Once back in Glorfindel’s suite again, the warrior sat down on a chair at the door to remove his boots. He noticed for the first time that Erestor had not footwear, and simply walked about barefooted. The lithe ellon was taking in the rooms with curiosity now, having gone into the library out of habit after they left the Hall of Fire. Upon reaching the fireplace, noticing his blanket was not there, and then recalling the previous events of the day, Erestor sheepishly led himself and Glorfindel out of the room before they were noticed by any of the staff.
Now Glorfindel watched Erestor disappear into the private washroom, then emerge a few minutes later and head to the basin of water. “I think, despite our nap, that I am ready for bed.” Glorfindel looked to his companion, who was busily washing and drying his hands.
Rising from the chair, Glorfindel went to the table, and began to sort through the pieces. Erestor joined him not long after. “Here it is,” said the blond, picking up the rabbit. He held it out, and then said, “I asked Celebrian about this. Do you know what she suggested?”
The look on Erestor’s face was not very hopeful, and he merely shrugged.
“She thinks you were asking me if we... if you and I... if we were together. As in, a couple. As bound mates,” he explained cautiously.
Glorfindel did not need a verbal answer to know from the look Erestor was giving him that he was further from the truth than he might have been earlier. Erestor plucked the tile from Glorfindel’s hand, set it down, and then patted him on the cheek as he had earlier before going to the mattress.
“Well, then, maybe she was drinking a bit much wine,” mumbled Glorfindel. His eyes wandered to the make-shift bed on the floor, and it looked quite inviting. Despite his answer being the wrong one, it seemed that Erestor was not disgusted by the idea completely. He had crawled under the blanket already, and they had slept on the mattress together earlier.
With these thoughts in mind, Glorfindel stretched his arms, then lifted his shirt off over his head. He noted that this caused Erestor to sit up, as if in alarm. “Just getting ready for bed,” Glorfindel said as he began to untie his pants.
That was when Erestor hastily backed up, fear in his eyes. Forgetting exactly where he was, Erestor smacked his head into the frame of the bed as he collided with it, and in a panic scurried away from the attacking object.
“Shite!” Glorfindel knotted his pants in the commotion, but realized it was likely for the best. “Now what did I do?” he asked himself, though he assumed he had once again been the reason Erestor was scared.
Lowering himself to the ground, Glorfindel crawled the few feet over the mattress and past the bed to the wall that Erestor was huddled against. “Sorry. I was not thinking. Actually, I had not considered it until now. You hate beds for a reason.”
Glorfindel attempted to place his arms around Erestor, but the smaller elf edged further away and took a swing at him. “Alright, alright.” Glorfindel held up his hands in surrender of that idea. As soon as Erestor relaxed a little, the blond motioned to him to gain his attention. “Let me see if I can understand this. No more hitting me, though. I want to be your friend. Alright?”
Erestor placed his hands into his lap and nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Glorfindel said, “You hate beds. You hate the door being locked. You did not want me to take my pants off. Did someone do something bad to you?”
For a moment, Erestor just stared at Glorfindel. Tears began to well up in the corners of his grey eyes, and Erestor looked away, only to have his chin lifted back up again.
“Show me what they did to you.”
Immediately, Erestor froze and began to shake. He closed his eyes, shaking his head, balling up his fists.
“Erestor.” Glorfindel placed his hand on his companion’s cheek, causing his eyes to open. “Erestor, you cannot tell me. Show me. I know you will not hurt me like they hurt you.”
Erestor held up two fingers.
“Two. There were only two who hurt you?”
Erestor nodded, shamefully bowing his head.
“Erestor.” Glorfindel’s voice was stern, and he nudged Erestor’s chin with his fingers. “Erestor, show me.”
It took a little extra coaxing, but finally Erestor was standing beside Glorfindel at the foot of the bed. Erestor pointed at the mattress, then to the bed frame. “You want me to put that back?” asked Glorfindel. Erestor nodded.
Glorfindel first removed the special blanket, setting it aside on a chair before he hefted the mattress back in place. He then looked to Erestor, waiting.
Giving the bed a loathe look, Erestor motioned Glorfindel to come to the door with him. He opened the door and held up two fingers, pointing into the hallway. Holding up one, he pointed into the room, then held up one finger again, and pointed right next to the door, outside of the room.
A sick feeling churned Glorfindel’s stomach. “One of them stayed outside, the other came into your room.” Erestor nodded. “I am going to pretend to be you; you pretend to be the one who came into the room.” Hesitantly, Erestor nodded again. “Should I go to the bed?” Should I lie down?” Each question was answered with another nod, and Glorfindel left Erestor at the door.
With some slight trepidation himself, Glorfindel got into the bed, and tried to relax but found he was extremely tense. His heart raced in his chest as his mind spun one scenario after another. Turning his head to the side, he saw that Erestor was still waiting at the door, and he nodded to him.
Erestor took a step forward, then back, turning around to lock the door. He came forward then, and playing the part, had a look of indifference on his face to Glorfindel’s discomfort.
It was at the bed that he stopped, and after looking around for a moment, he yanked the sheet off of the bed. One corner was tied around one of Glorfindel’s wrists, which was then positioned at the headboard. Erestor paused, now unsure of himself.
Glorfindel craned his neck, noticing that there were no poles or posts on the headboard, and said, “After you were bound, what did he do to you?”
Erestor faltered, squeezing his eyes shut as tears trailed down his cheeks. He sat upon the edge of the bed, gathering his strength. Not meeting Glorfindel’s eyes with his own, Erestor climbed upon the bed, and straddled Glorfindel’s chest. With one hand, he reached down and firmly took hold of Glorfindel’s jaw, squeezing his cheeks together and causing him to part his lips.
At that point, Erestor broke down completely, scrambling away, but not before Glorfindel could sit up and draw him close. Although he felt terrible for making Erestor relive such painful memories, it was the only way that the warrior could know for sure. “You poor thing,” he said, rocking Erestor as he softly sobbed and clung to him. “No one should ever take advantage of anyone like that.” Holding the weeping elf tighter, Glorfindel kissed Erestor’s forehead. “I wish I had come back soon enough to protect you from such a thing, but at least now I know why I have been sent back.”
