---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It all began with the sneaking touch of a toe. Elladan put down his fork and went still for a moment, wondering if it had been nothing more than an inadvertent brush, but he felt it again, the toes inching their way up his shin and knew then that it was intentional. He looked sideways at his brother, tongue poised between parted lips, but Elrohir only smiled secretly, indicating with an arch of an eyebrow and a concerted push with his foot, that Elladan should look under the table.

Elladan cased the room as he surreptiously raised the tablecloth and almost spit out a mouthful of boar when he discovered that Elrohir had somehow wormed his foot up to his knee, and there, toes wiggling, presented Elladan with a look at not one, or two, but <i>three</i> toe rings, all gold, each with a sparking sapphire.

Now Elladan’s tongue was securely and purposefully held between his teeth and he cocked his head and fixed his brother with an amused smile.

“What gives?” asked Elladan.

But Elrohir only smiled back and drew his lower lip behind his top teeth. With a subtle wink - and before Elladan could stop him - Elrohir rose from the table and disappeared.

A little later, as Elrohir passed him in the hallway, Elladan reached out and grasped his brother by the wrist, pulling Elrohir toward him. Elladan’s voice, a little more gruff and a good deal deeper, resonated in Elrohir’s ear.

“What are you on about tonight, brother?”

But Elrohir only smiled and reached down, pulling his pant legs up a tad to reveal anklets made of gold, small coins attached all around, which jangled as he pulled away from Elladan. Eyes sparkling with mischief, Elrohir looked back at his brother from underneath sooty eyelashes, and turned his ankles this way and that, making the coins jingle as he sinuously danced away.

It was all Elladan could do not to stumble forward, as though attached to Elrohir by some invisible thread. Elrohir had piqued his interest, that was for sure, and he tamped down his burgeoning arousal with a deep breath and a long, slow exhale, shaking himself back to sobriety, and settled into a patient wait to see just how Elrohir’s game played itself out.

Later, amidst the din of the celebration in the Hall, Elladan heard it again. The unmistakable tinkle of small coins jingling and he looked up to see his brother dancing alone, though with a hand outstretched, beckoning Elladan to join him. As Elladan moved toward him he watched Elrohir’s knowing smile and matched it with a grin of his own, and when Elladan reached out to place his hands around his brother’s waist they were met with skin, but not just skin. Elrohir had lifted his shirt, just a little, and Elladan felt the metal chain that encircled Elrohir’s waist, the gold warm at the contact with Elrohir’s skin.

Elladan slipped his fingers into the chain, though gently, and pulled Elrohir toward him, his smile broadening as Elrohir drew near.

“Elrohir, I do think you are trying to seduce me.” And that was even before he fully saw the kohl rimming Elrohir’s eyes, making his brother look all the more exotic and wanton.

A low growl rumbled up through Elladan’s chest as he took a clandestine bite at Elrohir’s neck.

“Is it working, dear brother?” whispered Elrohir.

“It is,” answered Elladan as he waltzed Elrohir near to the exit. Grasping his brother’s hand, Elladan pulled Elrohir behind him as he strode out of the door, Elrohir’s excited laugh echoing through the hallway.

Once they reached their room, Elrohir lit the candles that he had placed around the room, poured Elladan a draught of wine and bid him to lie on the bed while he completed his preparations.

“I will be back in a moment, my love.”

Elladan make himself comfortable on the bed and closed his eyes, replaying the arc of Elrohir’s seduction in his mind. The toe rings and anklets, the golden chain around his waist. Ah, but he was intrigued. And aroused. The dark, piquant aroma of the candles and diffused light enhanced it and Elladan could not help but rest his hand on his groin, letting his fingers skim lightly over already hard flesh.

“Open your eyes, beloved. And do not yet touch yourself there. That is for me to do.”

Elladan first took in the scent, a masculine mix of exotic spices, the smell musky and earthy, a pungency that excited him. And then he opened his eyes and beheld his brother, his lover, and it was all he could do to lay still.

“Wait,” whispered Elrohir, as his hips began to sway.

Elrohir danced subtly, undulating his silk clad hips to a tune only he heard. He mixed in a clap of finger cymbals now and again, and the arm bracelets he wore gleamed against his muscled arms. From the toe rings, to the anklets and the blue-green silk wafting around his legs and sitting low on his loins, Elrohir looked like nothing more than a wanton harem boy, dancing for Elladan’s pleasure.

The belly chain moved as Elrohir did and his left hand played over his chest, bare and oiled, decorated with rings in both nipples, which he pulled and twisted in licentious abandon. He fixed his gaze on his brother, looking up from under the sooty eyelashes, his eyes kohl-dark with pinpricks of silver. His lips were glossy and his tongue moved silkily over them.

Elladan’s stuttered breath came rapidly in response, his mouth open, grasping for air. His loins heaved involuntarily; moving with Elrohir’s swaying hips. He sat up, reaching for Elrohir with both arms, moaning out his brother’s name.

“Elrohir, Elrohir.”

Elrohir’s sultry smile answered and he moved to the end of the bed, slithering over the covers and slinking toward Elladan.

“My lord, you called me,” he whispered, and laid his body over Elladan’s. “I come.”

“Oh yes,” answered Elladan, with a groan. He overturned them and pressed his groin into Elrohir’s. “You will and I will.”

Elladan slid his fingers into Elrohir’s pants and skimmed them down his legs. Elrohir withdrew the lacings at Elladan’s groin and parted the cloth. Oh, yes. And skin against skin, they ground into each other, the feel exquisite as naked aroused flesh met.

Elladan reached to the table, found what he needed and finished stripping off his pants. Elrohir did the same, sliding his off and throwing them to the floor. He turned over then, raising his hindquarters and resting his cheek on his arms.

“Mine,” said Elladan, holding the flesh of Elrohir’s buttocks in his hands, parting them.

“My little harem boy,” he whispered as he readied his brother, fingers slipping past the dusky barrier and embedding themselves inside.

And when he entered Elrohir, the urgency in his cry, the longing and the desire and the overflowing love was breathtaking.

“Mine.”

“As you are mine. Always.”

The familiar call and response completed the act, never mind anything else that followed. Each was made whole in the other and Elrohir’s gift had been delivered and accepted in the most fulfilling way possible.

Afterward, they lay sated in one another’s arms until a call from outside carried into their room.

“Snow! It is snowing!”

Elladan’s eyebrows went up mischievously and Elrohir mirrored him. Not ones to miss a good snowball fight, and with ideas of catching Glorfindel and Erestor unaware, they embraced each other tightly one more time before they roused themselves to get out of bed.

Afterward, after the running and jumping and the dodging of snowballs, with rosy cheeks and light hearts they returned to their room. Elrohir nestled into the warmth of Elladan’s arms and, sighing with contentment, they closed their eyes and slept.