White Stallion
Summary: Lord Elrond finds that his healing skills are challenged... By a tooth.
Disclaimer: Not one tooth or stallion.
All of my stories are interconnected but you do not need to read one to understand the other.
Enjoy!
~S~
"If you keep cringing, Elrond will know for sure something is wrong," Glorfindel said conversationally. Glorfindel spoke without any expression on his face. Astarion knew better. There was a tell-tale, upward twitch of his lips that betrayed his growing mirth.
Astarion would have made a face, but he winced again when his jaws met together in an involuntary grind of his teeth. His left molar shook and a sharp pain lanced through his lower jaw. He rubbed his left cheek to assuage the pain.
"Pray do not tell him," Astarion said, unable to keep the plea from his voice. Glorfindel chuckled.
"There is very little to hide from him. Elrond knows what is wrong as if he possesses the eyes of a hawk."
The thought alone was enough to make him wince again. They covered the rest of the ground to Rivendell in silence, their horses walking leisurely. When they entered the gates, they found Elrond and Celebrían waiting for them.
"My Lord, my Lady," Glorfindel greeted them. Afraid his jaws will meet if he spoke, Astarion inclined his head in greeting.
As it turned out, it was a grave mistake.
Both Elrond and Celebrían frowned. The Lord stepped up to him and studied him carefully.
"Dismount, Astarion," he ordered. Helpless, Astarion obeyed. His horse neighed softly and he silently swore that the horse was sniggering at him. Elrond watched him in concern. "Is everything well, Astarion?"
Astarion almost nodded, caught himself and answered carefully, "It is, my Lord." He spoke in a way to make sure that his tooth did not collide with his upper teeth. His molar ached dully but the sharp pain thankfully did not flare. Celebrían brushed past him, more concerned than her husband. Of course, Astarion thought in dismay. The Lady was more capable of picking out when he was behaving strangely. He was her guard for many years, long before her marriage to Elrond. She raised her hand and pressed it gently against his left cheek.
"Are you sure you are well?" She asked. Before she even completed the sentence, he flinched away from her hand. Elrond raised his eyebrows.
"Is your tooth hurting you, Astarion?" Elrond asked, his perceptive eyes missing nothing. Caught and nowhere to flee, Astarion nodded wordlessly.
"Which one?" Elrond's demeanour completely changed from being lordly to being a lord as well as a healer. Astarion miserably pointed to his left cheek, where his second molar was.
"What did you do?" Celebrían demanded.
"Oh, he decided it would be fun to take part in a brawl in a nearby stream. He fought one of the guards and slipped into the water and hit his face against a stone... And then the guard punched him. Astarion lost." Glorfindel finished. Both Elrond and Celebrían remarked, that his face on the left side was, indeed, lightly scraped and very swollen.
"Show me." Elrond commanded. Astarion complied and opened his mouth wide. Elrond inspected the tooth and touched it briefly. Astarion pulled back in protest.
"It is too loose to heal on its own. I can pull it free." Astarion shook his head adamantly.
"No."
"It will only take a moment," Elrond said impatiently.
"No."
"And why not, may I ask?" Elrond said with a single raised brow.
"I do not like it." Astarion said. He remembered the time during the war, when some Elves had their teeth knocked loose and the healers extracted them. It seemed painful. Astarion was not keen to go through the same treatment.
"It will grow back!" Elrond said. Astarion still shook his head. Glorfindel studied the Elf carefully.
"I can punch the tooth free." Glorfindel pondered aloud. Astarion placed a hand so fast on his cheek, he smacked the tooth inward to his tongue. Pain flared and he groaned.
"You will do no such thing," Celebrían said firmly.
"But my Lady-"
"No, Glorfindel," Celebrían repeated. She laid one hand on Elrond and turned her attention to him. "My love, if Astarion is truly anxious, then why not prepare a draught for him to set him at ease?"
"You cannot be serious!" Elrond exclaimed, astonished. "Astarion is a trained soldier, capable of facing any harm and if the prospect of pulling free one loose tooth is a fearful one for him-" Astarion gave Elrond a hopeful look. Elrond returned it with a baffled one.
"Sure you do not," he broke off and shook his head. "Alright. Excuse us, my love. I have to tend to this." Celebrían nodded and offered Astarion a reassuring smile. Elrond led Astarion to the infirmary. Glorfindel trailed behind them, offering wild suggestions along the way. Once Elrond settled Astarion on a bed, he prepared a sleeping draught for him.
"You have braved fire and foe, withstood death and time, tolerated stitching wounds and cauterisation without even a blink of an eye and here you are, drinking a sleeping draught for one tooth." Elrond muttered. Astarion passed him a hurt look. Elrond ignored it and pressed the goblet in his hands. "Here. It is potent but will keep you asleep only for a short while. Drink."
Astarion eyed the goblet warily before he accepted it. He smelled it briefly. It had a sickly sweet aroma. Bracing himself, Astarion tipped it and downed its content in few gulps.
They sat in silence for a while. At last, Glorfindel lifted his head and asked, "Do you think the draught is at work by now?"
Astarion hummed low under his breath. It was a simple lively tune he often heard playing during weddings. Both Elrond and Glorfindel looked at him.
"Astarion, why are you humming?" Glorfindel asked. Astarion shrugged. It was not as good as he wanted it to be. One of his shoulders rose higher than the other.
"I am happy," he answered and continued to hum. Glorfindel stared but nodded in silent acceptance. Silence fell again. Astarion continued to hum. Then he threw back his covers.
"I want to dance," he announced. Elrond smirked. Glorfindel hurriedly abandoned his chair and grabbed Astarion before he dropped face flat on the stone floor.
"Perhaps you should lie down for a while before you consider dancing," Glorfindel suggested. He helped Astarion back on his bed.
"You have such pretty hair," Astarion babbled. Glorfindel looked bewildered, an amused grin on his face.
"Do I?" Glorfindel asked innocently. Astarion nodded happily.
"Pretty," Astarion crooned. He ran one finger through Glorfindel's hair. The esteemed Lord guffawed. Astarion frowned, unable to understand why.
"Glorfindel, do not tease him while he is under the effects of the draught," Elrond's stern voice echoed somewhere at his left. He turned his head towards it and his vision swam.
"I was always guilty about finishing the last of your secret collection you hid behind the bookshelf of your study," Astarion said dumbly. Elrond's eyebrows snapped together in a frown. Glorfindel laughed again.
"You know where I keep my own collection?" Elrond demanded. Astarion nodded, his head swaying round and round.
"All the guards know," Astarion continued. The silver embroidery on Elrond's collar was downright fascinating. He meant to trace it with one finger but ended up grabbing it instead. Elrond tried to loosen the chokehold on his collar. Glorfindel, by now, was laughing so hard he was breathless. "We just decided to dip in and have some fun. It got out of hand of course. It was stronger than we thought and we accidentally broke a vase. We let the cats take the blame, of course." Astarion's head became heavy. He felt the sudden urge to sleep.
"And who precisely are these other guards?" The pillows were so soft and comfy. Astarion let go of Elrond and sank back on his bed, darkness invading his conscious.
He awoke to the full throbbing in his head and his jaw. He opened his eyes blearily. It was nearly dark outside but the lanterns seemed too bright. He narrowed his eyes to them. Elrond appeared out of nowhere.
"Ah, you are awake," Elrond said. "Do you remember anything?" Astarion shook his head and ran his tongue on the tooth that hurt him. Instead he met with empty space, packed with something and then defined lines that he was sure were stitches. "One of the roots broke off and I needed to cut back some of the flesh to pull it free. I placed some stitches there." Elrond held up a tooth in a hand covered with a handkerchief. "The root is on the table. Would you like to see it?" Astarion shook his head. The healer covered the tooth and placed it on his table. "There," Elrond said, satisfied. "That was not so bad." Astarion shook his head reluctantly. He heard a queer outburst that suspiciously sounded like a mix between a laugh and a snort.
Glorfindel sat on a chair nearby. Well, Astarion thought, annoyed. 'Sat' was perhaps a liberate term. Glorfindel was sprawled over the chair carelessly, his arms wrapped around his waist, shoulders trembling with silent, uncontainable laughter.
"What is wrong with you?" He demanded. At least, that was what he meant to say. It sounded more like "At' ong it oo?"
Elrond, bless him, understood.
"Do not mind him. The entire matter amused him to no end. Then again, it takes very little for him to be amused." Elrond grabbed a nearby chair and swivelled it to face Astarion and plonked down on it. He met his eyes with his serious, almost deadly ones, "Now, what was this about my secret collection?"
With a dampening heart, and a dull ache in his empty tooth socket, Astarion wondered precisely what he said while he was delirious.
~S~
Author's Note:
For reasons I will not explain, I was dying to write a 'tooth story'. :P
More or less a little doodle. You know, some people do crossword puzzles, that kind of thing. ;)
I know a lot of people have dental phobia, so I always wondered if any Elf felt the same and how it was like for Elrond to convince them to stay put. :P
Astarion is a newly unveiled original character! He, hopefully, will quickly become one of my main original characters but we shall see. :)
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