"Your Majesty?"
Gil-galad paused mid-swing, breathing heavily. He glanced over at the intruder and saw a young Elf-maiden, standing there nervously, bobbing up and down. He dimly remembered her as the nurse to that brat, Erestor, the one Elrond liked to visit.
Giving his sparring partner a break, Gil-galad turned towards her. "What is it, my dear?"
She licked her lips nervously. "I've come to talk to you about something, my liege. I'm a bit worried."
"Worried? Is something the matter with Erestor?"
She toyed with a lock of her dark hair. "No, no, he's fine...only...he's a bit lonely. You see, Master Elrond usually comes once a week to tell Erestor tales of the Elder Days and play with him. It's not unheard of him to miss a week, but..." She hesitated. "Maybe I'm just thinking too much."
Gil-galad gave her his most convincing King smile. "Please, continue."
"He misses occasionally, but he always sends a message over first, and he never misses twice in a row..." She wrung her hands together. "He hasn't come to see Erestor for nearly three months, and he hasn't sent a letter why, and the poor boy is so upset, and I was just wondering if Master Elrond is okay...I thought I should go to you, because he's your Herald and..."
"Lover?" supplied Gil-galad's sparring partner helpfully. Gil-galad shot him a look.
"Yes," she sighed, relieved to be spared from saying it. "He's not hurt, is he?"
Gil-galad shook his head. "No, Elrond's not hurt. I haven't seen too much of him lately, but I think he's just been sparring at different times."
When he said that, the other Elves present glanced at each other warily. Gil-galad frowned. "What's wrong?"
An Elf, one Gil-galad trusted, shook his head. "My liege, Lord Elrond hasn't been to the training field in weeks. We thought maybe he was sparring privately with you."
"What? That can't be right! I haven't practiced with Elrond for months, but I saw him last night."
He'd gone to bed around midnight after a little drinking with some members of the Council. He'd woken up to hear Elrond fall into bed a few hours later, but when Gil-galad had gotten up Elrond had already left, leaving one of his hair ties on his pillow to let Gil-galad know he'd been there.
"He was there..." reiterated Gil-galad thoughtfully. "Although he didn't sleep much."
He clasped the Elf-maiden's hands. "Don't worry, darling," he said soothingly. "I'll make sure Elrond starts visiting little Erestor again."
She snorted. "Don't darling me, darling."
Slightly embarrassed, Gil-galad stomped out of the practice grounds amidst the laughter of his fellow Elves.
"Master Elrond? No, I haven't seen him all day."
The Elf looked at him. He was a strict, venerable Elf, suitable to head the office for communications with Arnor. Gil-galad handled Gondor, but he'd always left Arnor to Elrond and this reliable old Elf.
The Elf tapped his finger against his desk. "He was at the big meeting yesterday, though. The scouts came back with the reports, and it's his job to receive all information and write the official replies to Arnor."
Gil-galad thanked the Elf. "Do you know where he might be?"
"He mentioned something about taxes..."
"Lord Elrond? Here was here yesterday, though."
A young Elf headed the tax regulations. She was hardworking and serious, and above all could out-drink Gil-galad. She could even give Elrond a run for his money.
"What did he say?"
"I handed the transcripts over to him for the revisions," she replied, eying him critically. "You know, that's your job."
"It is?" Gil-galad heard himself say in surprise. "I had no idea."
"He took it over before I even worked here. Said you had enough on your plate," she snorted. "That's ironic, isn't it?"
Gil-galad clenched his fists, angry at himself or her, he didn't know. "Did he mention what he had planned?"
"I'd check your household management if I were you," she sniffed. "And take care of him. He's a good Elf."
"Yup, I saw Elrond this mornin'. Said he needed the order forms for the kitchen, he did. Had to put in the order for the larder."
A wild, cheery Elf ran his household. She was sweeping up without regard to her King's presence in front of her.
She leaned on her broom. "I got a question for you, sir. You been kind to that Elf lately?"
Gil-galad was highly offended. "I've never been anything but kind. Kind and honest with him. It's how relationships work."
"That's good, I 'spose. Seems to me he was mighty irritable. Not at me, say, but in general."
"Thank you," he said stiffly. "Do you have any ideas where he is, ma'am?"
"Hmmm. He asked me to prepare a room for the head of management. Had a library meeting to attend to."
Gil-galad went to the head of management. Then he went to the keeper of the stores, then the director of the retrieval of lost Númenorian treasures, and then the head of the gate guardsmen. It was when he was on his way to find the chief mediator between the Dwarf regions that, completely accidently, he finally found Elrond.
He bumped into his lover when he was taking one of the dark shortcuts between corridors. This city was like a maze, and it had taken him a hundred years to learn the passages. Even though he had, of course, set the layout himself.
"Sorry," came the mumbled reply of Elrond, bending down to pick up dropped books and papers. Gil-galad bent down with him, and caught Elrond's wrist. Elrond looked up in surprise, and to Gil-galad's horror, his face darkened when he saw who it was. He carefully detached his wrist from Gil-galad's grip and continued collecting his papers.
"I've been looking for you," announced Gil-galad, his voice shaking. His voice was actually shaking. What was he so worried about?
He met Elrond's eyes and felt like he'd gotten a blow to the stomach. His lover's deep, passionate gaze was tempered by a haze of exhaustion and anxiety. How could he have missed this? Erestor's nurse had said Elrond hadn't been visiting for three months.
"Why? You should be working," said Elrond dully. "You have a country to run."
"Apparently I wasn't running it as well as I thought," breathed Gil-galad. "Elrond, I'm worried. I found out how much you're doing and I think you need to delegate."
"To who? Everyone under me is overworked too!" Elrond's hands were shaking slightly, but he ignored it and stood.
"To me! Compared to you, I'm barely doing anything, and when I leave for Gondor next week you're going to be even more swamped."
Halfway through his sentence Elrond let out a choked cry and turned white. He clutched his books and stiffly walked out on Gil-galad in the middle of their conversation. Gil-galad was left standing there, bewildered.
This time Gil-Galad knew right where to look. As soon as he could he made a beeline for their room and found Elrond curled up in the bathroom with an abacus and a ledger. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to calculate the accounts, and Gil-galad knew he must be the worst lover ever if he'd missed this.
"My Peredhil," whispered Gil-Galad. "My Peredhil, I'm sorry I did this to you."
"Shut up. I'm not yours," came the unhappy reply. "It's not your fault."
"Elrond, why are you in the bathroom?" asked Gil-Galad, kneeling in front of the Half-elf. He brushed a strand of dark hair back from Elrond's face and flinched. Up close, Elrond was thin and pale along with the dark bags. His hair was stringier than Gil-Galad remembered, but he ran his fingers through it regardless.
Elrond avoided the question. "You're going to Gondor?" he managed, hiding his face with his hands. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"
"I thought you knew...I'm so sorry, Elrond. I had no idea the stress you were under."
"If you go, your duties are left to me. I can't handle anything more, Ereinion, I'm trying, and I can't! I'm already backed up as it is. I can't, I just can't, I-" Elrond's chest seized and he dry heaved into the toilet. Gil-galad nearly followed suit when he realized that Elrond had been vomiting so much he had nothing left in his stomach.
A terrible feeling of self-loathing welled up in Gil-galad's chest, and he reached for Elrond and held him tight. Elrond was too miserable to protest and shook in his arms. "Don't you dare mention this to anyone," muttered Elrond miserably. "Ever."
"Of course. How have you been eating?" asked Gil-galad soothingly.
"Not well. Any more than necessary takes time I don't have," Elrond started, and moved as though he wanted to get up. "I don't have time for this either. I have to get back to work, the accounts still need balanced and-"
Gil-galad pressed his lips against Elrond's in an attempt to shut him up. "No, no, no. You're going to lay in bed with me for the rest of the day, and then tomorrow you're going to visit poor friendless Erestor, and then maybe I'll let you do a little work. And next week you're going to Gondor with me, and we'll distribute the lovely work equally."
Elrond was paralyzed with panic. "I can't! We can't both leave, who will-"
Gil-galad pressed a finger to Elrond's lips. "Shhh. I messed up, Elrond, by not seeing you were overworked. I'm not doing it again."
Gil-galad pulled Elrond up, who finally seemed to give in, gripping Gil-galad's hand tightly. He looked back at his abandoned ledger wistfully, but Gil-galad surrounded him by warmth and love and good food until Elrond completely forgot about responsibilities.
"Thank you, Ereinion."
"No, my darling, thank you."
"Don't darling me, darling."
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