Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Love’s Healing Flame	By : Argleena Category: -Fourth Age to Modern times and beyond > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 947 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The following work is based on the fantasy world and characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien and I do not own them or profit from this piece of work.

Chapter List
- 11
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- 13
Erestor slept for three long days and nights. He woke up long enough to use the toilet, take a couple bites of food and gulp down some water twice a day, all done in a haze of sleep deprivation and foggy mindedness. As soon as he took care of his most basic of functions, he returned right straight back to bed, sleeping for hours at a time. Glorfindel felt torn. He was ecstatic that Erestor was catching up on some well needed sleep, but was also yearning for him to wake up so they could more thoroughly discuss the ideas and feelings they had touched on the other night before Erestor fell into his deep sleep. By some miracle of the Valar, he had convinced Elrond to allow Erestor to remain in his own rooms during the entirety of his rest and recovery period. Erestor would be much happier and more amenable to follow Elrond’s rules for recovery if he could be in his own familiar set of rooms, surrounded by the things and people that make Erestor happy and bring him joy. Elrond had initially wanted Erestor in a healing room so that he could better monitor him and be sure that Erestor was not going to start fading, which luckily it looked like he was not. He also wanted to make sure that Erestor absolutely, under no circumstances tried to return to working, even trying to bring any work home in bed with him was strictly forbidden. Glorfindel promised Elrond that he would stay by Erestor’s side caring for and encouraging him to to take the time to heal himself from the inside out,
     Glorfindel was nervous. He had already tried once to convey to Erestor his feelings by inviting him to the Lover’s Day festivities and that had failed spectacularly. For some reason, Erestor had become like a ghost after he handed him the invite, he just disappeared! Or rather he was avoiding Glordindel at every turn. It hurt watching his closest friend and the one he admired shut him out. He felt like he had lost Erestor completely when he tried to take their relationship to the next level and it terrified him to think that could happen again. Glorfindel had loved Erestor for so very long. He had waited many centuries to tell Erestor of his feelings, afraid the love shy counselor wasn’t ready for a relationship and also afraid to disrupt the precious friendship he had built with Erestor. Even if he could never have Erestor as a lover by some twisted chance of fate, Glorfindel could live the rest of his life happy knowing Erestor was by his side as his dearest friend. If he lost Erestor’s friendship, however, Glorfindel will have lost the light in his life. .
     Finally, after three days, Erestor awoke. It was around midday and this felt like the first time in a long time Erestor could open his eyes and not be trapped in a world suspended in haze. The past few days had been a blur, Erestor didn’t remember much from this time. The last thing he remembered was Glorfindel comforting and confessing to him. Erestor’s heart stirred at the thought of that. He still didn’t know quite how to feel, having mixed emotions on the genuinity of Glorfindel’s words compared to what he knew or at least thought he knew was going on behind his back. He would definitely have to gather his courage and have a discussion with Glorfindel. Speaking of the golden elf, there he was all of the sudden, walking through the door. Evidently he had been with Erestor this whole time. He had just gone to fetch some tea and came back in, balancing a yellow tea set on a serving tray. When Glorfindel saw that Erestor was awake and clear headed for the first time in days, he produced a brilliant smile that seemed to brighten and warm the room around him, or maybe that was just the blush that fell across Erestor’s cheeks after seeing the handsome Elf Lord that made him feel so warm and fluttery. For the next few hours the two skirted around each other and their conversation focused around safe and comfortable topics. They were not addressing the oliphant in the room. It was nice being able to just sit and visit with Glorfindel after having avoided him for so long. He missed spending time with his best friend. The urge to bring up the bigger issues that really needed to be discussed, however, crept up under Erestor’s skin. It felt like a tingle building and crawling within, much like an itch under Erestor’s skin that he needed to scratch. The longer he avoided scratching the itch the more intense the urge became. Finally that itchy feeling became so overwhelming it’s like his body took automatic control over his arm and had him reaching up to scratch the spot before he even realized what his fingers were doing. They had been talking about this and that, avoiding the big issues at first, like Erestor’s breakdown and Glorfindel’s confession. Eventually, though, the need to talk about their relationship grew until Erestor could not hold back his need for answers. Erestor gathered his courage and blurted out a question that got them to the heart of the discussion they’ve needed to have for a while now.
     “Did you really mean all those things you said the other night? If you were just saying them out of pity and because you were trying to make me feel better after my meltdown, please just tell me the truth. I can’t keep second guessing myself anymore about whether or not you feel the same way for me as I do you.I don’t want to be pitied, I just need the truth. Do you love me?”
     “Of course I love you,” Glorfindel burst out with excited emotion. “I’ve waited so long to say anything because I was afraid to love you. I was so happy being your friend, but my heart and soul were crying out for more. You are so precious and beautiful to me. There is nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my days walking beside you. No one else could fill my heart as completely as you do.” Glorfindel stood from the armchair he was seated in in Erestors sitting area and walked over to where Erestor seated. He kneeled down on both knees in front of Erestor to put them at eye level with each other. Grasping Erestor’s delicate and graceful hands in his own sword callused and broad grip, Glorfindel gently pulled Erestor’s long, pale fingers to his lips and placed a tender kiss at the tips of both hands. He gazed directly into Erestor’s icy blue eyes, opening his mouth to speak praises of his beauty and words of love to Erestor, but felt Erestor place two soft fingers over his mouth in a shushing manner in order to quiet Glorfindel for a moment instead.
     Erestor had been fairly quiet at Glorfindel’s confession of love and looked like he was heavily debating saying something in his head. He was silent for a moment, intently studying Glorfindel’s face, looking directly into Glorfindel’s bright and beautiful blue green eyes like he could pull out all the secrets hidden within. Erestor searched those eyes as if they could give him the truth to all his questions. At the moment though, he had only one question on his mind. This one question would shape the foundation of their relationship and love. Lie or answer incorrectly, it will crack the foundation and then his love will come crumbling down. Answer truthfully and correctly and that foundation will strengthen the love in his heart, helping to heal and mend the many cracks that had chipped away at it in recent weeks. Glorfindel held his breath, waiting for the question that would determine the future of his heart.
     “Did you know about the wager?” Silence.
     It was one simple question, but it was not what Glorfindel had expected to be asked. Yes or no, all he had to choose was one word and the answer would determine his fate. Glorfindel’s stomach sank. He would always be honest with Erestor, no matter what, but he was afraid Erestor was not going to like his answer.
     “Yes,” Glorfindel responded quietly. “B…”
     The word yes echoed in Erestor’s mind. The echos of “ Yes, “yes,” “yes,” “yes,” “yes ,” turned to pleas of, “ No!” “no!” “no!” “no!” “no! ” in his head, his mind begging him to think that he had misheard what Glorfindel was answering. He just couldn’t believe that after all they had been through, after all the confessions that seemed so genuine, Glorfindel admitted to being a part of that cruel, cruel joke. His eyes looked so sincere when he said, “I love you.” Had everything he “confessed” today been one elaborate hoax in order for him to come out the winner. Glorfindel wouldn’t be selfish enough to crush his whole heart away just for a few coins would he? Glorfindel is not like that, he wouldn’t do that to Erestor. Would he? It couldn’t be. In the flash of a second, Erestor’s head spun with hundreds of questions playing on a loop. Questioning all he had ever known. Erestor felt sick. He felt like he was going to vomit. He needed to get out. Erestor pulled away from Glorfindel’s grasp, sliding back in his seat with wild and wide eyes.
      “Erestor.” “ Erestor!” “ERESTOR!!” Suddenly Erestor felt himself being shaken. Glorfindel had grasped Erestor by the shoulders and was yelling his name and gently shaking the panicking elf, trying to get Erestor out of his own head.
    “Erestor. Darling!” Glofindel cried out, cupping Erestor’s face in the palm of his hands. Erestor tried to swat his hands away, but Glorfindle was far stronger than him. Glorfindel turned Erestor’s face to his and as calmly but sternly as he could in the situation, told Erestor to, “Look at me,” until Erestor gave in and focused his tear stained eyes on Glorfindel’s worried ones.
      “Erestor, dearest, wait a minute, you didn’t let me finish. Please just let me explain what happened. I promise you, my love for you is real.”
       Erestor drew in a shaky breath, willing himself to calm down. He really wanted to trust Glorfindel, he knows Glorfindel is an honest and upfront elf, who treats others especially him with care and consideration. He brought his eyes to Glorfindel’s and waited for his explanation.
     Glorfindel drew out a clean handkerchief from his vest pocket and gently wiped the tears from Erestor’s face. He ran a hand slowly through Erestor’s loose hair, trying to soothe the frantic elf and to calm him down. When Glorfindel was sure he was not going to go into an anxiety attack he continued on with what he was about to say before Erestor started fretting.
     “Yes, I did know about the wager being placed to see who could get your acceptance to the Lover’s Day festival first. Yes I am aware that the ‘winner’ was supposed to abandon you midway through. NO, I did not take part in that reprehensible bet. The day I returned from the border, I saw the betting pool all drawn up on Huríon'sun desk. He tried to cover it from me seeing because he knew I would do away with it immediately, which is what I did. I destroyed the wager board and collected the 30 coins that had been wagered by the five foolish elves who had decided to join the campaign. The money was donated to the literacy fund that you created last year to go towards purchasing children’s books to pass out to the less fortunate during Yuletide. I figure I could try to turn some good from such an abhorrent situation. The four lower ranking elves who participated have been stripped of rank and will start over in rookie positions. That also means they get the last pick of guard duty location and border patrol routes when it comes to scheduling. They will be doing grunt work for quite a while. I couldn’t strip Huríon of rank without Elrond’s involvement, so instead I changed his duties to commander of the western outpost, night guard for the winter season. This will also allow Ferídir to come take over his post here at the barracks; he has been requesting to be off border duty for a while now since he is expecting an elfling in two months time. If I hear of any further incidents they are done for good.
     We also did training for the whole guard regarding appropriate professional behavior when on duty. I do have to admit, this incident actually spurred me into actually confessing to you instead of just holding all my feelings inside and being scared to try. I realized anyone could have approached you at any time and asked you to attend the festival or go on some other date with them. I could have lost you before I even tried to have you. I knew I had to act quick and decided the invitation was the perfect opportunity. I didn’t realize you knew about the wager. That and I didn’t want to risk this bet going on behind my back because of spite and having somebody hurt you intentionally when I was willing and eager to love you wholly. So no, I didn’t take part in the bet, but it did make me realize I needed to go after the ellon that I loved.”
     Erestor was stunned speechless. He was touched and relieved but also so guilty that he ever believed Glorfindel could be a part of that wager. Tenderly, Erestor touched his fingertips over Glorfindel’s heart. “You did all of that?” He queries. “Just for me?”
     “Of course I did Erestor. I was so angry when I saw that wager board. I would do anything to keep you safe and make you feel cherished. I wish I could have erased it completely. I didn’t think you knew about it, that’s why I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want you to feel disrespected or hurt. I knew you had been having a rough time at work and I didn’t want this to be another thing to add to everything else going on. I should have said something regardless. Clear communication is important. It would have saved us a lot of trouble in the long run. In the future we need to talk to each other openly if we are having doubts or difficulties. I know we both trust each other to listen and guard one another’s feelings. Out of curiosity, how did you find out about it?”
     “I had to go grab the reports from the barracks that day and overheard them coming up with the idea. I was just going to ignore it, but then when you gave me that invitation, my mind just went to wild places. The timing was unfortunate. You were probably the only one that could truly upset me this badly for participating because you are the one I love. I’ve loved you for centuries Glorfindel, I’ve just been so scared to tell you until now.” Erestor took Glorfindel’s face gently in his hands and Looked him in the eyes. “I love you Glorfindel. Please, be mine?”
      “Of course Erestor, always.” With that Erestor drew Glorfindel’s face to his and placed his lips on the other. The kiss was sweet and tender, a chaste kiss at first, but Glorfindel chased Erestor’s kiss with his own kisses, adding tongue and teeth and hands into the equations. Five minutes later the Lord of Imladris walked into the room to check on Erestor and got an eyeful of much more than he was looking to see. He turned right around and walked out the door, but not before admonishing the couple, “Erestor! You’re supposed to be resting! And Glorfindel! You’re supposed to be making sure he rests!”
     Elrond smiled as he walked back to his office thinking, “ It's about time!”
Translations:
Oliphant- Elephant like creatures in the LOTR universe
Ellon- male elf
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- 13
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Love’s Healing Flame