“You’re still keeping something from me,” insisted Glorfindel. “Come, Erestor, no more secrets,” he said softly, turning Erestor to face him again. “I probably shouldn’t have said it like that,” apologized Glorfindel as he held Erestor tight.
Taking a deep breath, Erestor asked, “You won’t tell anyone if I tell you, will you?”
“Not a soul,” promised Glorfindel. “I love you,” he reminded Erestor.
In a whisper, Erestor revealed, “After a time, I resigned myself to the fact I was never going to find an elleth who would accept the lie as a reality. That is, if I didn’t tell the truth, they wouldn’t want me, and if I did, they would want to have the truth known to the world. I began to wonder, if I didn’t find an elleth, did stand a chance in finding another ellon?”
“I was... too unsure of it, though. I could never tell which males were interested in other males and which were not. My hope was that perhaps I would be approached instead. There were times when I thought I had found someone. Every time, something would happen- I would find out they were already with someone, or that they really didn’t favor other male elves. Sometimes it came with embarrassing moments,” Erestor sighed.
“I just held out hope that I would find... someone, anyone. In the meantime... I experimented. I... wanted to know if I would like it or not,” he said, ending in a rush.
“That isn’t so uncommon, Erestor,” Glorfindel said. “Before Ecthelion, I tried a number of things. Some with uncomfortable side effects,” he added as he recalled them.
Erestor carefully thought this over and then asked, “Ecthelion?”
“Oh... shit. I told you about him... while you were sleeping.” Glorfindel cringed. “He was my lover in Gondolin. In the first age, his was the House of the Fountain-“
“Glorfindel, I know who he was. Historically, that is.” Erestor bit his lip and then said, “I wish you would have told me about this sooner.”
“About what?” asked Glorfindel worriedly.
Collecting his thoughts before he spoke, Erestor said, “Well, when he is reborn... won’t you... I mean...”
“Oh. Right.” Glorfindel shook his head. “No, he won’t.”
“No? You seem so sure.”
“I am sure.” Looking to the floor, Glorfindel said, “I was young, and I was desired by many. I was more a prize for him than a companion. And he was so wise, so well respected- I fell in love with the idea of being his lover, but I never fell in love with him. We parted well enough- he came to me and simply told me he had found someone else. I didn’t fight it, because I had never honestly had more than friendly feelings for him. Besides,” whispered Glorfindel, “he was terrible in bed.” Erestor snickered. “Nothing like you.” Nuzzling his lover, Glorfindel mumbled, “You’re just… mmm, so sexy. Beautiful and sexy and... ah, oh, uh... pardon me,” he chuckled as his growing erection pressed against Erestor. “Looks like someone doesn’t think it’s bedtime,” he scolded playfully, and he smiled when Erestor laughed.
“So, Ecthelion left you,” Erestor said seriously after they had gone back to the bed.
“Mmmhmm,” confirmed Glorfindel as he kissed along Erestor’s side while removing the nightshirt that stood between them.
“He was a fool...” Erestor grasped Glorfindel’s face with both hands, pulling him into a deep passionate kiss, “...not to see what I can.”
“I’m glad he was a fool,” mumbled Glorfindel. Tumbling into each other’s arms, Glorfindel nipped at Erestor’s neck. “Dare I say, your wife was a fool as well?”
“My wife,” Erestor stated dryly, “was a bitch. But, she made my brother happy… now, let’s forget all about her, and Ecthelion, and anyone else either of us were ever involved with-“
“I used to fancy Elrond. He knows it, too,” blurted out Glorfindel. “You might as well know it.”
For a moment, Erestor said nothing. Then it began, first with a snort, then a snicker, and then laughter while Glorfindel buried his head under a pillow.
“Oh, I know! I know! He wasn’t married at the time, but he was courting Celebrian... still, how could I help it? I know you’ve not seen him, but-“
“I’ve seen him,” corrected Erestor. “I saw him at Dagorlad. Handsome, isn’t he?”
“That he- wait.” Glorfindel tossed the pillow aside and sat up, catching Erestor’s grin in the moonlight. “Oh, ho! I get it now,” he said. “But can anyone help it? He’s just dripping with elegance.”
“He has a nice ass, too. At least, he did when last I saw it,” shrugged Erestor. “I suppose he isn’t quite in battle form these days.”
Glorfindel gave a low whistle. “He’s still pleasing to the eye, trust me. I just try not to think that way, considering I work for him now. A bit different than in the old days when I could laugh about it with Ereinion in Lindon.”
“So... did you want to take him, or be taken?” questioned Erestor.
“I always imagine being the one on top,” Glorfindel said flippantly.
“I see.” Erestor crawled closer to him and asked, “Does that mean, you never let Ecthelion take you?”
“Actually, yes. It does mean that,” answered Glorfindel. “Why?”
“I still think he was a fool,” Erestor said, “But... perhaps if you would have reciprocated, he wouldn’t have left.”
Rubbing the back of his neck with a frown, Glorfindel said, “He never asked if he could, well... oh, shit.”
Wrapping his arms around Glorfindel, Erestor kissed his shoulder and said, “I still think he was a fool. He could have just asked if that was what he wanted.” There was no reply, so Erestor rubbed against Glorfindel’s shoulder with his cheek. “Glorfindel?”
Before Erestor could continue, Glorfindel’s fingers were upon his lips. “You shouldn’t have to ask,” he said, and he rolled onto his back, pulling Erestor up on top of him. “Is this what you want?” Glorfindel asked huskily.
“No!” Scrambling off of Glorfindel, Erestor backed up against the headboard. He shivered briefly and shook his head vigorously. “Glorfindel, please, do not do that again.”
“What? Why?” Sitting up, he drew Erestor into his arms. “My darling, what did I do? I simply assumed from our discussion... Please, I beg you; tell me, I shall correct my mistake.”
“I just... I wish not to be in that position again. What you did earlier, the way you loved me and just let me feel you... the way you touched me, it felt so good, Glorfindel. It felt so good not to be in control. So good to be loved,” he murmured, his cheek pressing to Glorfindel’s shoulder again.
“But earlier, you did try-“
“A joke, poorly made in the heat of the moment.” Erestor’s arms tightened around Glorfindel. “I was burning inside, and you were taking too long. It wasn’t what I wanted, and it isn’t what I want now.”
“Is this what you want?” Glorfindel asked, tracing his fingers over Erestor’s thigh. He pulled him onto his lap so that he was elevated a little, and began fondling the heavy sacks before gently rubbing one finger around the tight entrance. “Tell me, Erestor,” he demanded as the younger elf gasped for air, “is this what you want me to do?” The tip of his finger nudged past the muscles that clenched and tried futilely to grab hold of him.
Panting, Erestor leaned forward, his lips seeking out Glorfindel’s. “Yes,” he confirmed, patting his hand across the mattress until he reached the edge. Erestor ventured his hand a bit further and took hold of a box that was on top of the side table. Handing it toward Glorfindel, he said, “I should have a container with lotion in it in this box.”
Placing it on the bed, Glorfindel lifted the lid. Erestor swallowed hard as he heard Glorfindel pick up not the jar, but the item that rested beside it. “So... you still use this?” he asked.
Licking his lips, Erestor gave a nod. “It had once been the handle from a dagger. I broke it in a skirmish one day, knocked the blade clear off. After the battle I came across it and thought to discard it, but...”
“But when you realized how... enjoyable it might be...”
“It would have been a waste of expert crafting to throw it away,” laughed Erestor as Glorfindel lifted the top from the small pot of lotion. He reached into it with two fingers and swirled them around.
“I have an idea,” spoke Glorfindel as his hand reached between Erestor’s legs and rubbed the lotion over his entrance. “I think you’re going to like it. Do you trust me?”
“I... mmm...” Erestor was gently eased onto his back while Glorfindel teased him. “I… uhhh...”
Plunging his fingers into Erestor, Glorfindel said, “I shall consider that a yes.” His free hand took hold of the phallus as Erestor arched his back, curling his fingers into the fabric that covered the mattress. Removing his fingers, Glorfindel touched the metal to Erestor, a cool contrast to the warmth of his flesh, before slowly sliding it inside.
“Want you,” hissed Erestor after he was kissed between thrusts. “Take me,” he pleaded.
Glorfindel left the phallus within Erestor’s passage, and then knelt over him. Dipping his fingers into the lotion, he coated their erections and then took both of them in hand and began to stroke. Erestor continued to beg for Glorfindel to enter him, from sweetened pleas to growled demands, and finally to wordless whimpers.
It was these Glorfindel wanted to hear and took delight in, removing the phallus and wasting no time in filling Erestor once more. Erestor screamed his appreciation into the night, with Glorfindel’s name upon his lips.
- - -
“What is that stench?” asked Erestor as Glorfindel aided him in sitting down at the head table. Legolas, sitting beside Elrond, made a show of sniffing his arms as if he was the source of the offending odor.
“Put your arm down, penneth,” Elrond scolded with a playful nudge. “The border guards rotated last night; those coming back didn’t arrive until this morning. They were worn and hungry, so I asked them to breakfast in the hall before they took to the public baths. It takes all day to clean them after they get in there anyhow; best to let the rest of us get in before they muck them up.”
“It’s ‘them’, isn’t it?” asked Erestor of Glorfindel. Indeed, when Glorfindel gazed over his shoulder, he saw the same rowdy group that had been the cause of the past two months.
“Worry not about them, Erestor,” insisted Glorfindel. “Forget about them.” Leaning closer, he whispered, “Kiss me,” and Erestor did. “When the kitchen maid comes by, what would you like in your omelet? Cheese and mushrooms?”
“Yes, thank you. That sounds like a good combination,” said Erestor.
“And how did you know he would want an omelet?” asked Legolas.
With a shy smile, Glorfindel took hold of Erestor’s hand, lifting it from the dark elf’s lap, and gave it a squeeze. “Lovers just know those sorts of things about each other.” As one of the servers came around with water and juice in pitchers, another came around with a basket of muffins, randomly placing them before each elf, Glorfindel raised his free hand just as a muffin hovered about Erestor’s plate and said, “Is that... strawberry? No, not that one... do you have something else?” Glorfindel apologetically smiled as the server rolled the muffins to the side of the basket he had, and pulling out a raspberry and peach one, set it onto Erestor’s plate.
“He doesn’t much like strawberry muffins,” explained Glorfindel to the trio of elves who had been staring from the other side of the table. Beside him, Erestor squeezed his hand back. “I hope that was alright,” said Glorfindel.
A smile eased itself slowly across Erestor’s face. “I love you.”
“I know,” said Glorfindel as he returned the squeeze, and then waved over one of the kitchen maids to order their breakfast.
- - -
“Just look at them,” growled the leader of the recently returned unit. “He sits up there with the family, ordering what he wants and being pampered as if he belongs with them.”
“With all due respect, lieutenant,” spoke one of the guardians who was not an officer, “if he’s really Glorfindel’s lover, he has every right to be up there. I dare say, they actually do look happy together.”
“When I want your opinion, I’ll tell you what it is,” spat his commanding officer. “Did you even look at them? So planned,” he growled.
At the end of the table, a few of the wardens whispered to each other, and the lieutenant slammed his fist on the table. “If you have something to say, you tell all of us,” he snarled.
“Lieutenant, permission to be dismissed,” requested one of the wardens.
“No. No!” His fist slammed the top of the table again. “I will not-“ Everyone else at the table was suddenly on their feet. A moment later, the lieutenant scrambled to his, saluting like the rest.
“Did the table... do something?” asked Glorfindel as he encircled the group.
“Sir, no sir!”
Nodding, he came back around until he was in front of the lieutenant and got into his face. “Well then, what the fuck were you doing banging the piss out of it?”
“Sir, I don’t know, sir!”
“You don’t know. You... you just have no idea, just thought-“ Glorfindel’s fist slammed down on the tabletop. “-I’ll just beat the bloody table! Makes for good conversation at breakfast!”
Walking around the table again, he asked, “Do any of the rest of you know why your unit leader was slamming his hand around on the tabletop?”
“Sir, no sir!”
“I wouldn’t expect any of you to. He did it, and even he doesn’t know. I sort of like that phrase, though,” mused Glorfindel. “ ‘Captain Glorfindel, will we be able to come home for our next scheduled rotation?’ ‘Gee, I don’t know.’ ‘Captain, will we be allowed back in the dining hall?’ ‘Oh, my... I don’t know.’,” Glorfindel said with a shrug of his shoulders. Shaking his head, he let out a disgusted sigh. “In two hours, I want the lot of you in the archery practice field. Each day until you return to the borders, you will practice for two hours or twenty rounds, whichever is the latter. You might be home, but you’re no longer on leave. Dismissed,” he said with a sneer as he walked away from them.
“Did they have an answer as for why they were trying to beat my table to death?” asked Elrond as he extracted a piece of sausage from within a pouting Elladan’s sleeve.
Glorfindel smiled down at the pouting elfling, who had managed to mess his hair with strawberry jam while Elrohir sat perfectly clean, licking the marmalade from his toast. “No, none of them seem to have any idea. Not to worry, I’ve assigned them something to keep them busy.” Those around the room, including the family seated at the head table, watched as the soldiers stormed out of the room, most of them looking over their shoulders with disgust at their lieutenant. “Seems a little dissension is budding,” Glorfindel said sadly. “I hate it when this sort of thing happens.” He sat down again, intent upon finishing the meal without another interruption.
Nearly at the end of their breakfast, Erestor knocked his water glass over as he struggled to stand up. Wildly grabbing for his walking stick, he was stopped by Glorfindel, who stood up to steady him. “Glorfindel, listen! Can’t you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Glorfindel strained, but other than the noises in the room, he heard nothing. Elrond and Celebrian looked just as confused, but Legolas was intently concentrating on something far off. “Legolas, do you hear it?”
“Something, barely,” he said. “From the courtyard.”
“Screaming, Glorfindel! Someone in danger, or threatened, or-“ Erestor was gently but firmly placed back in his seat. “Glorfindel, please!”
“I’m going. Stay here!” he shouted as he ran down the main aisle of the hall. Legolas and Elrond followed close behind, and as soon as Celebrian had called the nurse over to look after the twins, she handed Erestor his walking stick and guided him swiftly to the courtyard.
