edging ever-closer to complete
Mar. 12th, 2006 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meretriculayup, it's another kiss. the long-awaited sequel to "invincible." well, and by long-awaited I mean "not at all..."
"Elrond?"
The lord of Rivendell looked up from his evening reading at his advisor's soft voice. Erestor was standing in the doorway, gripping the doorknob so tightly that his knuckles were white. "Come in, Erestor," Elrond invited gently. Erestor ghosted into the room and settled into the chair opposite Elrond's.
Elrond sat back and examined his friend with an objective eye. Erestor kept getting thinner and paler, which only made the shadows under his eyes stand out more. It was hard to get him to eat while Glorfindel was away on patrol, and he was even worse than Arwen when it came to staying up all night staring out the window. On the other hand, the paperwork involved in running the household had never been so well kept-up; Erestor always worked better when he was unhappy. Elrond suppressed the uncharitable wish that his daughter be half so useful in her lovesickness, and brought his attention back to the present moment. Before he could organize an innocuous but leading question to get Erestor talking, the advisor spoke.
"There's going to be a war, isn't there? That's why you had the weaponsmiths reforge the shards of Narsil."
"Yes, there will," Elrond confirmed, sighing inwardly. "Glorfindel and the twins will be bringing a contingent - some Dunedain, some elves who have not yet sailed - to help Estel."
"I want to go," Erestor said firmly. Elrond stared.
"Erestor - "
"I don't care what you need me to do. I'll organize camps, I'll look after the supply train, I'll nurse the wounded. But I need to be there. I can't just stay here in Rivendell. Not this time."
Elrond was silent for a long moment, while Erestor kept his gaze fixed on his liege lord, looking more determined than he had in months. "I won't send you with them," he said at last, raising a hand to forestall Erestor's protests. "But I'll bring you with me when I go to Gondor. You'd only slow down a small group of soldiers, but if this goes the way I suspect it will, we'll need your expertise with large armies before we're done."
"But - what am I going to be doing?" Erestor asked, puzzled. "Quartermaster, or military liaison, or..."
Elrond raised an eyebrow. "We'll call you my strategic advisor and leave it at that. I've never yet won a chess game against you; you'll be a natural."
*
Elrond, Erestor and their very small train of attendants arrived in Minas Tirith the day after the battle ended. They were ushered into Aragorn's presence immediately, although Erestor could see Elrond's healer's fingers twitching with the urge to tend to the wounded. Elrond was greeted with all due affection and ceremony, but as soon as Erestor shoved back his hood to reveal his face, Estel swept him up in a tight bear hug and swung him around several times, murmuring in Elvish the whole time.
"Oi, laddie," Gimli muttered, elbowing Legolas. "Is that the elfy lady he turned down Eowyn for?"
Legolas doubled over, laughing so hard he nearly choked to death. "Gimli, you twit," he gasped out, keeping his voice low in an attempt not to interrupt Aragorn's reunion with his first true love. "That's Master Erestor. He sat on the council at Rivendell, remember?" Then he started laughing again, stopping only when he needed to wheeze for breath. "I can't believe you thought he was Lady Arwen!"
"Well, I only saw either of them from a distance!" Gimli said defensively. "They both have the hair, and all your elf-ladies are skinny as boys, anyway..."
Legolas rubbed a hand over his eyes, wiping away tears of amusement. "Better not tell Glorfindel that," he remarked, still grinning fit to split his face in half. "Oh! Speak of the devil..."
Glorfindel came storming into the room, his expression dark as a stormcloud. "Elrond!" he snarled. "What in the name of all the Valar is he doing here?" Erestor, still in Estel's arms, stepped back and stood up straight, his chin lifting defiantly.
"Erestor is currently serving as my strategic advisor," Elrond replied mildly.
"Well, send him home now!" Glorfindel demanded furiously. "He has no business anywhere near a battlefield!"
"No," Erestor said flatly, stepping between Elrond and Glorfindel. "I have duties to perform here."
"You have duties to perform at home, where it's safe!" Glorfindel snapped.
"This is more important. I served in the war of the Rings, Glorfindel," Erestor added, more gently. "I know what I'm doing."
"What you're doing is riding straight back to Rivendell as soon as I can tie you into the saddle!" Glorfindel shouted, and stalked out of the hall, looking even angrier than he had when he came in.
"Erestor," Aragorn said softly, wrapping an arm around the elf's skinny shoulders.
"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about it, Estel. I knew he'd react like that. It's not important." He shrugged Aragorn's embrace away, and glanced over at Elrond. "House of Healing, right?"
They did spend the rest of the day caring for wounded soldiers, but after one disastrous attempt at bandaging, Erestor was relegated to holding water basins. His arms were very tired by dinnertime, and even under Elrond's eagle eye, he couldn't bring himself to eat much. Glorfindel declined to attend the meal.
*
That night, Erestor was awakened from a fitful sleep by the creak of his door. "Hello, Glorfindel." he said, too weary to play games.
"Please go home," Glorfindel begged, coming to kneel by Erestor's bedside.
"I can't."
"Erestor, I don't want you here."
"Well, believe it or not, not everything in this world is about what you want!"
"Erestor, please! Do you even understand? You could get hurt, you could die, and if anything happened to you it would kill me!"
"Glorfindel..." Erestor leaned down and pulled Glorfindel up to sit beside him. "Glorfindel, I need to do this. This is a part of your life, and I won't let you keep me out of it anymore. Either you can love me as your equal, and trust me not to do anything stupid and get myself killed, or I can't love you. Can you understand that?"
"Please tell me you didn't do all this just to prove a point."
Erestor rolled his eyes, annoyed at Glorfindel's evasion. "Of course not. That falls under 'trusting me not to be stupid.' I wasn't about to let Elrond ride off alone to make an idiotic hero of himself, and I'm the best damn military organizer in Rivendell. Proving a point was just a nice bonus. And anyway..." His voice wavered the tiniest bit. "I've missed you."
Glorfindel sighed, burying his face in Erestor's hair. "I've missed you, too."
Erestor tugged Glorfindel's head down for a fierce kiss. "Then since I think this is the last bed we'll have for quite a while, now would be a good opportunity to make up for lost time, wouldn't you say?"
Glorfindel would have agreed, but he was too busy obeying Erestor's suggestion to talk.
"Elrond?"
The lord of Rivendell looked up from his evening reading at his advisor's soft voice. Erestor was standing in the doorway, gripping the doorknob so tightly that his knuckles were white. "Come in, Erestor," Elrond invited gently. Erestor ghosted into the room and settled into the chair opposite Elrond's.
Elrond sat back and examined his friend with an objective eye. Erestor kept getting thinner and paler, which only made the shadows under his eyes stand out more. It was hard to get him to eat while Glorfindel was away on patrol, and he was even worse than Arwen when it came to staying up all night staring out the window. On the other hand, the paperwork involved in running the household had never been so well kept-up; Erestor always worked better when he was unhappy. Elrond suppressed the uncharitable wish that his daughter be half so useful in her lovesickness, and brought his attention back to the present moment. Before he could organize an innocuous but leading question to get Erestor talking, the advisor spoke.
"There's going to be a war, isn't there? That's why you had the weaponsmiths reforge the shards of Narsil."
"Yes, there will," Elrond confirmed, sighing inwardly. "Glorfindel and the twins will be bringing a contingent - some Dunedain, some elves who have not yet sailed - to help Estel."
"I want to go," Erestor said firmly. Elrond stared.
"Erestor - "
"I don't care what you need me to do. I'll organize camps, I'll look after the supply train, I'll nurse the wounded. But I need to be there. I can't just stay here in Rivendell. Not this time."
Elrond was silent for a long moment, while Erestor kept his gaze fixed on his liege lord, looking more determined than he had in months. "I won't send you with them," he said at last, raising a hand to forestall Erestor's protests. "But I'll bring you with me when I go to Gondor. You'd only slow down a small group of soldiers, but if this goes the way I suspect it will, we'll need your expertise with large armies before we're done."
"But - what am I going to be doing?" Erestor asked, puzzled. "Quartermaster, or military liaison, or..."
Elrond raised an eyebrow. "We'll call you my strategic advisor and leave it at that. I've never yet won a chess game against you; you'll be a natural."
*
Elrond, Erestor and their very small train of attendants arrived in Minas Tirith the day after the battle ended. They were ushered into Aragorn's presence immediately, although Erestor could see Elrond's healer's fingers twitching with the urge to tend to the wounded. Elrond was greeted with all due affection and ceremony, but as soon as Erestor shoved back his hood to reveal his face, Estel swept him up in a tight bear hug and swung him around several times, murmuring in Elvish the whole time.
"Oi, laddie," Gimli muttered, elbowing Legolas. "Is that the elfy lady he turned down Eowyn for?"
Legolas doubled over, laughing so hard he nearly choked to death. "Gimli, you twit," he gasped out, keeping his voice low in an attempt not to interrupt Aragorn's reunion with his first true love. "That's Master Erestor. He sat on the council at Rivendell, remember?" Then he started laughing again, stopping only when he needed to wheeze for breath. "I can't believe you thought he was Lady Arwen!"
"Well, I only saw either of them from a distance!" Gimli said defensively. "They both have the hair, and all your elf-ladies are skinny as boys, anyway..."
Legolas rubbed a hand over his eyes, wiping away tears of amusement. "Better not tell Glorfindel that," he remarked, still grinning fit to split his face in half. "Oh! Speak of the devil..."
Glorfindel came storming into the room, his expression dark as a stormcloud. "Elrond!" he snarled. "What in the name of all the Valar is he doing here?" Erestor, still in Estel's arms, stepped back and stood up straight, his chin lifting defiantly.
"Erestor is currently serving as my strategic advisor," Elrond replied mildly.
"Well, send him home now!" Glorfindel demanded furiously. "He has no business anywhere near a battlefield!"
"No," Erestor said flatly, stepping between Elrond and Glorfindel. "I have duties to perform here."
"You have duties to perform at home, where it's safe!" Glorfindel snapped.
"This is more important. I served in the war of the Rings, Glorfindel," Erestor added, more gently. "I know what I'm doing."
"What you're doing is riding straight back to Rivendell as soon as I can tie you into the saddle!" Glorfindel shouted, and stalked out of the hall, looking even angrier than he had when he came in.
"Erestor," Aragorn said softly, wrapping an arm around the elf's skinny shoulders.
"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about it, Estel. I knew he'd react like that. It's not important." He shrugged Aragorn's embrace away, and glanced over at Elrond. "House of Healing, right?"
They did spend the rest of the day caring for wounded soldiers, but after one disastrous attempt at bandaging, Erestor was relegated to holding water basins. His arms were very tired by dinnertime, and even under Elrond's eagle eye, he couldn't bring himself to eat much. Glorfindel declined to attend the meal.
*
That night, Erestor was awakened from a fitful sleep by the creak of his door. "Hello, Glorfindel." he said, too weary to play games.
"Please go home," Glorfindel begged, coming to kneel by Erestor's bedside.
"I can't."
"Erestor, I don't want you here."
"Well, believe it or not, not everything in this world is about what you want!"
"Erestor, please! Do you even understand? You could get hurt, you could die, and if anything happened to you it would kill me!"
"Glorfindel..." Erestor leaned down and pulled Glorfindel up to sit beside him. "Glorfindel, I need to do this. This is a part of your life, and I won't let you keep me out of it anymore. Either you can love me as your equal, and trust me not to do anything stupid and get myself killed, or I can't love you. Can you understand that?"
"Please tell me you didn't do all this just to prove a point."
Erestor rolled his eyes, annoyed at Glorfindel's evasion. "Of course not. That falls under 'trusting me not to be stupid.' I wasn't about to let Elrond ride off alone to make an idiotic hero of himself, and I'm the best damn military organizer in Rivendell. Proving a point was just a nice bonus. And anyway..." His voice wavered the tiniest bit. "I've missed you."
Glorfindel sighed, burying his face in Erestor's hair. "I've missed you, too."
Erestor tugged Glorfindel's head down for a fierce kiss. "Then since I think this is the last bed we'll have for quite a while, now would be a good opportunity to make up for lost time, wouldn't you say?"
Glorfindel would have agreed, but he was too busy obeying Erestor's suggestion to talk.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-12 11:04 pm (UTC)Hahahahaha! That's so Gimly-the-twitty! <3 you!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 01:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 01:46 am (UTC)I heart your fluff though.
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Date: 2006-03-13 02:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 11:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-13 11:31 pm (UTC)Sets, costumes, graphics... Yeeeeah. *dreamily, wishes she could have time to watch the whole thing again*