Day 1- fall into a Lake
All movement stopped with the creaking noise beneath them.
Twirling around to stare at Turin, he saw the look of horror as the boy glanced down at the spider webs under his feet, saw his lips begin to form Beleg's name at the same time the ice gave in.
Throwing bow and quiver off his back, Beleg sprang at full speed and dove into the freezing water without a though. He spotted Turin right away, a few meters away of the hole he had fallen through and desperately hitting the thicker layer of ice. The coldness bit at his skin and constricted his chest as Beleg approached him and took hold of his wrists to begin pulling him towards the opening.
With a last powerful kick Beleg hauled the boy over and out of the water. Clinging to the sharp shards of ice and trying to catch his breath, Beleg clawed at the ice until he reached enough thickness to pull himself out on shivering limps.
He should have kept better watch over the King's ward, should have noticed that he had ventured too far into the frozen lake during their hunting trip- Beleg though at the sight of Turin who shook violently and whose skin was all but blue. However, his heart skipped a beat when he realized that the boy wasn't breathing.
Hurriedly dragging himself over him Beleg pressed an ear against his still chest before pressing down onto it with force. Water sputtered from Turin's mouth but he didn't draw breath. Panic began to pull at Beleg's insides and he grabbed the boy's face, covering Turin's blue lips with his own and blowing air into his lungs.
It took three times before Turin finally coughed the rest of the water and gasped for breath on his own, eyes opening wide.
Beleg let his head fall on the other's shoulder without caring that he was mostly lying on top of his charge. They just stayed there for a long while, pressed together and listening to the each other draw shuddering breaths.
"Apologies, Beleg"
Turning his head to stare at Turin he replied "No need, my boy. It is I that have the wisdom of where it is safe to walk upon and the knowledge of the recklessness of Men. Please forgive me for not taking better care of you"
"Nonsense" grunted Turin, although it was a mere whisper "You saved my life"
Beleg sighed "With age you would find that it is a greater the love of a friend who keeps you from danger than of he who saves you from it"
"Yet you have done both on several occasions, should I believe you love me or you do not?"
Turin looked at him under thick eyelashes that did nothing to hide those deep meaningful blue eyes and Beleg couldn't help but stare in awe at how beautiful the boy he had looked after for years looked in the prime of his 15 summers, even with the paleness from the cold. "I wonder if you will ever understand how deeply my love for you goes, Son of Hurin" He murmured as he pushed himself up to his face and gingerly touched their cold lips- barely a graze- without breaking Turin's intense gaze.
It lasted a fleeting moment and then the touch was gone, as if it never happened, and Beleg helped the boy to his feet with much effort.
"Come now, we must return before your frail body gives out" he teased.
"Is that worry I hear in your voice, Beleg? I cannot be sure over the sound of your teeth clustering" Turin threw back, but allowed a grateful smile when Beleg dropped his cloak over his shoulders.
"Can you walk?" it was an honest question.
Turin winced at the prospect, but the humiliation of arriving at the palace halls on his mentor's arms from a simple rabbit hunting would be even worse than the thousands of needles he felt while standing on his own two feet. "I will manage" Then he noticed the red droplets of blood over the ice and traced it back to Beleg's hands with a frown, "You are bleeding"
"Aw, yes.-" Beleg replied nonchalant, glancing down at the wounds on his palms where the sharp ice had dug into his flesh while he climbed out of the water "- I am aware."
"Yet you call me reckless" Turin huffed, tearing a strip of fabric from the cloak and wrapping it tight around his mentor's hand before repeating it with the other. Once he was done he beamed proudly at Beleg, whose heart clutched at the innocence he irradiated.
"Excellent work"
"I had a great teacher" the smile dropped from Turin's face as he glanced down at the elf's lips, while biting his own in a way that had Beleg gulp. Fast as lightning Turin jumped and crushed their mouths together. It was sloppy and he had to stand on his toes to reach his mentor's face, but teenager's blood raced on his veins and his face flushed deeply when he drew away, breathless. "I love you also, Beleg."
Beleg remained frozen with an emotionless expression, but there was a faint blush creeping over his neck and at the tips of his ears.
Turin smiled smugly and commented on it.
Beleg contemplated throwing him back in the lake.
After picking up Beleg's bow and quiver, they began the trek back home in light chatter and short jogs to warm their bodies. Every few minutes Turin would stare at him and giggle, or grace his hand and blush. And Beleg was torn between joy and concern -at the feeling his young charge so obviously harboured for him, of being the teenager's first love- and confused that he found himself appealed to return the feelings.
If his eyes kept wandering over to Turin's lips he told himself it was to ensure that the blue was fading, and not because he was still entranced by the boy's taste.