bit useless, but Billy…

Billy was ruthless and Dominic had the snow melting in his boxers to prove it.

If he could make it from his tree to the bush 15 feet away, he’d have the perfect vantage point from which to attack the others. And surely he could cover that distance fast enough that being completely exposed wouldn’t matter.

Dominic would never learn that thinking like that was exactly what got him into trouble so often.

He was halfway there when he was hit with a flurry of tightly packed snowballs.

About ten seconds later he was tackled from behind and sent face first into the snow.

Dominic caught the flash of a camera as it lit up the glistening drops of moisture on his eyelashes. Viggo’s husky laugh joined in the familiar guffaws originating from directly behind his left ear.

Billy sprinkled another handful of snow in his hair. "Got you, Monaghan, you useless wanker."

People thought Billy was such a nice man. How little they really knew.

Dominic tried to shift the heavy weight on his back. "Speaking of useless, do you think you could move your arse anytime soon? I happened to like my spine the shape it was."

Muttering something - undoubtedly scathing about Dominic - Billy stood up. Dominic rolled over onto his back and contemplated the hand Billy was holding out to help him up.

No question over what to do really.

Dominic grabbed Billy’s hand and yanked him down, only to realise at the last millisecond that he was going to land right on him.

"Oof." All the air was expelled from his body as Billy slammed down on top of him. "Think it’s time for you to cut back on that porridge, Billy," Dominic gasped.

Billy propped his elbows on Dominic’s chest and his chin in his hands. He looked down at Dominic, amused. "That definitely hurt you more than me, you stupid bugger."

Dominic affected a lofty, knowing expression. "Just you wait. When you least expect it – that’s when I’ll strike. Revenge will be mine!"

Billy laughed. "I thought your offering yourself as a full body cushion was your revenge attempt, however flawed it was."

The moon slipped out from behind a cloud and Dominic forgot everything he might have been about to say. He was suddenly struck by how attractive the man lying on top of him was. The cheeky grin was aimed fully at him, Billy’s cheeks flushed from the cold and eyes sparkling with mirth.

Time stretched between them and Billy’s smile changed, the look in his eyes registering a sparking interest.

Viggo’s call shattered the moment. "Suppertime, hobbits!"

Billy slipped off of him and this time Dominic accepted the offered hand.

Things had just taken an interesting turn.

*

Doorbell. Ringing. A lot and very loudly.

Dominic glanced over at the glowing green numbers on the clock and groaned. 4:37 on a morning when he was supposed to be allowed a lie-in.

He was still debating revenge for this despicable act of cruelty as he threw open the door with enough force to make it bounce off the wall.

Orlando flinched, either at the noise or Dom's obvious wrath.

The same wrath Dom felt fade as he took in Orlando, dressed only in jeans, t-shirt and sandals, and with red-rimmed eyes.

"Orli?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Orlando choked out a laugh. "Of course I woke you. Sorry. Sorry, I'll go and…"

"Wake someone else up? Shut up, come in, and tell me what's going on."

Dominic shut the door considerably more gently than he’d opened it and ushered Orlando into his cluttered living room.

Orlando dropped heavily onto the offered seat. "It's just... everything. We've only been there a few weeks and I feel like I'm never going to get out of that fucking quarry. I miss daylight, and you guys and Lij and my mum..." Orlando hid his face in his hands. "And I feel like such an idiot."

Dominic wrapped his arms around Orlando and pulled him close. He held Orlando until his shaking subsided. "I think you're allowed to feel like an idiot. We're a long way from home and you're young..." Dominic left the comment hanging, waiting for the inevitable response.

"Yeah, that extra month you've got on me really shows in your general level of maturity."

"I think Ian is proof that age and maturity bear no relation to each other."

Orlando chuckled slightly, raising his head from Dominic's chest. He looked at the damp patches on Dominic’s t-shirt guiltily. "Sorry about that mate."

"I think we've had enough apologies from you tonight, sonny boy. Now, what else would we like to share with Doctor Dom?"

"Just the usual, Doctor. Feelings of inadequacy and the like."

"Orlando..." Dominic said soberly.

Orlando sighed. "I know. If I hadn't deserved the part Peter wouldn't have given it to me. Viggo's done the pep-talk. But if I'm going to be illogically miserable, why not go all the way? Add in the ever-so-pleasant twinges my back is increasingly having, and we have one Orlando Bloom on the doorstep of the great Doctor in the middle of the night."

Dominic slid his hand back around Orlando's back to graze the tightly bunched muscles located at the base. He looked up with a troubled frown as Orlando hissed and jerked away from the contact.

He clenched his teeth against the lecture he wanted to give Orlando about taking it easy, knowing it wasn't something Orlando would ever do, even if it was possible with his schedule as it was. Taking it easy and sitting still for more than five minutes signalled some kind of defeat in Orlando's book.

"It's a little known fact that I have magic hands." Dominic nodded sagely at Orlando's confused look. "If the movie business doesn't work for me, I plan to become a professional masseur."

Orlando grinned slightly. "And will you provide... extras?"

Dominic sat up primly, folding in his hands in his lap. "I would never kiss - or anything else - and tell, if I did." He stood, and gently pulled a protesting Orlando up too. "But for now, I'm going to put you to bed - in a *guest* room I should add since I can hear that filthy mind of yours working Mr Bloom - and tomorrow I will give you that once in a life experience."

"I'm really not looking for extras though," Orlando said, with a quiet laugh.

"You're too young for my taste anyway."

Dominic helped Orlando into bed, noting worriedly the stiffness in his movements.

"Dom? Soon as we both have enough time off to do it, we're going bungee jumping. Highest place we can find."

Dom had to smile at Orlando's sleep-slurred words. "Whatever you say, Orli."

*

If Orlando didn't stop bouncing, Dominic was concerned he might actually defy the laws of physics and take off.

"Man, that was *amazing*! We just fell 134 metres, can you believe it? I'm going up again. You coming?"

"Think I'll sit it out this time," Dominic said. Orlando grabbed him in a tight hug, kissed him on the cheek and bestowed on him a blinding smile.

Dominic sat down, still shaking from a mix of adrenaline and pure fear, and watched as Orlando scampered - and there really was no other word for it - back over to the instructor.

He settled back to observe the show, all the time thinking that there was surely no one else quite like Mr Orlando Bloom.

*

Peter Jackson was a genius. A god among men, even.

How else could you explain his *perfect* casting in this movie?

They’d been ‘The Hobbits’ from the moment they’d met. Right now, Sean was mothering Elijah about ‘eating properly’ or something. Dominic didn’t know how Sean could have that conversation and keep a straight face when Elijah was sprawled over Orlando’s lap like that.

A cold hand grazed the back of his neck. Billy appeared in front of him, and, with a sly grin, plonked himself into Dominic’s lap.

Of course, he couldn’t have asked for a better Pippin.

"What, exactly, is wrong with your chair, Billy?"

"It’s all the way over there, Dommie. Besides, this one is self-heating."

"That’s all I’m good for, then? I’m crushed." Dominic tried to look wounded and not just very turned on. Having Billy wriggling on him like that was very distracting-- well, not distracting at all to certain interested parts of his body. Dominic cleared his throat and made an ineffectual attempt to shift away.

Elijah’s voice drifted over to them. "Guys? Have you decided where we’re going tonight yet?"

Billy placed a hand over Dominic’s mouth before he had a chance to answer. "We’ve decided to have a quiet night in."

They had? What…?

Elijah was chattering away in the background, but Billy was looking at him. *Looking* at him.

Oh. Dom felt his eyes widen. *Oh*.

They’d been flirting for months. Were they finally going to do… more?

*

Dominic was going to die. He was going to have a heart attack and drop dead, right here on Billy’s doorstep if the door wasn’t opened within the next five seconds.

He shifted uneasily on the spot, swapping the bottle of wine to the other hand so he could wipe his palm against his trousers.

It was just Billy. Dominic spent more hours with him than not already. It was going to be fine-- great even.

The door opened.

"…" Dominic had forgotten the entire English language. Billy didn’t speak German, did he?

"Come in, Dom."

Two steps inside Billy’s hall, the door still swinging shut behind him, and Dominic was up against the wall with Billy’s mouth fastened to his.

"Mm mmph mmn."

Billy scraped his teeth over Dominic’s bottom lip as he pulled back. "I love you, too."

***

Dominic scooped the pile of cuffs off the bed and dropped them back into the box.

The door opened behind him as he drew a brown padded envelope out of his jeans pocket. Billy’s arms slid around his waist from behind as he drew out the newest cuff – double width, black leather.

"John was the last, right?"

Dominic nodded and leaned back into the comfortable embrace. "Yeah. That’s all of us added them now."

He turned the cuff over and ran his fingers over the words on the back.

Dominic traced the personally written initials again with a fingernail.

"Do you think it’s all over then?" Billy asked softly.

Dominic shook his head and turned to face Billy. "Not really. We’ll always be a fellowship, you know that." He kissed Billy lightly.

Billy leaned forward, resting their foreheads together. "We'll always be Merry and Pippin." He smiled. "Hopelessly inseparable."