Getting Erestor back home was more of a challenge than Glorfindel expected, mostly because he was not familiar with the surroundings of the valley, and without many streetlights, he took them down dead-end paths more often than not. Eventually, they managed to find the road that led to the upper-class portion of the city, where posts with hanging bowls of oil lit the way back to the tower. On their way back, Erestor’s singing of loud, obnoxious drinking songs earned him a ticket from the night watcher. The ticket was promptly dumped into a garbage bin, but fished out by Glorfindel following a stern look from the watcher and a promise to lock them both up in the jail for the remainder of the evening if they did not get home and keep the peace.
Instead of trying to ready Erestor for bed, Glorfindel dropped his friend off on the couch on his way into the bedroom. The heavy scent of alcohol was not one he appreciated trying to fall asleep to, nor did he want to take the chance that the alcohol that Erestor had imbibed would suddenly be expelled from one end or the other. A few minutes after undressing and crawling into bed, Glorfindel heard the unmistakable sound of someone bumping into the bar, followed by the uncorking of a bottle and the pouring of something into a glass. Sighing heavily, Glorfindel pushed the covers down and dragged his robe from the peg on the back of the door. Emerging from the bedroom as he knotted the sash, he found Erestor hovering over the counter of the bar, pouring liquid into a glass, drinking it, pouring more, drinking that, and so on. “I think you have had quite enough for tonight.”
“I can still think coherentcently, so, no, I have not likely yet so far.”
“Yes, you have.” Glorfindel walked over and gently removed the bottle from Erestor’s hands. “You can have more tomorrow, but now it is time for bed.”
“My head hurts too much to sleep,” mumbled Erestor, his hand still holding the glass as he was herded into the other room. He did not fight against Glorfindel as he was pushed down to sit on the bed, his boots removed for him. After Erestor downed the rest of his drink, he put his hand on Glorfindel’s head and lovingly stroked his golden hair. “What would I do without you?” he asked, setting the empty glass aside on the mattress so that both hands were free to caress the tips of Glorfindel’s ears.
“I would rather not dwell on that.” Glorfindel gently pushed Erestor’s hands away before he reached up to untie the belt and unfasten Erestor’s trousers. Erestor resumed his petting of Glorfindel’s head instead. “Umm... maybe you should finish with this,” Glorfindel said, quickly taking the glass from Erestor after he discovered the slight bulge in Erestor’s leggings.
“Mmm? Oh, alright, then. Have to learn to take care of myself sometime, eh?” Erestor fumbled with his belt and pants, and ended up shoving down everything into a pile on the floor, including his undergarments. He sat down on the edge of the bed again, wearing just his shirt now, and looked down into his lap. “Huh.”
Glorfindel blushed and scuttled over to the other side of the room to examine the state of the unlit candles.
“Well, this is a little odd.” Erestor poked at his erection, pushing it slightly to one side. He looked up at Glorfindel, who was now putting the dirty laundry into the hamper near the door. “Did you do this?”
“Certainly not,” answered Glorfindel. He turned down the bed, and after another glance over at Erestor said, “Stop playing with that.”
“Why? No one else will.”
“Just stop it, alright?”
“I thought you liked to see this sort of thing.”
As he crossed the room, Glorfindel picked up a clean, folded sheet and tossed it into Erestor’s lap. “Not from you.”
“Oh.” Erestor sighed. “Too bad. I think it likes you.”
Glorfindel narrowed his eyes, tilting his head slightly. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing.” Erestor tossed the sheet back in the direction of the chest of drawers where they were stacked. He missed, causing the sheet to splay out on the floor. “Why am I so tired?”
“You drank an entire bottle of... something. You have to sleep it off. Get into bed.”
Erestor turned around to crawl into the bed, and promptly fell off. Glorfindel sighed, and came around to help his friend get back up and under the blankets. “Good night,” he offered, though Erestor was already dozing off. He kissed Erestor’s forehead, and then snuggled himself in for the night.
-----
The very next morning, Glorfindel arose late, and assumed he had missed the wakeup call that Aranel usually provided. He turned his head to see that Erestor was still asleep, eyes closed, and curled up with one leg draped over the side. A gentle nudge did not wake him, so Glorfindel decided to leave him for the time being, and ventured into the sitting room after putting his robe on.
Aranel and Tauniel were on the sofa, carrying on a discussion related to gardening and when the best time was to harvest certain berries. The appearance of Glorfindel earned him a sour look from Aranel, who then excused herself and disappeared into the other bedroom. “Obviously, she is still not happy with us.”
“No, far from it. I would stay well away until she and Erestor manage to smooth things over. She even forbade me to come and wake you this morning, or to ready breakfast.” Tauniel looked over her shoulder, and then said in a hushed voice, “But I could make something for you if you like.”
“No, I would not want to cause a rift between the two of you. Besides, I think tea is about all I can handle at the moment, and I am having lunch with Egalmoth this afternoon,” explained Glorfindel.
“I have news for you, Glorfindel. It is past noon already.” Tauniel frowned as Glorfindel rubbed his forehead after cringing. “I am certain he will understand.”
“Who is going to understand what?” Erestor, eyes squinted half shut, came into the room and stopped just a few feet away. “And why is it so bright in here?”
“Let us see what he recalls from last night,” said a slightly amused Glorfindel, almost forgetting about his noontime engagement. “You took me to a pub, where you decided to get drunk.”
“Did I? Good for me.” Erestor wandered into the kitchen. A few curses later, he returned with a mug in his hand. “This coffee is cold,” he announced.
“That coffee is from yesterday,” said Tauniel amusedly. “Here, give me that and I will warm it for you.” She approached, and took the mug from him, ushering him to the couch. “Stay here. I will be right back.”
“Stay here... where does she think I am going to go with a hangover.” Erestor pulled one of the pillows up from the couch, and used it to help shield his eyes from the meager amount of light streaming inside. “When did you get home last night?”
Glorfindel walked to the windows and began to draw the curtains. “Same time that you did. I was the one who walked you home. You do not remember?” Erestor shook his head and dropped down on the couch with a groan. “You really were drunk, not to recall that.”
“Not were, are. Are drunk, Glorfindel, I are drunk. Am. I am drunk.” Erestor put the pillow over his face as he splayed himself out across the cushions. “How much did I drink?”
“An entire bottle of something that made you uninhibited enough to sing a couple of songs and denounce King Thingol as an asshole and a guttersnipe and a number of other things that I will not repeat, and a few things I did not understand, but highly amused the patrons.” Glorfindel lifted the pillow slightly and asked, “What exactly is a balicker?”
“Hmm... oh...” Erestor chortled, but stopped abruptly and put a hand to his head. “Ow... a balicker... I think I meant a ball licker.”
“Oh. Nevermind, then, I know what that is.” Glorfindel let the pillow flop back down, but lifted it once again. “You really do hate King Thingol.”
“Yes, though I am certain the feeling is quite mutual.” Erestor grabbed for the pillow to pull it back down. He tossed it off as he smelled the coffee being brought in from the kitchen. “Tauniel, you are a life saver.”
“I do what I can.” She lowered her voice and said, “You might want to do something to make things up to Aranel. She feels fairly well betrayed by you, regarding what you did to her horse.”
“She will get over it,” said Erestor as he sat up to drink his coffee.
Tauniel shrugged. “Alright. Do what you think you should do.” She and Glorfindel exchanged a sideways glance before Tauniel excused herself to go to Aranel.
