Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Nothing Gold Can Stay	By : TAFKAB Category: +Third Age > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 5309 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 31
- 32
- 33
They took their horses, who had been freshly shod and waited in their stalls, chewing oats. The beasts were restive, picking their feet up gaily as they descended. Legolas returned them to their paddock on the green, then joined Strider and Gimli for a bath.

This time when they went inside the steam bath, he chose to remain without, reclining in a clear pool by himself. Once more he needed time to settle his mind alone. He could hear their talk if he tried-- Aragorn’s admiration of Gimli’s ink and metal, met with Gimli’s eagerness to explain. Aragorn was more bold than Legolas, asking many questions about the piercings. It was a thing for friends, then; he could hear the pleasure in Gimli’s boasting as he described both the procedure and the pains.

He wondered if the dwarf’s cock filled again for Aragorn’s eyes, going rosy and taut as it strained upward. Legolas swallowed, his throat dry. A draught of wine would not go amiss. Perhaps it was the raw smoke from the forge that gave him thirst.

Though Legolas listened, Gimli did not name his marks of mourning before Strider, and that made the elf sit straighter in the water, pride and pleasure mingling in him. He had been trusted with more of Gimli’s secrets than the man.

They went to join their company when they had finished, and shared food together within the house of Elrond. Arwen served them, and Legolas noticed she gave Strider many choice tidbits, much to her father’s chagrin. The choice of Luthien might befall her indeed, he judged, marking the way her eyes lingered on the young man.

He ate sparingly and drank a goblet of wine, but he was not easy in himself, his attention wandering again and again. Their plans were simple enough. In only a few days’ time, he and Gimli and Strider would ride west to the Shire and fetch Bilbo Baggins back to join in their counsels.

They had long finished their meal and dark was come when the meeting ended. “I will summon representatives from all the lands, and whoever will come may join our quest to defeat Sauron and return him to the void,” Elrond laid his palms upon the table and rose. “Now take up your rightful name, Aragorn son of Arathorn, heir of Elendil. The sword that was broken is to be reforged, and you will set forth on your quest to claim the kingship of Gondor, and to help in throwing down the great enemy of all. Only when that is done may you ask that which I see in your mind, for until that day comes, it will not be granted.”

Arwen bent her head and closed her eyes in sorrow while Gimli gave a wordless exclamation and stared at Strider with new respect. Legolas smiled and laid a comforting hand on Aragorn’s wrist.

“It may yet come to pass. Beren Erchamion did not fail in his quest,” Legolas said.

“At what terrible cost?” Aragorn answered heavily. Rising, he took Arwen’s hand. “I will walk you to your bower, my lady.”

All present took their leave, and Legolas too slipped away with Gimli following close at his side.

“I should not be surprised by this news, yet I am.” Gimli’s boots rang on the smooth marble flagstones. “The heir of Elendil? No wonder he travels with the wizard. His destiny is both great and terrible.”

“As ours may be, for we travel with him.”

“Aye. But I would not think of that tonight. We have our own concerns.” Gimli was eager to try his handiwork, Legolas saw.

They went to their rooms, passing the Hall of Fire, where singing and talk gladdened the night. Legolas wondered if that singing would falter when he entered with the dwarf’s ornament in his ear, with the dwarf at his side. He smiled at the thought in spite of himself, feeling just a little nervous, even a bit shy at the thought of the dwarf's skillful fingers on his ear.

“Why would you do this, elf?” Gimli asked, abrupt, his eyes seeking Legolas’s in the moonlight. “For decoration?”

“Because I have grown to understand an important truth, and I would mark it down so I do not forget,” Legolas answered him. “I will no longer be so hasty to judge someone a beast because his customs are different from my own. I will not anticipate causing death with pleasure, or deal death at all for no good reason.” He let a smile touch his lips. “And for decoration as well, because what you have made is beautiful, and as an elf, I am a vain and shallow creature.”

Gimli threw back his head and roared with laughter.

The dwarf readied himself when they arrived, setting out the wires and jewels with care, lighting the lamps, and mixing a little packet of salt into water. “This is for washing afterward,” he said. “We will clean you first with strong spirits.”

Legolas sat obediently, pulling aside his hair, and waited, trying not to reveal his nervousness as the dwarf soaked a cloth in distilled spirits.

"May I?" Gimli asked, his voice a gentle rumble, and Legolas knew he blushed as he nodded permission.

Gimli slowly wiped his ear, running the rough wet fabric along the rim, dipping inside with care to cleanse the path of the wire, even where the ear curled over. The alcohol cooled swiftly when he had passed. Legolas tried to make himself sit still without reacting, but it was difficult. He knew he breathed too quickly, his face burning, his belly alight with a sensation he had never felt before.

“Your ears are the same to you as my beard is to me.” Gimli observed, his voice quiet. "Or even more so."

“Yes.” Legolas confessed on a breath.

“I could guess it from the look upon Arvegil’s face when I touched you in the smithy. You should have spoken.”

“You did not shy from your piercings, though they too are in a place that is not freely given for others to touch.”

“I did not.” Gimli remained steady. “This will hurt, elf. Perhaps a great deal. Can you be still?”

"Yes," Legolas promised. The prospect of pain from the wires piercing his flesh did not disturb him nearly as much as the feelings in his heart and body when he looked upon Gimli.

Legolas held himself perfectly motionless as the needle-tip of the wire pierced his flesh and pushed through. Gimli’s fingers, deft and agile despite their size, threaded the first bead onto the wire, then he pressed again.

It hurt more as the wire worked its way up, pressing through the cartilage of his ear. Legolas closed his eyes against the pain, but he made no sound as the winding wire slid upward and Gimli carefully captured a new bead at every loop, his hands gentle but firm, purely focused on what he did, unflinching.

“That one is done,” he said at last, with relief. “You did well. Now for the other. I fear this one will be more painful, but I will be as quick as I may.”

He set the end of the second wire with care, then pressed it in and wound it upward. He was not wrong; the second wire jostled the first, making it ache and burn in addition to the new pains as the dwarf's strong fingers pressed it through the tough cartilage. Legolas sank his teeth in his lip, but remained very still as Gimli twined it with the loops and curves of the first wire, threading on beads until it settled in its final place. He hinged the wires at the top of Legolas’s ear, fitting them together. Legolas could hear his own breath hissing through his nose, but other than that, he made no sound or protest, though the pain was bitterly sharp.

“Bravely done,” Gimli murmured and withdrew his hands. “Your fortitude is worthy of a dwarf.” Legolas shivered with pleasure, the motion making his hair slide over his shoulder-- and he held his breath as Gimli lifted his hair tenderly and tucked it back, arranging it so it would not tangle with the cuff.

To see a fan art of this moment, go to http://i.imgur.com/JtGMcEH.jpg. Art by Ruto (http://rutobuka2.tumblr.com/)

Legolas remained still, not trusting his voice to speak. He had marked how the dwarf avoided touching his hair, just as he had forbidden Legolas to handle his beard. Was this the way Gimli granted Legolas permission to touch him freely? Legolas's heart beat hard in his chest, fierce and needful, like the wings of a bird fluttering against the bars of its cage, demanding its freedom. ....He thought it might be so, but he would not venture to caress Gimli's beard until he was sure.

“If you feel any snags or pokes in the wearing, tell me and I will sand them away,” Gimli said, his breath warm on Legolas’s skin. He threaded the teardrop pendant on a ring of silver and attached it to the lower end of the second wire. “If you do not like it, I will take it out again and your ear will soon heal.” He sighed, his voice hushed. “Let me wash you, then you can see.”

Gimli bathed him with salt and water, and Legolas could see his blood on the cloth, but not much of it. Then Gimli led him to the wall, where a silver mirror hung. He tilted his head and looked at the gleaming beads and mithril twining through his flesh, like ivy wed to the young, smooth branch of a tree. They looked strange and beautiful, the green and silver a perfect complement to his pale skin. His ear ached with a sharp and nagging pain, but that was already ebbing from its peak.

“I like it very much,” he said, touching the wires with one fingertip. He felt almost too shy to speak the words. “Thank you.”

“None of that,” Gimli tugged his elbow, pulling his hand away. “You’ll make it fester if you toy with it.”

“Has the bleeding stopped?”

“I think so. Wash your ear often with water and salt, and it will heal faster. And do not sleep upon that side for a time. If you lie down at all.” Bluster had re-entered Gimli’s voice as he regained his composure.

“Let us go out to the Hall of Fire together now,” Legolas said.

“Would you shock your kinsmen so swiftly?”

“I would. I desire to arouse their envy,” Legolas turned away from the mirror to look in Gimli’s eyes. “And whet their curiosity sharper than the edges of my knives, yet leave it unanswered.”

“Be careful, or you may start a fashion.”

Legolas laughed. “A fashion for jewelry, or one for dwarven companions? It matters not, for in either case, mine will be the first and best of all.” He reached and drew Gimli out after him by one hand. When voices faltered in the Hall of Fire, they stood proudly together in the door and did not turn away. Heads turned to study them, then politely turned away to resume the song. Throughout the evening lingering gazes returned to Legolas again and again, though none dared speak. Many asked him to dance, and some he accepted, but he held himself straight and tall, as befitted a prince, and gave no answer to the unspoken questions behind their looks.

NOTES:

A comment response thread for this story can be found at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/62310-review-replies-for-nothing-gold-can-stay-by-tafkab/ !
- 31
- 32
- 33
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Nothing Gold Can Stay